<\/p>\n
Wiccans along with most other Of these four days, two are And that is why Beltane, which <\/p>\n In most of the temperate world Flowers, the sexual organs of Beltane begins at sundown, April Covens will meet with friends to Before dawn many of us will be up, Those of us who are hard core even Afterwards, in Berkeley, many of As the day progresses public We celebrate Beltane because it is <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Wiccans along with most other NeoPagans celebrate the sacredness of all natural cycles. These cycles are particularly clear within regions with four distinct seasons, and I think it is natural that we, whose origins most recently hail from the British Isles, emphasize the ever changing and eternal seasons to concretely symbolize the most basic of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[106,4,105],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pagan-culture","category-pagan-holidays-and-sabbats","category-pagan-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nNeoPagans celebrate the sacredness of all natural cycles. <\/span>These cycles are particularly clear
\nwithin regions with four distinct seasons, and I think it is natural that we,
\nwhose origins most recently hail from the British Isles, emphasize the ever
\nchanging and eternal seasons to concretely symbolize the most basic of these
\ncycles. <\/span>We have eight Sabbats,
\nfour synchronized with the solar cycle of Solstices and Equinoxes, and four
\nlinked to the old Celtic agricultural cycle. <\/span>These last four are generally the more important, I think
\nbecause the cycles of birth, life, and death are at their most concrete. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nparticularly important: Beltane<\/a> and Samhain<\/a>. <\/span>Samhain honors the powers of
\ndeath, as Beltane honors those of life.
\n<\/span>For these are the two biggest themes in all embodied existence. <\/span>Without life, the rest of embodiment is
\nirrelevant, and everything that lives also dies. <\/span>As one joker told me, “Life is a sexually transmitted
\nterminal condition.”<\/p>\n
\nmost unreservedly and exuberantly focuses on life, also most unreservedly and
\nexuberantly focuses on sexuality. <\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nSpring is far along by now. <\/span>In
\nmost places Beltane fittingly marks Spring’s transition to summer. <\/span>The sexual energy of spring is flowing
\ninto the generative abundance of summer.
\n<\/span>I think of Beltane as a celebration of beauty and delight for its own
\nsake. <\/p>\n
\nplants, are blooming abundantly, soon to set seeds. <\/span>Birds are building their nests. <\/span>Throughout the world the energies of reproduction, of
\nsexuality, are at their most visible.
\n<\/span>It is through sex that we come into physical existence, and sexuality
\nenables us to connect most intimately with the powers of life and with one
\nanother. <\/span>It inspires the greatest
\nbeauty in the biological world, from flowers to plumage to the celebration of
\nbeauty among us two leggeds. The custom of having a May Queen is an
\nacknowledgement of this, and it is fitting that it emphasizes physical beauty
\nand vitality. (There are other Sabbats where we celebrate balance, wisdom, and
\nthe other forms beauty can take.)<\/p>\n
\n30, and extends until sundown May 1.
\n<\/span>Those fortunate enough to be able to meet outside in the country will
\noften have bonfires on the 30th<\/sup>, which young couples can jump
\nthrough, celebrating their hopes for love and perhaps fertility. <\/span>That night, weather permitting, many
\nwill sleep outside, and fertility will have another chance to manifest. In this
\nday and age many of us honor fertility in all its forms, there now being quite
\nenough of the human kind. <\/span><\/p>\n
\ncelebrate the time, often with small fires safe for a living room as a symbol
\nand reminder of the big ones we’d like to have. <\/span>Often our rituals will honor the symbolic wedding of the
\nGoddess and the God, or the revival of the Oak King, to reside until
\nSamhain. <\/span>The rituals will often be
\nfollowed by a feast.<\/p>\n
\nmyself among them, to watch and applaud Morris Dancers<\/a> who
\nsymbolically dance up the summer sun.
\n<\/span>The first time I experienced this wonderful ritual there seemed
\nsomething deeply primordial and right about it. <\/span>A couple hundred of us had arisen long before dawn to be at
\nInspiration Point<\/a> in Berkeley. Today, many years later, Morris Dancers are far more widespread
\nthan they were over 20 years ago, and these dawn celebrations are far more
\ncommon. <\/span>Here in Sonoma County,
\nSebastopol’s Apple Tree Morris Dancers<\/a> now perform the same ritual. <\/span>They
\nare very good, but this year I’ll be down south with old friends. <\/span><\/p>\n
\ncome out in the pouring rain. <\/span>I
\nwill never forget one May morning, joining perhaps a hundred other of the
\nreally hard core huddled under umbrellas, watching the dancers as the light
\nslowly grew until a watch told us the sun had actually made its way above the
\nhorizon. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nus repair to a Pagan’s house, a generous soul who lays out a wonderful brunch
\nto begin the rest of the day. <\/span>More
\nof us than normal will be able to do it this year because it’s a weekend. <\/span>I have no idea how widespread this
\nparticular custom has become, but it’s a wonderful one, whether as a <\/span>gift to the community and offering to
\nthe Gods, or as a pot luck. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nSabbats will sprout all over our country, in parks and other large open
\nspaces. <\/span>This year some will be on
\nSaturday, others on Sunday. <\/span>It’s a
\nchance to be deeply immersed in sacred time for <\/span>long time for those who wish. <\/span>May Poles will rise, whether as magickal centers of
\nintention or simply as fun. <\/span>In
\nBerkeley NROOGD<\/a> will give a public celebration<\/a> with its “Obby Hoss,” a old British tradition that, along with being a lot of fun to watch, is said
\nto bring fertility to any woman who gets caught under its cloak. <\/span>I know it works. Here are some pictures from last year’s festivities<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nfun, because it honors the sacred dimension of fun, because it celebrates life
\nand love, because it more than any other honors the gift of life and the
\nblessings of delight.<\/p>\n