Difference between revisions of "Beltane" - New World Encyclopedia

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{{Infobox Holiday
 
{{Infobox Holiday
 
|holiday_name  = Beltane
 
|holiday_name  = Beltane
 
|type          = [[Gaels|Gaelic]], [[Celts|Celtic]], [[Paganism|Pagan]]
 
|type          = [[Gaels|Gaelic]], [[Celts|Celtic]], [[Paganism|Pagan]]
|image        =   
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|image        =  Beltane 2019 Edinburgh Calton Hill.jpg
|caption      =  
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|caption      = Beltane Fire Festival 2019, Calton Hill, Edinburgh
 
|official_name =  
 
|official_name =  
 
|nickname      = Lá Bealtaine, Bealltainn, Beltain, Beltaine
 
|nickname      = Lá Bealtaine, Bealltainn, Beltain, Beltaine
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|relatedto    = [[Walpurgis Night]], [[May Day]]
 
|relatedto    = [[Walpurgis Night]], [[May Day]]
 
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'''Beltane''' ({{pron-en|ˈbɛltən}}) is the anglicized spelling of ''Bealtaine'' or ''Bealltainn'', the [[Goidelic languages|Gaelic]] names for either the month of May or the festival that takes place on the first day of May.
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'''Beltane''' ({{pron-en|ˈbɛltən}}) is the anglicized spelling of ''Bealtaine'' or ''Bealltainn'', the [[Goidelic languages|Gaelic]] names for either the month of May or the festival that takes place on the first day of May. In [[Irish language|Irish Gaelic]] the month of May is known as ''Mí Bealtaine'' or ''Bealtaine''  and the festival as ''Lá Bealtaine'' ('day of Bealtaine' or, '[[May Day]]'). In [[Scottish Gaelic]] the month is known as either  ''(An) Cèitean'' or ''a' Mhàigh'', and the festival is known as ''Latha Bealltainn'' or simply ''Bealltainn''. The feast was also known as ''Céad Shamhain'' or ''Cétshamhainin'' from which the word ''Céitean'' derives.
  
In [[Irish language|Irish Gaelic]] the month of May is known as ''Mí Bealtaine'' or ''Bealtaine''  and the festival as ''Lá Bealtaine'' ('day of Bealtaine' or, '[[May Day]]'). In [[Scottish Gaelic]] the month is known as either  ''(An) Cèitean'' or ''a' Mhàigh'', and the festival is known as ''Latha Bealltainn'' or simply ''Bealltainn''. The feast was also known as ''Céad Shamhain'' or ''Cétshamhainin'' from which the word ''Céitean'' derives.
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As an ancient [[Gaels|Gaelic]] festival, Beltane was celebrated in [[Ireland]], [[Scotland]], and the [[Isle of Man]]. There were similar festivals held at the same time in the other [[Celt]]ic countries of [[Wales]], [[Brittany]], and [[Cornwall]].  
 
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{{toc}}
As an ancient [[Gaels|Gaelic]] festival, Bealtaine was celebrated in [[Ireland]], [[Scotland]] and the [[Isle of Man]]. There were similar festivals held at the same time in the other [[Celt]]ic countries of [[Wales]], [[Brittany]] and [[Cornwall]]. Bealtaine and [[Samhain]] were the leading terminal dates of the civil year in Ireland though the latter festival was the most important. The festival survives in folkloric practices in the [[Celtic Nations]] and the [[Irish diaspora|diaspora]], and has experienced a degree of revival in recent decades.
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Beltane was one of four Gaelic seasonal festivals: [[Samhain]], [[Imbolc]], Beltane, and [[Lughnasadh]]. Beltane (the beginning of summer) and Samhain (the beginning of winter) are thought to have been the most important. The festival survives in folkloric practices in the [[Celtic Nations]] and the [[Irish diaspora|diaspora]], and has experienced a degree of revival since the late twentieth century.
  
 
==Etymology==
 
==Etymology==
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Since the early twentieth century it has been commonly accepted that [[Old Irish]] ''Beltaine'' is derived from a [[Common Celtic]] ''*belo-te(p)niâ'', meaning "bright fire." The element ''*belo-'' might be cognate with the English word ''bale'' (as in 'bale-fire') meaning 'white' or 'shining'; compare [[Old English]] ''bael'', and [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]]/[[Latvian language|Latvian]] ''baltas/balts'', found in the name of the [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]]; in [[Slavic languages]] ''byelo'' or ''beloye'' also means 'white', as in ''Беларусь'' ([[White Russia]] or [[Belarus]]) or ''Бе́лое мо́ре'' ([[White Sea]]).
  
