Beltane, Folklore, History and Traditions.

Hello Everyone.

It is coming to one of my favourite times of year and that is the festival of Beltane. Opposite to Samhain on the wheel, the fire festival of fun, fertility, unity and love is again a favourite among pagans. Whether it be a visit to the fire festival in Edinburgh or to see the dragons of Glastonbury to a private coven ritual, Beltane marks the start of summer and camps and the chance to travel and meet likeminded people from all over the country.

Maypoles and maidens the Horned God and the Goddess in union, Morris dancers and again a favourite of mine the oss are just a few of the staple parts of a good Beltane festival but where did most of these traditions come from?

It is believed that if you greet the sun on May day at sunrise that you would have good luck and that your year would be bountiful and fortuitous. Many traditions stem back centuries and have been thwarted by puritans and religion but have come back as tradition rather than related to paganism. Even 1980's politicians couldn't stop May day from being a bank holiday even if they did allege it was a communist holiday.

The Maypole is the main symbol of Beltane and its meaning and tradition has evolved somewhat over the years. In Michael Howard's book, The Sacred Ring he goes on to explain the history behind the maypole.

The most important symbol of the Beltane festivities was the phallic Maypole. In common with the Christmas tree, the Maypole represents the axis mundi or axis cosmos worshipped by the tribes of Northern Europe. (Howard. 1995 pp73-74)

He goes on to explain that dancing around the Maypole and the tradition of a May king and Queen dates back to prehistoric times as there are cave paintings in Scandinavia that show this event happening. The King and Queen represent the sacred marriage between the God and Goddess to make the lands fertile again at late springtime and to encourage crop growth.

Traditionally Birch was used for the maypole to represent the Goddess as it is a feminine tree but in other places they used Ash to represent Yggdrasil. The maypole was used to represent a union between the earth and the sky.

Many Deities are associated with Beltane especially the Horned God and divine figures such as Woden, Puck, Herne, Robin Goodfellow and the Green man. May day parades would have an effigy of the green man known as 'Jack in the Green' in their may day parades to honour the god of life, death and decay as is the cycle of the natural world.

Historically the romans would worship the Goddess Flora at this time of year. The Celts would honour Sheela-na-gig, the goddess of fertility, shown as a homely woman with a giant yoni, which is spread wide to accept the seed of the male. Folkloric evidence indicates that the figures are theory that the figures were part of a fertility rite, similar to "birthing stones", which were used to bring on conception.

Many pagans worship many Deities at this time of year it depends on who calls to you as there is no right or wrong.

Beltane is a fire festival in honour of the Celtic sun God Belinus (Bel) Bel meaning fire, at this time of year many couples were hand fasted or wed and some couples also wens A'Maying. A'Maying was where couples would sneak off into the woods and make love on the night after the festivities. The May King and queen would promise be together for a year and a day and then jump the Beltane fire to pledge themselves to one another and other couples would follow after. The sacred fire would then be used cleanse animals and cattle to prevent disease and make them more fertile.

In Herefordshire a birch twig dressed with red and white ribbons was used on mayday propped by stable doors to stop the Fae and witches from hag riding the horses. And speaking of horses one of the mot famous traditions is that of the old Cornish Padstow oss.

An illustration of the Padstow Obby Oss by Barbara Jones from English Fairs and Markets by William Addison.

Dating from 1932 a man dressed in a hoop covered in black material with a pointed hat and a rolling tongue with white circles around the eyes would parade around the town on the morning of May day. Dancing with its Teasers it would sometimes run into the crowd and catch a young lady who would then have luck and good fortune for the rest of the year.

These are just some of the traditions associated with Beltane and there are many more that may not be as well known and you may have your own. But the roots and foundations have stayed the same through generations and not lost meaning even though they were persecuted and even banned at some point in history.

I hope that you all enjoyed this post and have a wonderful Beltane festival wherever you are.

Sigrid Skadi

The Sacred Ring available from Capall Bann publishing http://www.capallbann.co.uk/the-sacred-ring-the-pagan-origins-of-british-folk-festivals-and-customs-by-michael-howard/p204