May 1st is Beltane, one of the cross quarter holidays on the wheel of the year. It is called Beltane or the Gaelic Bealtain which is related to Fire. The weather is warmer, plants and flowers are blooming, wildlife is more active and we are energized by what we see and feel. Beltane is about the sheer joy of life and taking part in it.
For those of us in the northern climates, it marks the midpoint between Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice. The daylight continues to increase as we approach June 21st.
As with all holidays in earth based traditions, the holiday celebrated on May 1st is connected to what is happening with the earth. We see and feel that the earth has indeed moved into the next cycle and where we had promise on Candlemas and the light coming back on Equinox, we are finally seeing and feeling that now.
Bealtain “is the celebration of life, the land, the union of mankind with the mother earth and the purification and rebirth of all things”.
We should commit ourselves to goals and plans for the rest of the year. Our commitment can also be within a family or community. This would be a time to recommit support to those things we believe to be important.
This advice for Beltane should sound familiar to progressives:
“Being on a spiritual path of any kind is not a part time thing. It is a way of life, and that is an everyday thing. It is not enough to make a commitment to spirit if you don’t carry that through all your thoughts and actions for the rest of the year.
So go out and enjoy the day, leap a bonfire (carefully), dance around a maypole. But end your evening reflecting on your day and rededicate yourself to the work that clearly needs to be done.
Bright Blessings to everyone on Beltane!
(A version of this was originally posted on 05/01/2011 at BPI Campus)
Views from the Desert Southwest 