Celebrating Beltane

Maypole dancing at Mary Anne Mohanraj's house in Oakland, California.

You don't have to be a Neopagan or have large acres of land to frolic in to celebrate Beltane. In fact, you may have already been a part of a Beltane celebration if you've ever attended a May Day party. Throwing your own Beltane or May Day party is a great way to celebrate the coming spring. These days, a celebration of fertility does not necessarily mean your goals are human reproduction. Perhaps you have a garden that you would like to grow well this season; if you have a private enough yard (and a lover), making love in the garden is a way of honoring and insuring the fertility of the seeds you have planted. Make a wreath of flowers or fragrant herbs -- rosemary is a nice smelling one that tends to grow in abundance -- and weave a wreath for someone you'd like to know better. Or maybe there are projects you'd like to complete, goals you need to reach for, dreams you'd like to see realized. All of these things can benefit from the Beltane celebration of growth and fertility.

Any Beltane party should have as many flowers as you can afford. If you have a garden, or a deck or porch with container gardens, you should include this as part of the party space and make sure you've planted your spring flowers in time for May 1st. Six-packs of spring flowers at your local garden store should run you no more than several dollars (and often less than two), and can add color and life to your Beltane atmosphere. You can even freeze flowers in the ice cubes for your punch. Edible flowers can add a fairy-like feel to your food table at a Beltane party. This site not only lists the types and tastes of edible flowers, but includes a delicious-sounding recipe for a Day-Lily Sorbet.

Any fruit is appropriate for a Beltane spread, especially cherries, figs, mangos, peaches, pomegranates, and apricots, which have all been long associated with sensuality and/or fertility. Spring greens are another healthy way to imply fertility and celebrate springtime. Chocolate and other sweets are always a good means of tempting your guests at any Beltane party.

Temple of Nine Wells-ATC's Maypole at Derby Wharf, Salem Massachusetts

Dancing a maypole is the most traditional way of celebrating May Day. Go to your local hardware store and buy a 20-foot wood pole (more rural folk can cut it themselves, but be sure to take a moment to honor the tree that gives the sacrifice). Ask your guests to bring their own ribbons, 20 feet in length and about two inches wide, in any color (and be sure to have several extras on hand anyway). At the party, tie all the ribbons to the top of the pole (you may want to buy an eye hook to make this easier) and plant the other end of the pole several feet into the ground. Have everyone form a circle, and count off in twos; have the "ones" face clockwise and the "twos" face counterclockwise. Have everyone grasp their partner's right hand, then pass them by on the right. Now, grasp left hands and pass by on the left. Then right, then left, and so on. Once you've made it once around the circle, pick up your ribbons and begin again, this time weaving your ribbons as you go.

You'll want to have music once you start the actual weaving of the maypole. If you have talented friends who don't mind sitting out the maypole dancing itself (and certainly that's an option, especially if you're superstitious about pregnancy at this time of year), live music is the nicest way to go. This website has some songs that might be appropriate. Singing is good, too; if you choose to sing, you might want to consider sending out lyrics with the invitations, and sing the tune to your friends over the phone. This might be a good way to find out how much you can count on singing to carry the music 'round the maypole, too.

Even if you don't have live music, the technological age makes sure nobody has to sing or miss out in order to have some music. A CD or tape of any Celtic music will do, but I also suggest searching out bands with specific May songs. You can sing along, or just listen and enjoy as you skip around the maypole. "Welcome in the May," by Annwn, is a fun, bouncy song that would be appropriate. It describes a typical old Beltane night:

We were there last night when the dark drew down:
we set the bonfires leaping.
Then we vanished in the heather
and we couldn't be found until the dawn came creeping.

Seduction in the meadows; "The Hireling Shepherd" by William Holman Hunt.

If you have the space and the zoning, have a Beltane fire after sundown. It should be lit from flint or friction, but matches can count as friction too. Again, drumming or singing around the Beltane fire is a traditional way to celebrate Beltane. Go around and talk about things in your life that you want to have grow in the following season. It might be your life's dream of becoming a painter, or your physical activity, or your relationship with a loved one. It might even be a baby you're trying to have; there's no better time than Beltane to ask the gods for fertility!

Later, if people sneak off, make sure that the fire is not left unattended. If this is likely to happen at your party, you may think about researching different ways to handle that kind of party. Or, perhaps, you can wait until after the party, when you can frolic naked with your loved one(s) in private. This is certainly my favorite, and probably the most appropriate, way to end Beltane. And you may find, with the leaping fire and the well-wrapped maypole urging you on, it is inevitable; as the Annwn chorus goes:

Did it get a little warm around the fire last night?
Were the flames a little higher than they had the right?
Was your breath a little heavy and your dress a little tight
and the moon too bright for sleeping?