Bringing olden ways to modern days,
For Wiccans,
Witches,
Pagans,
And all who honor a nature-based path.
This is Desert Magic with Crow Moon.
Merry Meet and welcome once again to another episode of Desert Magic.
Coming to you from the beautiful and magical desert of southern Arizona,
My name is Crow Moon and I'm your host.
The wheel of the year turns once again,
This time to the Sabbath of Beltane,
Which is celebrated on May 1st in the Northern Hemisphere.
Winter is now far behind us,
And before us is the summer solstice,
But as we await the celebration of the sun at its fullness,
We celebrate the height of spring.
Much as we did at the Sabbath of Ostara,
We celebrate fertility,
For it is at this time when the Lord and Lady reunite and the Lord,
Who will be born again at Yule,
Is conceived.
It is a time of high energy and joy.
Beltane is about setting our worries aside to focus on community and happiness.
It is a time in which nature inspires us to dance like no one is watching.
That was Frails,
By yours truly.
Frails is an Old English word meaning a time of freedom or the celebration of a festival,
Both of which speak to the Sabbath of Beltane.
At Beltane,
Sunshine is abundant,
Crops are thriving,
And we find ourselves now weeks away from celebrating the first of three harvests.
And to make room for this joy,
We let go of worries,
That which brings our spirit down,
Those things which do not contribute to our highest good.
Beltane in many ways mirrors the celebration of May Day,
In which a common practice is to sing and dance around a maypole.
Many practitioners of Wicca still do so,
Which I personally find to be a fine way of celebrating this Sabbath.
If such a celebration does not exist where you are,
Or you're unable to attend one,
You might choose to create a maypole of your own,
Even one which exists only in your mind's eye.
I do this not only at Beltane,
But when I need to visualize setting myself free from things.
Simply picture a pole in your mind,
And the ribbons or strands attached to this pole from its top represent the things you need to release and let go of.
As you visualize yourself,
Others,
Or yourself within a group,
Dancing around the pole and winding the ribbons together in the process,
See the very things that seek to weigh you down,
Being bound.
For Wiccans,
The wheel of the year represents the cycle of life and nature,
That of birth,
Life,
Death,
And rebirth.
Rebirth was celebrated at the Sabbath of Yule,
And to a certain extent at Imbolc and Ostara.
This means Beltane is very much a celebration of life.
Nature is thriving.
Life is abundant.
Energy is high.
Joyous is the earth and all who inhabit it.
Therefore,
Negativity is simply not on the guest list for this party.
That was Bolin,
Also by me,
Named for a Wiccan ritual tool that is used for harvesting herbs and lighting candles.
Candles are a part of many contemporary Beltane celebrations,
Symbolizing the bale fires of our ancestors.
For centuries,
A common way of celebrating Beltane was lighting bonfires,
Or bale fires,
And dancing around them as one would a maypole.
This practice is quite common in some areas still today.
These fires were lit in celebration of the end of winter and also as a way of welcoming spring.
The merriment would typically begin on the evening of April 30th and continue on the first day of May.
But as with many of the Sabbaths,
The attempts of the new religion to convert pagans eventually collided with the celebration of Beltane.
Saint Walpurga,
Who was held as one who was able to rid areas of pestilence and disease,
And grouped in with those witchcraft,
Was sent to Germany in an effort to eradicate paganism.
Beltane,
And the fire festivals associated with it,
Became known as Walpurgusnacht and viewed as a time in which the witches who organized these fires upon a hill were doing so in order to communicate with the devil.
Interestingly enough,
The devout Christians of the land would also light bonfires,
But they did so in order to protect themselves from witches.
The conversion attempt was largely unsuccessful,
And Beltane not only survived,
But also took on the connotation of being a second Samhain or Halloween,
Despite the fact that Saint Walpurga was eventually canonized on May 1st.
To this day,
It is still viewed by many as the Night of the Witches.
Regardless of where we live,
What we call ourselves,
Or what others call us,
The splendor of nature is something that unites all of us.
If beholding the wonders of this season brings a smile to your face and puts a song in your heart,
A Beltane fire burns brightly inside you.
Let no sadness here be found.
For brightness and blessings now abound.
On this night we dance and we sing,
A bounty nature soon will bring.
A fire we light on Beltane night.
May all the world be free.
Our care set away for another day,
And to all,
Blessed be.
May you be filled with love and light at the Sabbath of Beltane and always.
And may all of us take that same love and light out into the world,
Sharing it with those we meet.
Until next time,
The crow flies from me to thee,
To send the message,
Blessed be.
