{"id":35,"date":"2015-05-01T06:57:18","date_gmt":"2015-05-01T14:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/?p=35"},"modified":"2017-05-03T07:24:47","modified_gmt":"2017-05-03T15:24:47","slug":"beltane-rituals-beyond-the-bang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/2015\/05\/beltane-rituals-beyond-the-bang\/","title":{"rendered":"Beltane Rituals: Beyond the Bang"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Beltane<\/strong>; the birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing, the flowers are blooming, it seems that all of nature is heating up (in more ways than one). Beltane can be a hot and sexy holiday and we\u2019ve had our share of hot and sexy rituals over the years. Think antlers, think masks, think gasping, panting, bodies entwining in the woods Beltanes; or lock the doors, open the windows and hope the neighbors aren\u2019t home (or not so secretly hope they are listening) Beltane rituals. But hot and sexy might not be how you want to honor Beltane with your coven or your kiddos. Yes, we are a sex positive religion, and there\u2019s is still a line.<\/p>\n

\"shutterstock_45013876\"<\/p>\n

When it comes to Pagan holidays Beltane can be tricky one. Whether of\u00a0ancient origins or modern invention<\/a>, sex and sexiness and sexy sexiness is associated with Beltane. But what if boinking a beloved (or beloveds) isn\u2019t your idea of celebrating Beltane? What if you don\u2019t associate the arriving Rites of Spring with the the literal act(s) of, ahem, \u201craising the Maypole?\u201d What (and how) might we honor and celebrate that isn\u2019t about rutting? How can we look at the verdant, burgeoning Earth without the obligatory biological imperative to knock our collective Pagan boots?<\/p>\n

\"shutterstock_108276\"Phoenix \u2013\u00a0<\/b>Picnics \u2013 We have discovered that a picnic is an amazing, yet simple, way to honor the turning of the seasons with family and friends. Over the years, we\u2019ve set up picnic dinners in the backyard to celebrate Beltane and enjoy the heat of the season. It is warm out, it is beautiful out; all you need is some food and some blankets. Plus, with a picnic you have the opportunity to slow down and smell the fresh grass or see the wildflowers pushing up. There\u2019s time for playing games, create flower wreaths, make an outside altar with rocks, seeds, or flowers, or perhaps enjoy leisurely conversations about the seasonal shift. This is a time when you can talk about what is becoming, what is starting to blossom, where life is thriving. We can talk about renewal and hope and goals and dreams. This is a good time to determine what in your life is starting to grow and what you may need to cull. Simple rituals can be powerful rituals.<\/p>\n

Gwion<\/b>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Getting out in it. In Northern California, where we live, we\u2019re really blessed with beautiful regional parks, beaches, and redwood forests.. There are literally thousands of hiking trails, nature walks, and different beautiful landscapes that we can explore. We don\u2019t have to overtly say that we are going on a hike to honor and celebrate Beltane, but it\u2019s a really good excuse. If you hold that Beltane is about celebrating the Spring and the return of life after a long, cold winter, then getting out and about is a great way to do this. For me, Beltane is about the pure, unadulterated joy of being embodied. Our bodies are amazing, no matter what our genders are, what our skin colour is, our level of physical ability, or the stories we tell ourselves about our bodies. We all have bodies, and that\u2019s pretty amazing. We are all embodied and can feel the warm sun on our skin (even if just for a moment, or through a window). Whether it\u2019s by getting out and hiking or smelling fresh cut flowers in our homes or just marveling at the blue sky above or stopping long enough to hear birdsong or eating, we can engage with Beltane through our own bodily experiences.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"shutterstock_213158269\"Phoenix\u00a0<\/b>\u2013 Food \u2013 There is a food focus in many spiritual traditions. Think about it, what is Christmas without a big dinner, what would Passover be like without gefilte fish? Over the years we have developed our own special meals for the major holidays. Yes, this works for Beltane, but it could easily be stretched to all of the other Sabbats as well. During the High Holidays we like to make large family dinners, gathering with even our non-Pagan friends and relatives. Often we draw on the recipes from the\u00a0Celtic Folklore Cookbook<\/a>\u00a0to give us some inspiration and ideas. Special meals are another way to get small kids, who may not be so into the ritual aspects of the holiday, involved. Cooking is fun, you can get a little dirty, and add blessings and prayers into the food. This has always been a good way to get the kids involved at our house.<\/p>\n

Gwion<\/b>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Arts and Crafts \u2013 Ok, so I really don\u2019t like arts and crafts, this might be my kryptonite of the Pagan lifestyle, but I have to admit that making crafts with a group, a coven, or the family can be fun and celebratory. Making head wreaths of flowers, creating small flower baskets and doorbell ditching these on the neighbors doorsteps, decorating the house, making small faerie houses for the backyard, and so on can bring a group together in one creative process.<\/i><\/p>\n

There are many ways to honor Beltane. Some ways might be more appropriate than others to involve the whole coven in, some might be a more private affair. However you celebrate Beltane, may it be joyful, fun and full of just the right amount of \u201cBeltaney\u201d juiciness for you.<\/p>\n

