Falls somewhere between April 30 – May 1 in Northern Hemisphere / Oct 31 – Nov 1 in Southern Hemisphere

Beltane is also one of the only Sabbats that is usually celebrated in the light of day. It is traditionally one of the Greater Sabbats. It is directly across from Samhain, and in ancient times, these two were the only Sabbats celebrated.

Beltaine, sometimes called Lady Day or May Day, is a fertility holiday. Crops are blessed for the coming year, and dancing around the phallic may-pole is a tradition still carried on today by some people. Fertility bursts forth from the shell that once contained it, and the greenery of the Earth is fast returning in full force.

It is a time for feasting, merry-making, celebration, and joy. It is a time of self-discovery, love, union and developing your potential for personal growth. A time to look outward and forward to the future, and to prepare for the warm summer months ahead. It is also a time for love, union and the sacred marriage which honours the fertility of the Earth.

History

The name for Beltaine is derived from the Irish Gaelic ‘Bealtaine’ or the Scottish Gaelic ‘Bealtuinn’, meaning ‘Bel-fire’, the fire of the Celtic god of light (Bel, Beli or Belinus). Other names for Beltaine include: Cetsamhain (‘opposite Samhain’), Walpurgisnacht (in Germany), and Roodmas (the medieval Church’s name). This last name came from Church Fathers who were hoping to shift the common people’s allegiance from the Maypole (Pagan symbol of life) to the Holy Rood (the Cross). There’s also the Floriala (Roman feast of flowers from April 29 to May 1), Thrimilce (Anglo-Saxon), and Bloumaand (Old Dutch).

Customs

This is the second of the four fire festivals, and the great central bonfire was an integral part of Celtic Sabbats since it represented the gate to the other worlds. Often complex patterns were formed with the layout of the bonfire, special magical symbols being used to help bind the magic to the land and ensure that the year’s harvest would be a good one.

A large part of the Beltane festivities revolved around dancing the maypole. The danced Maypole represents the unity of the God and Goddess, with the pole itself being the God and the ribbons that encompass it, the Goddess. The colours are the Rainbow spectrum. Forms include pole, tree, bush, cross; communal or household; permanent or annual. In Germany, a Fir tree was cut on May Eve by young unmarried men, branches removed, decorated, put up in the village square, and guarded all night until the dance occurred on May Day. In England, permanent Maypoles were erected on village greens. In some villages, there were also smaller Maypoles in the yards of households. Maypole ribbon dances involve two circles of dancers interweaving around the pole.

Traditionally, it was also considered the one day when all marital restraints were lifted and they could love who they wished for the night. Through this ritual symbolism, the crops would be fertile for another year.

May morning is also considered a magical time for wild water (dew, flowing streams, and springs) which is collected and used to bathe in for beauty, or to drink for health. It is said that any Maiden that bathes in this water will be fair of complexion for the following year.

Associations

Symbolism: The Union of the Goddess and the God, Fertility in all things. A time of making things fertile.
Symbols: Maypole, Mayday baskets, bonfires, flowers, ribbons, flower crowns, fairies.
Foods: dairy foods, foods made with flowers, red fruits such as strawberries and cherries, green herbal salads, red or pink wine punch, maybowl (an icebowl decorated with spring flowers and filled with maywine), large round oatmeal or barley cakes (known as Beltane cakes or Bannocks), shellfish and other aphrodisiacs.
Herbs: Rose, elder, mugwort, mint, lily of the valley, foxglove, broom, hawthorne, almond, angelica, bluebells, daisy, marigold, frankincense, lilac, yellow cowslips, thyme.
Incense and oils: Rose, sandalwood, frankincense, lilac, mint.
Colours: Red, white, green, yellow.
Stones: Emerald, malachite, carnelian, amber, sapphire, rose quartz.
Animals: bee, goat, cat, lynx, horse, leopard, swallow, dove, swan.
Mythical creatures: Faeries, Pegasus, satyrs, giants.
Wiccan goddess aspect: The God is usually seen as the Horned King at this time, his union with the goddess, and coming into His mature power, begins his rule over the Light half of the year.
Spell/ritual work: focuses on youthful exuberance, sensuality, pleasure, crop blessings, creative endeavours.