BELTANE It's May, it's May, the lusty month of May, That lovely month when everyone goes blissfully astray. It's here, it's here, that shocking time of year, When tons of little wicked thoughts merrily appear. It's May, that gorgeous holiday, When every maiden letches for fun, wholesome or un. It's mad! It's gay, depraved in every way. Those dreary vows that everyone takes, everyone breaks, everyone makes divine mistakes. The lusty month of May.

TO THE BONFIRES

A circle gathered round a roaring pit 
All joining hands to bask within it's glow 
And under Moon crowned sky all starry lit 
We sing and praise the Power's shadowed flow. 
 
For some the flames form dancing Dragon's wing 
And other smoke wrought visions climb the air 
For all a caring closeness will this bring 
And psychic current bonding hearts to share. 
 
We charge this timeless place between the worlds 
To call the Goddess' love within our hearts 
And join with her our joyous souls unfurled 
Our spirits dance with her by ancient arts. 
 
This night forever captured in this glade 
To see old souls re-met and friendships made.

by Staeorra Rokraven

Origins: Beltane (Bright Fire) or May Day is the first day of summer, and once marked when cattle were taken to pastures to graze after being blessed with protective bonfire smoke. In later agricultural societies, when people leapt over bonfires, the height of their leaps were supposed to forecast the height of crops. While a German farmer's calendar of 1493 shows all other months of the year illustrated by hard-working farm folk, May alone represents luxuriating lovers: a man attentively plays a lute to a bare and bathing woman. Beltane especially celebrated love, attraction, courtship and mating--that yearly groundswell of desire we know as "spring fever." Long before our current high school prom king and queen, villages elected a young, attractive couple to represent the King and Queen of the May, also known as John Thomas and Lady Jane. Folk danced around the May pole,the skyward symbol of life; they gathered flowers and spent nights together under the stars in the forest.

Activities to celebrate Beltane include:


Pick a tree in your yard and turn it into a maypole by adorning it with ribbons and bows.
If you don't have a tree to decorate, make a miniature one from a branch or even a wooden dowel. Paint it and decorate with ribbons and flowers.
Decorate your home with greenery and flowers.
Make flower garlands.
Weaving
Go on a romantic picnic for two with the one you love.
Give someone you care about a bouquet of flowers.