A View of Beltane
By Donyea

I truly adore this time of year and the Beltane festival. Everything is re-energized, fresh smelling and bright at this point of emerging warmth and light. Colours abound and the grasses now fully awake after their winter slumber send their subtle perfumes into the clear air around us.

As I walk my normal well worn paths I notice the changes the emerging seasons show, we have passed through the first tentative steps of spring greening and now stand at the threshold of summer. In anticipation the Hawthorn shouts her approval of the new season by throwing on a mantle of white flowers. Everywhere I look I see an abundance of life and the treasures the natural world shares with us. 

This is my temple, where I spend time in contemplation and meditation. The wonders I see daily in the natural world never fails to take the stresses of modern living away. Each step I take rejuvenates and stimulates me, each breath cleanses and refreshers.

Beltane is also a cross quarter festival and stands opposite Samhain in the wheel of the year. Where at Samhain I always look to my ancestors and gather my strength for the oncoming trials of winter, at Beltane I am ready to throw myself into the world, rejoicing at the fertility of mind and body.

This time of year is also important to me for reaffirm many of my life's decisions. It was at Beltane that I first dedicated myself to the Goddess and on the anniversary of that decision I celebrate my choice. Hanging a ribbon at dawn on the hawthorn I sing my praise to the Earth Mother and her re-emergence, thank her for her continued guidance and influence in my life. I would never have thought that the simple words of dedication I spoke that day would lead me to becoming one of Her Ordained Priestesses. Though I am more careful now what promises I make on a day where the veil between worlds is thin.

We always have fresh baked bread at Beltane and following tradition I take the first piece outside as a gift before we eat. Then the fun really starts as we kindle the bale fire, dance and shout like complete idiots around the garden with our children and play music very loudly, drumming (badly in my case) and chanting, general merriment reigns. 

At one point of the celebration my husband and I will hold hands and jump the fire, in doing this together we are renewing our vows of partnership, cleansing our relationship and our inner selves. The children follow our example, hurtling themselves over the fire for sheer fun and delight in getting away with what would normally be considered dangerous in our modernised world. Of course I also have to jump the fire many times over the day, it is after all a lot of fun!

Beltane is celebrated in different ways across Europe, you see everything from well dressing, bonfires, maypole dancers, Morris dancers, breads and cakes, painted eggs, gathering flowers, music and song and athletic competitions. All of these have one thing in common, celebration of life.