Happy Beltane

Happy Beltane!

I celebrated by jumping the fire on Beltane eve, with a Pagan friend, watching shooting stars and the orange moon rising as I cycled home. I managed to get up for sunrise too, wetting my face with the first dew of the morning, before heading out to a dolmen to meditate. It was cloudy so no sun alignment, but I had headed out for sunrise on 30 April so had found alignments then instead, but more of the mystery shall remain for another year as there are only so many sites one can access in any given sunrise period of time!

I honour the Goddess, and clearly others do too, as someone had already made it to Her before me this morning; she is now suitably adorned and I walked the path to the well, for more sprinkling of water and cleansing, and then back home to the family who weren’t at all interested in joining me this morning for sunrise!

”Beltane honours Life. It represents the peak of Spring and the beginning of Summer. Earth energies are at their strongest and most active. All of life is bursting with potent fertility and at this point in the Wheel of the Year, the potential becomes conception. On May Eve the sexuality of life and the earth is at its peak. Abundant fertility, on all levels, is the central theme. The Maiden goddess has reached her fullness. She is the manifestation of growth and renewal, Flora, the Goddess of Spring, the May Queen, the May Bride. The Young Oak King, as Jack-In-The-Green, as the Green Man, falls in love with her and wins her hand. The union is consummated and the May Queen becomes pregnant. Together the May Queen and the May King are symbols of the Sacred Marriage (or Heiros Gamos), the union of Earth and Sky, and this union has merrily been re-enacted by humans throughout the centuries. For this is the night of the Greenwood Marriage. It is about sexuality and sensuality, passion, vitality and joy. And about conception. A brilliant moment in the Wheel of the Year to bring ideas, hopes and dreams into action. And have some fun…”

We’ll be making a wish box charm today, we did it a few years ago, it’s lovely to engage the children.

You will need:

A small shallow cardboard box. Shoe boxes are good.
Rose petals
Sunflower seeds and/or poppy seeds
Paper
A piece of willow bark or piece of willow, an acorn or oak leaf
Something that represents your wish (see below)

Take a piece of paper and write your wish on it while visualizing your wish coming to life and growing. You can do this alone, with friends, or as a family. If you want to, decorate the lid of the box, with a triple moon, pentacle, heart, or any symbol of your choice. Poke a few holes in the lid - this will help your wish/plants, to grow. Take your box and sprinkle some earth into it. Put in your paper wishes, wish symbol (see below), and seeds/bark/acorn. Cover with another layer of earth. Mix the rose petals with the seeds and scatter them on top. Cover with a final layer of earth and place the lid on top, leaving enough of the rose petal/seed mixture to scatter on top of the box when you are planting it.

The best time for planting your Wish Box is just after a fresh cleansing rainfall as this gives you a bright new start, but if the season is dry just give the earth a good watering the night before. Dig a hole two inches deeper than your wish box and lower it into the earth carefully while concentrating on your chosen wish, visualizing it coming to fruition. Imagine your wish growing with the flowers reaching skyward. As you cover the box with earth say:

"Dream that lies within the earth awaken now. Hope that sleeps awaken now. The stars await as so do I. Grow true, grow strong, toward the sky."

If you don't have a garden you can make a mini wish pot that can live on a window ledge and it works just as well. Just replace the box with a terracotta pot - one wish and one symbol per pot following exactly the same instructions as above. Remember that wishes are only to be used for positive motives.

I’ve extracted this from The Goddess and the Greenman, who have a lovely shop in Glastonbury, where I bought one of my favourite Goddess statues. You can read more here https://www.goddessandgreenman.co.uk/beltane

Happy Beltane, may you opportune the potent energy today and enjoy all that life and the Goddess offers you.

Love Emma x