Approaching Beltane!

After the past few days of rain/snow, fresh green grass and apple tree blossoms, after seeing 2 bald eagles perched high in the tree, their noble white heads looking keenly towards the horizon, our knowledge of “fire jumping” with joy still remains limited. Celebrated in Ireland and Scotland as the first day of summer, with

may pole dances, bonfires, offerings, and community gatherings, Beltane is a beautiful reminder of how, yes, the “horned green man” (dying, awakened winter) sees the beautiful May Queen (fertility, Spring, rebirth), and longs to merge and transcend, integrating into her, with love, lust, and with an inexplicable desire, deeper than can be explained on this simple planet, in this simple language. 

Taking care of the cattle and livestock and tending to the hearths as the land swells it’s emerald hills, bursting forth its foliage in full bloom, as fragrant blossoms and leaves dry their dew in the warming, longer days, and offer lush spaces for the birds, rabbits, and squirrels to chirp and gather: it’s all quite a magnificent time worth celebrating.

After this dark winter: complete with deaths, loss, and the mysterious isolation of family, friends, and loved ones, bereft of understanding and faith of how to continue on with joy, Beltane’s fires leap high to the sky as proof.

Beltane’s fires are proof that we continue on, not only reaching to the sun, our Divine star and celestial son, with gratitude for bringing warmth and growth, but also as proof that we continue on as creative beings, igniting our flames within and without, to cook, to share, to forge, to celebrate, and to reinvent, remember, retell, and recycle. 

Questions and wonderings for you/ us to journal/ draw/ share out-loud about through this next season: 

• As you journey onwards, what intangible joys travel forward with you, in each of your steps, actions, and words?

• What are your deep-rooted hopes that never abandon the deepest caves of your being, despite the cold, wet, darkness?

• What is one thing you can do to bring light to even one of these hopes or dreams of yours? So that it may feel the warmth and fertility of Beltane’s fires?