Beltane
The land is in bloom and unashamed of it. Fires are lit, thresholds crossed, promises made under hawthorn.
Beltane — from Old Irish, most often read as 'bright fire' — was the great summer opening of the Gaelic year. Two great fires were built on the settlement's high ground, and every beast in the community was driven between them for luck and cleansing before being turned out onto the summer pastures.
The maypole, the may-crowning, the well-dressings and the ribbons — these are the visible remains of a much wilder rite. Beltane was a fertility festival in the honest sense: the land itself pairing, the hedgerows quivering with life, the hawthorn in white flower and marriages formalised in a season considered lucky for them.
Beltane insists on delight. Whatever you have been rationing — colour, warmth, contact, laughter — this is the day to let it back in.
- — hawthorn blossom
- — the twin fires
- — ribbons & the pole
- — wildflower crown
- — green wool
Riotous green, warm wind, honey. Adornment for its own sake.
Objects of Beltane
No objects yet marked for this station of the wheel.
Return with the turning