We are quickly approaching May 1st, often considered to be the date of Bealtaine or Beltane. It is a popular holiday that many different traditions celebrate and one that I have written about both here on Patheos and on my Living Liminally blog. If the history of the holy day interests you I’d point you to those previous articles; as fun as it is digging into those aspects what I’d like to do here today is look at ways that we can celebrate that are simpler and more straightforward. So many of the suggestions floating around online and in formal traditions are very involved and complex, and while that’s fine and can be very valuable I find that sometimes I’m not in the best place for long, complicated rituals.
I firmly believe that our spirituality should nourish us, not stress us out (as much as possible anyway). It’s easy to fall into a mindset that says if we don’t celebrate holidays with full ritual and pomp we aren’t “doing it right” but I don’t believe that’s true. The traditions and rituals are important, yes, but our joy and connection are important too. If we are in a place where we just don’t have the energy or focus to do the full version of things – we’re too stressed, sick, or unhappy – then things need to be reassessed. But I also think that we shouldn’t necessarily approach it as if we either have to do the fancy version or nothing. Even small simple actions can be spiritually profound and even a small effort can make us feel like we are engaged and participating.
So, what I’m going to offer here are suggestions for ways to connect to the energy of Bealtaine in small or simple ways. These are general suggestions that you can tailor to your own circumstances as needed. The idea isn’t necessarily to do all of these things (unless you want to!) but to try what appeals to you.
- Leave out an offering of milk or food for the fairies. Its believed that the Fair Folk are especially active around this time.
- Sprinkle flowers across your threshhold or hang up rowan over the lintel (both on the outside). This is as an old tradition to ward off dangerous fairies who may be out and about.
- Make a May bush. This is a tradition that is found in Ireland and some of the Irish diaspora. There’re various ways to do this, but the easiest is to get a large branch or stick and decorate with yellow ribbons, eggshells, and flowers. If you can’t physically make a May bush perhaps make some art of one.
- Light a candle. We can’t all have bonfires or even smaller fires, but the simple act of lighting a candle on the holiday and meditating on the meaning of what you are celebrating can be very powerful.
- Sit beneath the sun. If this is an option for you, even something as simple as going outside for a little bit – or sitting near a window – can be a way to connect to the energy of this time of year.
- Meditate. When all else isn’t possible I think it’s perfectly acceptable to engage in ritual during meditation. Find a quiet time and go into your own mind and then run through whatever ritual related to the season you’d like to do. Ritual doesn’t have to be physical to be impactful.
- Plant something. Depending on where you live this could be outdoors or indoors, but the idea would be to get your fingers into the dirt and focus on the energy of Bealtaine as a shift into summer by planting something that will grow through the rest of the season.
- Read a story related to the holiday. Read a myth, or some folklore, or even a modern story. Read a poem. Anything that directly connects to Bealtaine and which will help you feel that connection.
This is only a short list of some possibilities – you can certainly use your imagination to add more items or adapt things from bigger rituals that you like. The core concept here is to just do something, no matter how small, so that you still feel connected to the larger cycle and the traditions of the season. The big rituals are wonderful things, but they are not the only options. Find what works best for you and embrace that.
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