Seven Easy Ways to Celebrate Beltane
by Kim Pearson
The first of May is Beltane or May Day, a
time to celebrate the leaping fires of passion. It marks the height of
spring and the flowering of all life. Beltane is a festival of
sensuality, sexuality, flowers and delight. It is a traditional time to
make love, preferably outdoors.
There are many lovely old customs
associated with this time. Here are seven simple ideas for celebrating
this wild red time of year:
1. Make a May basket. Fill it with
flowers or other outdoor objects. Leave it on a doorstep of someone who
cannot get outside, such as an invalid or elderly person.
2. Make a wreath of freshly picked
flowers and wear it in your hair.
3. Perfume your house with delicate scent
of woodruff, a tiny, star-like flower that blooms around this time in
the Northern Hemisphere.
4. Dress in bright colors, especially hot
pink or crimson, the traditional colors of Beltane.
5. Erect a Maypole in your yard. It
doesn't have to be tall. You can use a yardstick, broomstick, or even a
twig. At the top of the pole affix different colored ribbons. Get a
group of friends, and have each choose a ribbon and make a wish upon it.
(For example, "I choose this red ribbon for more passion in my
life.") Dance around the Maypole entwining your ribbons together.
Then take the entwined ribbons and make a hair wreath out of them. Take
turns wearing it.
6. Embrace the ones you love. Hugs and
kisses all around.
7. Write poetry about Beltane, and then
recite your poems aloud, preferably outside. Try haiku, an ancient
Japanese poetry-art form. Haiku consist of three unrhymed lines of five,
seven and five syllables. Here are three haiku about May to give you the
idea:
Happy women weave colored ribbons round
their hearts dreams become prayers
flap your black swan wings hoot like a
young chimpanzee dance a lively dance
petals will open roses show their hot
male hearts make love to yourself
Holidays are days made holy by the
attention we pay them. Simple practices such as the ones listed above
remind us that we too dance to the natural rhythms of the earth.
About the Author
Kim Pearson is an author and ghostwriter
who has ghostwritten or edited more than 30 non-fiction books and
memoirs, plus authoring 7 books of fiction, poetry and non-fiction of
her own. For
more information click here. |