Since the early 20th century it has been commonly accepted that [[Old Irish]] ''Beltaine'' is derived from a [[Common Celtic]] ''*belo-te(p)niâ'', meaning "bright fire". The element ''*belo-'' might be cognate with the English word ''bale'' (as in 'bale-fire') meaning 'white' or 'shining'; compare [[Old English]] ''bael'', and [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]]/[[Latvian language|Latvian]] ''baltas/balts'', found in the name of the [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]]; in [[Slavic languages]] ''byelo'' or ''beloye'' also means 'white', as in ''Беларусь'' ([[White Russia]] or [[Belarus]]) or ''Бе́лое мо́ре'' ([[White Sea]]). A more recent etymology by Xavier Delamarre would derive it from a Common Celtic ''*Beltinijā'', cognate with the name of the Lithuanian goddess of death ''[[Giltinė]]'', the root of both being [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] ''*gʷelH-'' ("suffering, death").<ref>Delamarre, Xavier. Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise, Editions Errance, Paris, 2003, p. 70</ref>
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A more recent etymology by Xavier Delamarre suggests it derives from a Common Celtic ''*Beltinijā'', cognate with the name of the [[Lithuania]]n goddess of death ''[[Giltinė]]'', the root of both being [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] ''*gʷelH-'' ("suffering, death").<ref>Xavier Delamarre, ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise'' (Paris:Editions Errance, 2008, ISBN 978-2877723695). </ref>
 
 
In Ó Duinnín's Irish dictionary (1904), Beltane is referred to as ''Céadamh(ain)'' which it explains is short for ''Céad-shamh(ain)'' meaning "first (of) summer". The dictionary also states that ''Dia Céadamhan'' is May Day and ''Mí Céadamhan'' is the month of May.
 
 
 
The word ''Beltane'' derives directly from the [[Old Irish]] ''Beltain'', which later evolved into the [[Irish language|Modern Irish]] ''Bealtaine'' (pr. 'byol-tana'). In [[Scottish Gaelic]] it is spelled ''Bealltainn''.<ref name="SMO"> ''[http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/faclair/sbg/lorg.php?facal=Bealltainn&seorsa=Gaidhlig&tairg=Lorg&eis_saor=on Stòr-dàta Briathrachais Gàidhlig - Rùachadh]''. Sabhal Mòr Ostaig&nbsp;—Colaiste Ghàidhlig na h-Alba </ref> Both are from Old Irish ''Beltene'' ('bright fire') from ''belo-te(p)niâ''. Beltane was formerly spelled 'Bealtuinn' in Scottish Gaelic; in Manx it is spelt 'Boaltinn' or 'Boaldyn'.
 
 
 
In Modern Irish, ''Oidhche Bealtaine or Oíche Bealtaine'' is May Eve, and ''Lá Bealtaine'' is May Day. ''Mí na Bealtaine'', or simply ''Bealtaine'' is the name of the month of May.
 
 
 
In the word ''belo-te(p)niâ'') the element ''belo-'' is cognate with the English word ''bale'' (as in 'bale-fire'), the [[Anglo-Saxon language|Anglo-Saxon]] ''bael'', and also the [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] ''baltas'', meaning 'white' or 'shining' and from which the [[Baltic Sea]] takes its name.
 
 
 
In [[Goidelic languages|Gaelic]] the terminal vowel ''-o'' (from ''Belo'') was dropped, as shown by numerous other transformations from early or Proto-Celtic to [[Early Irish]], thus the Gaulish deity names [[Belenos]] ('bright one') and [[Belisama]].
 
 
 
From the same [[Proto-Celtic]] roots we get a wide range of other words: the verb ''beothaich'', from Early Celtic ''belo-thaich'' ('to kindle, light, revive, or re-animate'); ''baos'', from ''baelos'' ('shining'); ''beòlach'' ('ashes with hot embers') from ''beò''/''belo'' + ''luathach'', ('shiny-ashes' or 'live-ashes'). Similarly ''boil''/''boile'' ('fiery madness'), through Irish ''buile'' and Early Irish ''baile''/''boillsg'' ('gleam'), and ''bolg-s-cio-'', related to [[Latin]] ''fulgeo'' ('shine'), and English 'effulgent'.
 
