{"id":14261,"date":"2021-04-26T14:37:52","date_gmt":"2021-04-26T20:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/panmankey\/?p=14261"},"modified":"2021-04-26T14:37:52","modified_gmt":"2021-04-26T20:37:52","slug":"the-fires-of-beltane-or-how-to-celebrate-a-sabbat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/panmankey\/2021\/04\/the-fires-of-beltane-or-how-to-celebrate-a-sabbat\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fires of Beltane (Or How to Celebrate a Sabbat)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

For me this Beltane has special resonance: it\u2019s a re-start to coven activities. With the exception of a socially distanced Samhain ritual and a few online events our coven has mostly been dormant. Beltane will still require some distance, and there will be masks here and there, but there will also be hugs among the vaccinated and the promise of more to come. <\/p>\n

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Image from PXhere<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This Beltane won\u2019t be Witchcraft as usual, and has me re-examining ritual the tropes we attach to the sabbats. Whether it\u2019s bits of modern mythology, or folk practices that aren\u2019t nearly as old as we think they are, every sabbat is full of ideas and activities that weren\u2019t there at the beginning. This is especially noticeable in the age of coronavirus which severely limits what can and can\u2019t be done for a sabbat.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve joked with my coven several times over the last month that we\u2019ll be having a \u201csocially distanced maypole dance\u201d this Beltane. The joke has been met by a few coveners with concerns that I\u2019d go through with something that ridiculous (though most know better). Part of that is because \u201cmaypole=Beltane\u201d is such a well-weathered trope in our community, and among some Witches and Pagans nearly an expectation.<\/p>\n

I have always liked maypole dances, but because my coven generally meets indoors (there\u2019s not much privacy outdoors here) we\u2019ve gone without a maypole for years. For me it\u2019s more a symbol of early Spring than a device we use for anything. And when we do get to dance \u2019round the maypole it\u2019s almost always at a large public ritual. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Because of the difficulty inherent in setting up a maypole, skipping that particular trope doesn\u2019t usually end in cries of \u201cblasphemy!\u201d but skipping other tropes sometimes does. Over the last few years as I\u2019ve been re-evaluating how I celebrate the sabbats and that has meant changing and getting rid of a whole lot of things, especially at Beltane. Writing about those subtractions has resulted in accusations that I\u2019m ruining Beltane or suddenly dislike sex.<\/p>\n

Celebrating Beltane without an explicit focus on flirtations, sexuality, Maiden\/Mother\/Crone, and\/or procreation has in many ways made my Beltane MORE meaningful. It\u2019s hard to remember, but long before we decided that the maypole was a phallus and that Beltane was only for lovers, the holiday was something else entirely. The Irish-Celts who first celebrated Beltane viewed the day not as a celebration of the erotic arts, but as a fire festival.<\/p>\n

The first written reference to Beltane dates from the year 900 CE and can be found in the Sanus Chormaic<\/em>, an Irish glossary thought to have been written by a churchman of the time. The Sanus Chormaic<\/em> is probably most notable for what it doesn\u2019t include than what it does:<\/p>\n

Belltaine<\/a><\/strong> \u2018May-day\u2019 i.e. bil-tene i.e. lucky fire, i.e. two fires which Druids used to make with great incantations, and they used to bring the cattle [as a safeguard] against the disease of each year to those fires [in marg.] they used to drive the cattle between them. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No maypoles, no Triple Goddesses, no love-making, just FIRE. From what we can glean from ancient texts the original Beltane was about keeping cattle safe from disease and malicious fairies using fire<\/a>. That\u2019s pretty much it. Everything else that shows up in modern celebrations of the holiday was taken from English May Day celebrations or 19th and 20th Century ideas about the holiday.<\/p>\n

I for one can\u2019t think of a better trope for Beltane this year than fire. Not only will I be jumping over a Beltane flame or two as a safeguard against the rest of 2021, I\u2019ll be putting much of my 2020 into that fire. Fire is a cleansing and destructive, if there\u2019s one thing I need a cleanse from it\u2019s the isolation and sadness that has plagued much of my last 14 months. I also look forward to throwing a facemask in the flames as we gradually get back to something approaching our old normal.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Celts of Ireland celebrated Beltane with fire because it represented what was most important to them at that period of the year. Keeping the cattle (and later crops) safe from disease, blight, and baneful magick was a priority. Fail to do those things and people would starve. It\u2019s as simple as that. <\/p>\n

Over the last few years I\u2019ve noticed numerous blog posts and books reference \u201creimagining the sabbats,\u201d but the sabbats don\u2019t need to be reimagined. In their simplest form, the sabbats simply represent WHERE WE ARE ON THE WHEEL OF THE YEAR AT A PARTICULAR TIME. All of the other tropes are add-ons you are free to either use or discard. And where you or I will be on the Wheel of the Year at any given time will certainly fluctuate. Beltane in Wisconsin is not the same as Beltane in Arizona. <\/p>\n

I find that my sabbat celebrations are more meaningful when I scrape off the patina of modern practice and explore the rather limited original source material. Doing so reconnects with me distant ancestors and practices long-ago family members may have celebrated. It also reminds me to celebrate the sabbats in a way that reflects where I\u2019m at on the Wheel, as the Irish-Celts did 2000 years ago. <\/p>\n

For the original celebrants of Beltane, the May sun and the Beltane fires were a reminder to be vigilant, even though the days were warmer and the nights shorter. For me, this year\u2019s Beltane fire is a reminder of where we\u2019ve been over the last 14 months, and that there\u2019s a better tomorrow waiting just over the horizon. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our Beltane fire this year will connect me both to the past and to where we are in the present. May its flame purge the past and promise a better tomororow. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":493,"featured_media":14266,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[221],"class_list":["post-14261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-beltane"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Fires of Beltane (Or How to Celebrate a Sabbat)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our Beltane fire this year will connect me both to the past and to where we are in the present. 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