\n

The Witches Next Door<\/em>\u00a0is published on alternate Tuesdays. Subscribe via\u00a0RSS<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0e-mail<\/a>.\u00a0 And, you can like our Facebook page at\u00a0The Witches Next Door<\/a>. For more great articles visit\u00a0Patheos Pagan<\/a>\u00a0on Facebook and like that page too . All you gotta do is click on those links.<\/span><\/p>\n

All pictures are courtesy of ShutterStock.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beltane; the birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing, the flowers are blooming, it seems that all of nature is heating up (in more ways than one). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2180,"featured_media":40,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,84,12],"tags":[13,14,15,16],"class_list":["post-35","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pagan-holidays","category-pagan-relationships","category-pagan-rituals","tag-beltane","tag-beltane-rituals","tag-pagan-beltane-rituals","tag-rituals"],"yoast_head":"\nBeltane Rituals: Beyond the Bang<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Beltane; the birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing, the flowers are blooming, it seems that all of nature is heating up (in more ways than one).\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/2015\/05\/beltane-rituals-beyond-the-bang\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Beltane Rituals: Beyond the Bang\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Beltane; the birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing, the flowers are blooming, it seems that all of nature is heating up (in more ways than one).\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/2015\/05\/beltane-rituals-beyond-the-bang\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Witches Next Door\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thewitchesnextdoor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-05-01T14:57:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-05-03T15:24:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/555\/2015\/05\/shutterstock_45013876.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Witches Next Door\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Witches Next Door\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/2015\/05\/beltane-rituals-beyond-the-bang\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/2015\/05\/beltane-rituals-beyond-the-bang\/\",\"name\":\"Beltane Rituals: Beyond the Bang\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-01T14:57:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-05-03T15:24:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/#\/schema\/person\/e108300a1f23ee1cc72c83e5fc3a904e\"},\"description\":\"Beltane; the birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing, the flowers are blooming, it seems that all of nature is heating up (in more ways than one).\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/2015\/05\/beltane-rituals-beyond-the-bang\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/2015\/05\/beltane-rituals-beyond-the-bang\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/2015\/05\/beltane-rituals-beyond-the-bang\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Beltane Rituals: Beyond the Bang\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/\",\"name\":\"The Witches Next Door\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/#\/schema\/person\/e108300a1f23ee1cc72c83e5fc3a904e\",\"name\":\"The Witches Next Door\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/11b64ae1674a27b7154b9ae85d97b2fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/11b64ae1674a27b7154b9ae85d97b2fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"The Witches Next Door\"},\"description\":\"Phoenix and Gwion are an ordinary Pagan couple, living in a regular old neighborhood. We take out the trash. We drive kids to school. We're also extremely public Pagans that teach the Craft, plan public rituals, run an esoteric shop and attend national and international Pagan events. Sometimes the two worlds of Pagandom and Suburbia don't always mix well.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thewitchesnextdoor\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/author\/phoenixandgwion\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Beltane Rituals: Beyond the Bang","description":"Beltane; the birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing, the flowers are blooming, it seems that all of nature is heating up (in more ways than one).","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/2015\/05\/beltane-rituals-beyond-the-bang\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Beltane Rituals: Beyond the Bang","og_description":"Beltane; the birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing, the flowers are blooming, it seems that all of nature is heating up (in more ways than one).","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/2015\/05\/beltane-rituals-beyond-the-bang\/","og_site_name":"The Witches Next Door","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thewitchesnextdoor\/","article_published_time":"2015-05-01T14:57:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-05-03T15:24:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/555\/2015\/05\/shutterstock_45013876.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"The Witches Next Door","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"The Witches Next Door","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/2015\/05\/beltane-rituals-beyond-the-bang\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/2015\/05\/beltane-rituals-beyond-the-bang\/","name":"Beltane Rituals: Beyond the Bang","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-05-01T14:57:18+00:00","dateModified":"2017-05-03T15:24:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/#\/schema\/person\/e108300a1f23ee1cc72c83e5fc3a904e"},"description":"Beltane; the birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing, the flowers are blooming, it seems that all of nature is heating up (in more ways than one).","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/2015\/05\/beltane-rituals-beyond-the-bang\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/2015\/05\/beltane-rituals-beyond-the-bang\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/2015\/05\/beltane-rituals-beyond-the-bang\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Beltane Rituals: Beyond the Bang"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/","name":"The Witches Next Door","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/#\/schema\/person\/e108300a1f23ee1cc72c83e5fc3a904e","name":"The Witches Next Door","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/11b64ae1674a27b7154b9ae85d97b2fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/11b64ae1674a27b7154b9ae85d97b2fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"The Witches Next Door"},"description":"Phoenix and Gwion are an ordinary Pagan couple, living in a regular old neighborhood. We take out the trash. We drive kids to school. We're also extremely public Pagans that teach the Craft, plan public rituals, run an esoteric shop and attend national and international Pagan events. Sometimes the two worlds of Pagandom and Suburbia don't always mix well.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thewitchesnextdoor\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/author\/phoenixandgwion\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thewitchesnextdoor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}