 
 
According to the Gaelic scholar Dáithí Ó hÓgáin '''Céad Shamhain''' or Cétshamhainin means "first half," which he links to the Gaulish word ''samonios'' (which he suggest means "half a year") as in the end of the "first half" of the year that begins at [[Samhain]]. According to Ó hÓgáin this term was also used in Scottish Gaelic and Welsh. In Ó Duinnín's Irish dictionary it is referred to as ''Céadamh(ain)'' which it explains is short for Céad-shamh(ain) meaning "first (of) summer." The dictionary also states that ''Dia Céadamhan'' is May Day and ''Mí Céadamhan'' is May
 
 
 
  
 
==Origins==
 
==Origins==
In [[Irish mythology]], the beginning of the summer season for the [[Tuatha Dé Danann]] and the [[Milesians (Irish)|Milesians]] started at Bealtaine. Great bonfires would mark a time of purification and transition, heralding in the season in the hope of a good harvest later in the year, and were accompanied with ritual acts to protect the people from any harm by [[Other World|Otherworldly]] spirits, such as the ''[[Aos Sí]]''. Like the festival of [[Samhain]], which is celebrated on October 31st the opposite position in the year, Beltane was a time when the [[Otherworld]] was seen as particularly close at hand.
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Beltane is a [[cross-quarter day]], marking the midpoint in the [[Sun]]'s progress between the [[spring equinox]] and summer [[solstice]]. Since the Celtic year was based on both lunar and solar cycles, it is possible that the holiday was celebrated on the full moon nearest the midpoint between the spring [[equinox]] and the summer solstice. The [[astronomy|astronomical]] date for this midpoint is closer to May 5th or May 7th, but this can vary from year to year.<ref name="Dames">Michael Dames, ''Mythic Ireland'' (London: Thames & Hudson, 1996, ISBN 978-0500278727).</ref>
  
Early Gaelic sources from around the tenth century state that the [[druid]]s of the community would create a [[need-fire]] on top of a hill on this day and drive the village's cattle through the fires to purify them and bring luck (''Eadar dà theine Bhealltainn'' in [[Scottish Gaelic]], 'Between two fires of Beltane'). This term is also found in Irish and is used as a turn of phrase to describe a situation which is difficult to escape from. In Scotland, boughs of [[juniper]] were sometimes thrown on the fires to add an additional element of purification and blessing to the smoke. People would also pass between the two fires to purify themselves. This was echoed throughout history after [[Christianization]], with lay people instead of Druid priests creating the need-fire. The festival persisted widely up until the 1950s, and in some places the celebration of Beltane continues today.<ref name="MacKillop">James MacKillop, ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology'' (Oxford University Press, 2000, ISBN 978-0192801203).</ref><ref name="McNeill2">McNeill (1959) Vol. 2. p.63</ref><ref name="Campbell">Campbell, John Gregorson (1900, 1902, 2005) ''The Gaelic Otherworld''. Edited by Ronald Black. Edinburgh, Birlinn Ltd. ISBN 1-84158-207-7 p.552-4</ref>
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Beltane was one of four Gaelic seasonal festivals: [[Samhain]] (~1 November), [[Imbolc]] (~1 February), Beltane (~1 May), and [[Lughnasadh]] (~1 August). Beltane (the beginning of summer) and Samhain (the beginning of winter) are thought to have been the most important of the four. Sir [[James George Frazer]] wrote in ''[[The Golden Bough|The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion]]'' that the times of Beltane and Samhain are of little importance to European crop-growers, but of great importance to herdsmen. Thus, he suggests that halving the year at the beginning May and November dates from a time when the Celts were mainly a pastoral people, dependent on their herds.<ref name=Frazer/>
  
In [[Wales]], the day is known as ''[[Calan Mai]]'', and the [[Gaulish]] name for the day is ''Belotenia''<ref name="MacKillop"/>
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The earliest mention of Beltane is in [[Old Irish literature]] from [[Gaelic Ireland]]. According to the early medieval texts ''[[Sanas Cormaic]]'' and ''[[Tochmarc Emire]]'', Beltane was held on May 1st and marked the beginning of summer. The texts say that, to protect [[cattle]] from [[disease]], the [[druid]]s would make two fires "with great incantations" and drive the cattle between them.<ref> Kuno Meyer (ed.), ''Sanas Cormaic: Cormac's Glossary'' (Llanerch Press, 1994, ISBN 978-1897853269).</ref>
  
