Beltane, is one of the most important festivals of the pagan year traditionally marking the arrival of summer in ancient times
With its counterpart Samhain, Beltane divides the year into its two primary seasons, winter the Dark Part and summer the Light Part. It's the festival of fertility, celebrating beginnings and reproduction, the height of Spring and the flowering of life. Beltane is also known as May Eve, May Day, and Walpurgis Night.
In ancient Rome, the Floralia from April 27-May 3 was the festival of the Flower Goddess Flora and on May 1, offerings were made to Bona Dea as Mother Earth, the Lares household guardian spirits, and to Maia Goddess of Increase from whom May gets its name. In Scandinavia, mock battles between Winter and Summer were enacted at this time.
It's a time of "between time" when the veils between the two worlds are at their thinnest and most fragile. The two worlds intersect at the crossroads of Beltane where they intermingle and unite and anything may happen. It's the time when the Faeries return from their winter respite, and people placed rowan branches at their windows and doors for protection from the otherworld. Indeed Beltane is a time of divination and communion with Faery Folk and all Nature Spirits
It is said that the Queen of the Faeries rides out on her white horse on Beltane Eve. If you sit quietly beneath a tree on that night, you may hear the sound of her horse's bells as she rides by. Turn away quickly and hide your face for if you look upon her she may choose you! The Scots tell of Thomas the Rhymer who looked on the Queen and has not been seen since.
May is the month of sensuality and sexuality, the reawakening of the earth in vivid colours, vibrant scents, fresh greenery and the sheer joy of summer after a long dormant winter.
Blessed Beltane to you !
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