| Balefire Lore During Beltane, marriage vows were considered to be in abeyance and enthusiastic promiscuity was the duty of every pious worshipper. Once the May pole had been raised, men and women danced around it in opposite directions and wove ribbons and garlands; together in order to symbolise the potent energies of the Lord streaming into the fertile lap of the Lady. The hawthorn wreath at the top of the May pole symbolised the labia of the Great Goddess. Then the bonfire or balefire was lit, and all couples wishing to conceive would leap over it hand in hand. The balefire itself was once a sacrificial flame with roots in the Nordic myth of Balder. With the May pole erect and the bonfire blazing, the Queen and King of the May would go into the freshly plowed fields and imbue the soil with their blessings of fertility. All the other celebrants would split off into the surrounding countryside and do their part to ensure the abundance of the harvest. Though we live in a time when pretty much anything goes between consenting adults, the risk of sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancies, not to mention what the neighbours would say, makes celebrating Beltane the old fashioned way rather impractical. Beltane is thought by Wiccans to be derived from a word meaning "balefire". It is traditional to take home a smoldering piece of the Beltane bonfire to bring blessings to your home during the coming summer months. It is also believed that the smoke from a Beltane bonfire is the best to use for ritual purification of tools, jewelry, etc. | 
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