Beltane

Beltane

May 1

(October 31 in the Southern Hemisphere)

The original meaning is 'Bel-fire' ~ the fire of the Celtic god known as Bel, 'the Bright One,' god of light and fire...The Bel-fires were lit on the hilltops to celebrate the return of life and fertility to the world...light is dominant. (Eight Sabbats for Witches, by Janet & Stewart Farrar ©1988)

Beltane, or May Day, is a spring Sabbat, and one of the four Greater Sabbats (Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnassadh, and Samhain). The Sabbat seems to have been a festival that always took place at the beginning of a period of dependable weather. It was a day for Maypole dances, preceded by all-night outings...for women to work folk-magic rituals to divine who (and if) they would marry. The night of April 30 through the night of May 1, called Walpurgisnacht, was traditionally a night when witches met on mountain peaks in Europe for a Grand Sabbat. (Witchcraft Today ~ Encyclopedia of Wiccan & NeoPagan Traditions, by James R. Lewis ©2001)

Beltane, also known as Bealtaine, May Day, and Walpurgisnacht, which means "Night of the Witches." It is the festival of passion, one of the two greatest Sabbats in the Pagan year, second only to Samhain, which lies directly opposite it on the Wheel...Beltane is perhaps best known as a celebration of sexuality and fertility...The Maypole is an ancient symbol of the Great Rite, the sexual union of the God and Goddess, celebrated by lovers everywhere on May eve. (Simple Wicca, by Michele Morgan ©2000)

The Goddess and God Join in Love and the Earth Blossoms in Ecstacy: Each of you [in a loving couple] personifies the Goddess and the God, the Lover and the Beloved, for each other...the Divine couple, performing the sacred marriage. (Witch Crafting, by Phyllis Curott ©2001)

• Beltane ~ A Celebration of May Day

• Beltane, by Ceisiwr Serith

• Beltane

• Tana's Day/ Beltaine

• The Wheel of the Year

• The Witches' Sabbats

~*~

Please email me if you have more information or links...thanks.