Let us Not Forget to Invoke the Queer Gods of Beltane

Beltane can sometimes look like a very binary experience, but I experience it as the most Queer of holy days. I mean, when else is the energy this untamed, unpredictable, new, and gorgeous? In what other season do we see the ecstasy of creativity unleashed in such abundance? Let me tell you, from my experience here at the Farmette, everything is pushing forward, becoming themselves in all their glorious, unexpected, self-defined beauty.

Not to denigrate the binary for those folks whose practice is centered on that…frankly, there is so much more to the Lady and Lord than the innie-outie, and the folks I know who practice that way are very open, thoughtful, and skilled priests and practitioners. But I really like the idea of specifically calling in those who are harder to define, to recognize; those spirits who truly express the queer nature of Nature.  

If you are using this invocation in ritual, go slowly enough that everyone has the opportunity to hear the birds for real, feel the warmth, etc. Hopefully, you are in a place where you can do that, but if not, let it be a meditation on those things!

As always, leave space for the gods to speak if they so will it.  And if you are not confident in your ability to manage what happens in circle when the gods show up, use just the middle bits and not the “come to us” bits.  Invoking the Wild Ones can sometimes get kinda hairy (haha, see what I did there?)

An Invocation to the Many Gods of Beltane

She and He and Zie!
Great God Hirself in all your permutations!
We invite you and invoke you…

To the Lady

Wild Lady of the Woods~
Come to us! Come to us! Come to us!

She comes and as she comes, she sings to us in bird language
The sound of her bright wisdom is hidden in the wild cacophony
Her voice awakens us to our purpose…

She comes and as she comes, her scent rises around us
The perfume of her skin enlivens our blood
Her warmth awakens us to our passion…

She comes and as she comes, she gathers us to her,
She claims us and this place
And we are held, holy, sacred, whole, in a kinship with Her, older than time

Wild Lady of the Woods~
Come to us! Come to us! Come to us! Be with us now!
Hail and be welcome…

To the Lord

Wild Lord of the Woods~
Come to us! Come to us! Come to us!

He comes and as he comes, his breath is hot on the back of our necks
His wanting is palpable
Arousing us to attention…

He comes and as he comes, we feel the touch of his fur against our skin
We smell his musk
Unmistakable, animal power…

He comes and as he comes, he stamps the Earth around us
To make the circle sacred
He sounds his call to claim us and this place
AAAAOOOOOOO!
And we are held, holy, sacred, whole, in a kinship with Him, older than time

Wild Lord of the Woods~
Come to us! Come to us! Come to us! Be with us now!
Hail and be welcome…

To the Either-Both-Neither-Nor

Wild Gods who are Either-Both-Neither-Nor~
Come to us! Come to us! Come to us!

They come and as they come, their taste appears on our tongue
Sweet and salt at once, delicious beyond imagining
Their scent, every flower, filling our heads and hearts to overflowing…

They come and as they come, they shift and twirl in our sight
First one thing, then another, and we are filled with possibilities
There is nothing that is not of these gods…

Their dance calls us to join them to make the circle sacred
In the presence of They who will not be defined, contained, limited in love or expression
They claim us and this place
And we are held, holy, sacred, whole, in a kinship with Them, older than time

Wild Gods who are Any and All~
Come to us! Come to us! Come to us! Be with us now!
Hail and be welcome…

May your celebrations be sacred/profane/holy/hole-y/delicious/circumspective/all that you and yours want/need it to be. Blessings of the rampant Spring!

To note: my beloved husband, Matthew, was instrumental in writing the Lord invocation. He is awesome!

Also to note: the image above “Rising Spring” is a painting by John Byam Shaw and is in the public domain. Thank the Gods!

Also also to note: this article was originally posted several years ago under a different title. It’s WAY better now.