Beltane - What Do You Give To The Fire?
Beltane is a fire festival.
I recalled this as I stood burning the waste paper this evening, watching the flames swirl around the drum of the burning barrel.
Celebrated approximately halfway between Vernal equinox and the Midsummer, Beltane traditionally marked the arrival of summer in ancient times.
Beltane marks that the winter's journey has passed and summer has begun. Beltane, however, is still a precarious time, the crops are still very young and tender, susceptible to frost and blight. Fires are an important part of the Beltane festivities, to insure the warmth of the Sun's light, to promote the fecundity of the earth.
Beltane, and its counterpart Samhain, divide the year into its two primary seasons, winter and summer. At Beltane, the Pleiades star cluster rises just before sunrise on the morning horizon, whereas winter begins when the Pleiades rises at sunset.
Beltane, like Samhain, is a time of "no time" when the veils between the two worlds are at their thinnest. No time is when the two worlds intermingle.
Magick is afoot!
I recalled this as I stood burning the waste paper this evening, watching the flames swirl around the drum of the burning barrel.
Celebrated approximately halfway between Vernal equinox and the Midsummer, Beltane traditionally marked the arrival of summer in ancient times.
Beltane marks that the winter's journey has passed and summer has begun. Beltane, however, is still a precarious time, the crops are still very young and tender, susceptible to frost and blight. Fires are an important part of the Beltane festivities, to insure the warmth of the Sun's light, to promote the fecundity of the earth.
Beltane, and its counterpart Samhain, divide the year into its two primary seasons, winter and summer. At Beltane, the Pleiades star cluster rises just before sunrise on the morning horizon, whereas winter begins when the Pleiades rises at sunset.
Beltane, like Samhain, is a time of "no time" when the veils between the two worlds are at their thinnest. No time is when the two worlds intermingle.
Magick is afoot!
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