Celebrating Beltane
This evening marks the beginning of Beltane, lasting from sunset on the 30th of April through the 1st of May. This festival celebrates the peak of Spring, the beginning of Summer, and the fertility and potential of the land and the living. Energy is high and nature’s bounty is beginning to grow abundant!
May Eve (30th of April) was traditionally spent outdoors, walking in nature, and lighting, gathering around (and even jumping over) fires. In the morning, people danced around the maypole, which symbolised the joining of the Earth and the sky, entwining ribbons to symbolise the union of god and goddess, of male and female energy. Honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever look at a maypole the same way again.
Everything about this festival feels mischievous and energetic and cheeky. I especially love it as my dad’s birthday was the 1st of May and his energy was definitely mischievous!
If you've been considering an idea for a while, this is the perfect time to draw it out into reality and ask for others’ support and collaboration. Fertilising it, if you will! “Reach out for what you want.” Glennie Kindred wrote, “Everything is possible.”
April, I’ve realised, is always a bit of a struggle for me. Much like January feels hard after the build up and chaos of Christmas, April feels like a natural break after the creativity and growth in March.
So I try and take it slow, look after my mental health, and ruminate after planting hopes in March ahead of the snowballing of the rest of the year. I can’t be the only one who feels like it’s the 1st of May one moment, and September the next?
Summers fly by faster each year (I think they call it ‘getting older’), so after an intentionally quiet April, I welcome May and the next turn of the wheel. May its increasing light illuminate your wonderings too!
Align Your Activism with the Seasons
Beautiful artwork by (M)Olly Costello, via their Art for Community shop
How can you bring any increasing energy you are feeling to the movements around you?
Cause mischief! Join in with direct actions near you, or if physically joining isn’t possible, help spread the word or donate. For example, find your local Palestine Solidarity Campaign branch here.
Celebrate abundance and the world’s potential by bombarding your MP about the things that matter to you - by email, phone and in person if you can.
Challenge the status quo by divesting your money from organisations and industries that harm us collectively - oil, tobacco, defence, etc. Check your bank is ethical at Bank.Green, and see the ranking of pension funds at Make My Money Matter.
Align Your Business with the Seasons
This is the perfect time to take a chance in your business (if it also feels comfortable for you personally):
How could you market your business in new ways? Pitch to your favourite podcasts, publications or contact someone for a new collaboration?
Been working on a new product or service? Time to ask for feedback from a trusted group, or maybe even launch it into the world. Remember how much value you are providing in your work - you don’t have to keep adding to make something ready.
Alternatively, if you have had a busy spring so far, maybe now is time to schedule in a break to ensure you can keep going sustainably through the seasons.
If you’d like support as you prioritise your plans, or as you bring a new exciting project to life, I’d love to hear from you. Find out how we can work together here.
Ways to Celebrate
Light a fire (safely), inside or outside. If you haven’t space then light candles in recognition of this fire festival.
If Ostara was for staying out all day, Beltane is for staying out all night. Dance, be merry and watch the sun rise!
Gather greenery to bring indoors - hawthorn, rowan and birch (please gather responsibly) - or make a leaf crown.
Decorate a tree in your garden, or bring a branch indoors.
Hang ribbons and intentions written on paper strips. If you haven’t the space, bury your promises to yourself in a pot with seeds. What will you harness this time of growth for?
Create a Beltane Blessings Braid.
The Wheel of the Year
“Beneath the manifestation of seasonal change, there is also change in the energy of the earth. These energy patterns affect us whether we are conscious of them or not.
By understanding the flow and direction of that energy, we can move with it, in harmony with it, as true inhabitants of our planet earth: belonging, part of, changing on all levels of our being.”
- Glennie Kindred, The Earth’s Cycle of Celebration
Most people are familiar with the spring and autumn equinoxes, and summer and winter solstices which mark the four quarter points of the wheel of the year. These are the solar festivals, marking the high points of the seasons, but there are four lesser known fire festivals (or cross quarters) which mark each season's beginning - Imbolc, Beltane, Lammas, and Samhain. So instead of dividing the year into 12 months, it is divided into eight sections - quarters and cross quarters.
People of different nature-based faiths celebrate the Wheel of the Year, including Pagans and Wiccans, and the festivals are influenced by folklore and ancient beliefs. I am not a religious person but have found following these celebrations a wonderful way to ground myself and a healthy reminder to change the way I work throughout the year.
I'd love to hear how you're celebrating this season? Do come and let me know on Instagram!
