WOW this month has been busy so far! And our Beltaine celebration started that off, pretty much.
We were hoping to have a Beltaine-eve bonfire with local pagan friends but the host unfortunately got sick, so we had another small hearth celebration, like we did for the Spring Equinox. The deity of the occasion for us this time is Áine, the Fairy Queen, and we also celebrate the fae (particularly the Seelie and nature-aligned ones) for this holiday.
Our meal consisted of a spring green salad with berries and goat cheese and honey with a berry vinaigrette dressing (YUM!), and gluten free angel food cake with home made strawberry topping for dessert. We also picked up a package of violet flavored chocolate covered marshmallows on a whim at the grocery store, so that’s the other thing on the plate! And we finally got Áine her own candle for the shrine shelf.
I used the prayer from the Spring Equionx again, altering it for the new holiday, and though I didn’t write it down at the time, I’ve recreated it as closely as possible below:
Beltaine has arrived, and the days are growing longer than the nights,
Plants are unfurling their leaves, and some have begun to bloom!
Spring has now reached its height, and the season is turning again
We stand at the balance: Spring becomes Summer
And on this day, we honor Áine
Queen of the Fae, Lady of Golden Light
Come to us now, and join in our celebration!
We offer you food, and drink, and merriment!
We ask in return for your blessings.
Help us to continue to grow and to bloom in this season.
Áine, Hail and Welcome!
A couple of days later, we took part in a ritual planned by a local pagan friend of ours that focused on the Green Man as a metaphor for the growth of the coming season. My role was that of a quarter call, in which I invoked local waterways, tying us back to the local environment. (The details for that are probably best left for a post on local cultus.) Here’s an image of the altar at the end of the rite (unfortunately by that time, the Green Man face we had constructed together was beginning to lose leaves!)
I hope you all had an amazing Beltaine!
[…] I was part of a team that called the quarters (using the traditional elements this time, instead of my local cultus river goddesses) and presented representations of the harvest on a central table, around which we’d put the […]