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Mid-way points are important transitory moments in ancient pagan rituals and rites. Coming halfway between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice, May Day celebrations were another important turning point in the year for the Early Celts. In countries with a Celtic heritage, this time of year was marked with bonfires, rituals, and feasts for protection. It was a celebration welcoming summer and the most fertile time of the year.
Curious? Click on to learn more about Beltane.
Beltane is the anglicized version of the feast of Bealltainn (Scots Gaelic) or Bealtaine (Irish), the Gaelic May Day festival, traditionally held on and around May 1.
Taking place at the beginning of May, Beltane occurs at the halfway point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice—known as a Cross Quarter Day—one of the eight sabbats of the year.
Beltane was one of four Gaelic seasonal festivals: Samhain (1 November), Imbolc (1 February), Beltane (1 May), and Lughnasadh (1 August); which occur halfway between the annual solstices and equinoxes.
The festival was traditionally celebrated in Scotland, Ireland, and the Isle of Man. In Ireland, the day of the festival is known as "Lá Bealtaine," meaning the day of May, while the month is called "Mí Bhealtaine," meaning the month of May.
As well as welcoming the onset of the summer season, it was also a time to honor the "good people," also known as the fairy folk.
There are several locations in Ireland with associations to Bealtaine in their placenames, sometimes anglicized to Beltany - such as the Beltany stone circle in Co. Donegal (pictured).
The festival is mentioned in medieval Scottish literature. Bealtaine is also mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature. Many important events in Irish mythology are also associated with the day.
During Bealtaine, cattle were driven out to their summer pastures, and rituals were performed for their protection. Protection rituals were also performed over crops and people.
Flames, smoke, and ashes were said to have protective powers. Large bonfires would be lit to mark the occasion, and household fires would be doused and then re-lit from the Bealtaine bonfire.
People would jump over the bonfires or their embers, or walk in or between them, sometimes bringing cattle around them too as a ritual.
Large feasts would accompany these fire rituals, with a portion of the food and drink being used as an offering to the aos sí - the supernatural race in Celtic mythology.
It was said that if you got up at six o'clock on May Day morning, washed your face with the dew, and dried it with the sun, you would have good luck for that year.
Sacred wells were visited on Bealtaine as it was believed the water was extra potent and would bring good luck to the first person to draw it.
Yellow mayflowers were used to decorate doors, windows, and livestock as they were a symbol of fire and therefore, protection.
The flowers were strewn at the gates of fields, outside front doors, and even on the rooftops of houses to keep away ill luck, bad spirits, and disease.
Hawthorn, primrose, rowan, and hazel were also used as protective flowers during Bealtaine. Similar Mayday celebrations were common across Europe.
The May Bush or May Bough was also taken from the same trees, as they were associated with the aos sí. The responsibility for decorating the May Bush fell to the oldest person in the house.
Said to be the sacred center of Ireland, the Hill of Uisneach in Co. Westmeath was the site where the first two Bealtaine bonfires were lit.
It could be seen as far away as the River Shannon to the west and the Wicklow Mountains to the east, and signaled the rest of the bonfires to be lit around the country.
The two fires that were lighted on the hill were in honor of the sun god, "Beal." The etymology of Bealtaine could also come from the Proto-Celtic belo-te(p)niâ, meaning 'bright fire.'
It's believed the tradition might have changed to lighting candles and passing them under cattle, instead of a large fire procession, with the onset of Christianity in Ireland.
Beltane was a festival of optimism, during which fertility ritual was important as the sun's power was increasing with the lengthening of the days.
Despite experiencing a decline in the 20th century, Beltane and Beltane-based festivals are held by some neopagan groups today.
In Glastonbury each year, a festival is held to celebrate Beltane and May Day. A maypole is carried by a procession through the town to a field.
The maypole is blessed by the May king and queen at the White Spring before it's raised at Bushy Combe with music and merry-making.
In Edinburgh, Beltane is marked on the night before May 1 by the annual Beltane Fire Festival, a tradition that began in 1988.
This modern celebration takes place on Calton Hill, beginning at the National Monument, lead by a procession of beating drums.
The May Queen and Green Man spark the birth of summer by lighting a huge bonfire, before the festival concludes with a performance by dancers painted red and white at the Bower.
A similar festival takes place in Ireland at Uisneach. What all of these celebrations have in common is making time to honor nature and the waxing sun, as our ancient ancestors once did.
Sources: (BBC) (Britannica) (Dúchas.ie) (Beltane.org) (Glastonbury Information Center) (Ogham Art)
See also: The Celtic tradition: Europe before the Roman Empire
Celebrating Beltane: the May Day pagan festival of fertility
May fires, flowers, and merriment
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Mid-way points are important transitory moments in ancient pagan rituals and rites. Coming halfway between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice, May Day celebrations were another important turning point in the year for the Early Celts. In countries with a Celtic heritage, this time of year was marked with bonfires, rituals, and feasts for protection. It was a celebration welcoming summer and the most fertile time of the year.
Curious? Click on to learn more about Beltane.