Beltane is the Celtic fire festival that sits between Ostara and the Summer Solstice.
It’s usually celebrated on May 1st, sometimes April 30th depending on the year.
Like most of the Celtic festivals, Beltane (also Bealtane and Beltaine) has been adapted, adopted, and absorbed by both Christian stories AND local folk traditions all over Europe. This means not all rites are the same, but many do share certain threads of meaning and practice. Celebrations range from raising before dawn to pick fresh flowers, to dancing around maypoles, to burning fires and feasting.
It’s said Beltane’s roots grew from the mythology of the Celtic Sun God Belenos
Beltane is the day when the young God enters manhood and falls for the beautiful maiden Goddess. They lie together. And as the force of Eros that is SO clearly moving through the natural world at this time moves through them, the Goddess becomes pregnant.
Beltane is a Celtic fertility festival
At its core, Beltane is an honest celebration of sex, love, and the heady fires of passion!
All of nature is BLOOMING! Pollen-laden stamen reaching out for the caress of a bee, whilst vulva-esque flora are beckoning within…
Yet Beltane also shares an axis with Samhain – the festival of the dead, and the autumn portal into the underworld. And this potent liminality that both Beltane and Samhain share is an invitation to dance with the Spirits, the Fae, and the devas of the Earth.
Who are the Fae?
In days of old, it is said that the ancestors of these lands worked directly with the Fae. Secrets of magic, mischief and shapeshifting were passed on directly from the otherfolk to humankind.
… And the fae we are speaking of aren’t the delicate flower fairies or tiny winged creatures like in the Cicely Mary Barker books (who didn’t LOVE those books growing up!?) YES, some are that, but many are mistresses of shadow, sex, and magic.
I feel the Fae to be seductive, playful, and tempting. They want us to come to our edges, and see how far we can stretch them… The Fae are beings who can move through limitations of time and space, they cross the web of life like shifting shadows. They are mischievousness, they dance through the worlds in ways that are impossible to grasp, like a plume of smoke…
The cross-quarter days have an ethereal quality
These Celtic cross-quarters – these fire festivals (Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh, and Samhain) – remind me of that same intangibility belonging to the Fae.
… And that’s one of the reasons it’s so important to stop, to pause, and take a breath.
Presence yourself, and it because far easier to gaze into the mystery, to see (and feel and sense) through the veil and touch the untouchable.
I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Beltane and Samhain are twins here – sitting facing each other like loops of infinity on the wheel of the year. Both share the same liminality, but the access points through the veil are different.
Samhain drops us deep with focus and darkness.
Beltane lifts us up, with Eros, sex and pleasure (a sacred rite that the ancients knew was a way into the spiritual mysteries of nature, a reminder that the body is a sacred instrument).
So after reading this, do you want to commune with the Fae?
5 Ways to connect with the fae folk
If you want to connect with the fae, first of all, stop trying! Drop into trust, imagination and the reams of make-believe… because these places are the bridge points into the otherworlds.
Here are 5 ways into the world of the fae:
1. Get embodied
Consciously turn up the volume on your sensuality. Not to be confused with sexuality, simply tune into your five senses, and seek out pleasure. What feels good? Where do you feel the ripple of Eros across your skin?
Feel.
The presence of the Fae is subtle and tapping into small sensory changes will help attune you to their playful presence.
2. Leave the land Spirits an offering
The fae love gifts (who doesn’t?!) You wouldn’t go into someone’s house expecting a good time, without bringing a gift, and it’s the same with nature.
Nature is the ‘house’ of the Spirits. Offerings aren’t optional when you enter into the Spirit realm, they’re respect. Some suggestions include:
- Some incense (smoke is a great bridge into the realm of the Fae),
- a posy of flowers
- a drop of honey
- a mandala of leaves…
Or go all in, and make a fairy garden.
3. Dance in the shadows
The fae reside in shadow and light. Shadow is the home of the unseen, so this is where you may need to venture, to find the fae.
Yes, actual shadows. Go find yourself an enchanted forest glade and play in the dappled light (it is Beltane, after all!)
4. Follow a bee
This is fun! And harder than you’d think. Bumble bees tend to be a little easier to follow as they’re bigger and a little slower. See how long and how far you can go. Following the path of a honeybee is not only a playful way to spend time in nature, but it will enter you ever so subtle into a trance state, aligning you with the frequency of the pue erotic delight of nature.
5. Light a fire
Yep, it must be done – it’s Beltane! In the evening, light your fire and sit around it outside with friends. You’ll cast shadows all around you. Beckon in the fae and they’ll come close.
Beltane blessings, friends!