For the [[Celt]]s, Beltane marked the beginning of the pastoral summer season when the herds of livestock were driven out to the summer pastures and mountain grazing lands. Due to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, ''Bealltainn'' in Scotland was commonly celebrated on May 15 while in Ireland ''Sean Bhealtain'' / "Old May" began about the night of May 11.{{fact|date=April 2008}} The lighting of [[bonfire]]s on ''Oidhche Bhealtaine'' ('the eve of ''Bealtaine''') on mountains and hills of ritual and political significance was one of the main activities of the festival.<ref name="Danaher"> Kevin Danaher, ''The Year in Ireland'' (Dublin: Mercier, 1971, ISBN 978-1856350938). </ref><ref name="Chadwick"> Nora Chadwick, ''The Celts'' (Penguin, 1981, ISBN 978-0140212112).</ref> In modern [[Scottish Gaelic]], ''Latha Buidhe Bealtuinn'' ('the yellow day of Bealltain') is used to describe the first day of May. This term ''Lá Buidhe Bealtaine'' is also used in Irish and is translated as 'Bright May Day'. In Ireland it is referred to in a common folk tale as ''Luan Lae Bealtaine''; the first day of the week (Monday/''Luan'') is added to emphasise the first day of summer.
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In [[Irish mythology]], the beginning of the summer season for the [[Tuatha Dé Danann]] and the [[Milesians (Irish)|Milesians]] started at Beltane. Great bonfires would mark a time of purification and transition, heralding in the season in the hope of a good harvest later in the year, and were accompanied with ritual acts to protect the people from any harm by [[Otherworld]]ly spirits, such as the ''[[Aos Sí]]''. Like the festival of [[Samhain]], celebrated on October 31st which is the opposite position in the year, Beltane was a time when the Otherworld was seen as particularly close at hand.
 
 
In ancient Ireland the main Bealtaine fire was held on the central hill of [[Uisneach]] 'the navel of Ireland', one of the ritual centres of the country, which is located in what is now [[County Westmeath]]. In Ireland the lighting of bonfires on ''Oidhche Bhealtaine'' seems only to have survived to the present day in [[County Limerick]], especially in [[Limerick]] itself, as their yearly bonfire night, though some cultural groups have expressed an interest in reviving the custom at Uisneach and perhaps at the [[Hill of Tara]].<ref>Aideen O'Leary reports ("An Irish Apocryphal Apostle: Muirchú's Portrayal of Saint Patrick" ''The Harvard Theological Review'' '''89'''.3 [July 1996:287-301] p. 289) that, for didactic and dramatic purposes, the festival of Beltane, as presided over by Patrick's opponent King [[Lóegaire mac Néill]], was moved to the eve of Easter and from Uisneach to Tara by [[Muirchu moccu Machtheni|Muirchú]] (late seventh century) in his ''Vita sancti Patricii''; he describes the festival as ''in Temora, istorium Babylone'' ('at Tara, their Babylon'). However there is no authentic connection of Tara with Babylon, nor any know connection of Tara with Beltane.</ref>
 
The lighting of a community Bealtaine fire from which individual hearth fires are then relit is also observed in modern times in some parts of the Celtic diaspora and by some [[Neopaganism|Neopagan]] groups, though in the majority of these cases this practice is a cultural revival rather than an unbroken survival of the ancient tradition.<ref name="MacKillop"/><ref name="Dames">Michael Dames, ''Mythic Ireland'' (London: Thames & Hudson, 1996, ISBN 978-0500278727).</ref><ref name="Danaher"/> <ref name="McNeill">F. Marian McNeill, ''Silver Bough: Calendar of Scottish National Festivals, Vols. 1-4'' (Glasgow: Stuart Titles Ltd, 1990, ISBN 978-0948474040).</ref>
 
 
 
Another common aspect of the festival which survived up until the early twentieth century in Ireland was the hanging of May Boughs on the doors and windows of houses and the erection of May Bushes in farmyards, which usually consisted either of a branch of [[rowan]]/''caorthann'' (mountain ash) or more commonly [[Common Hawthorn|whitethorn]]/''sceach geal'' (hawthorn) which is in bloom at the time and is commonly called the 'May Bush' or just 'May' in [[Hiberno-English]]. [[Furze]]/''aiteann'' was also used for the May Boughs, May Bushes and as fuel for the bonfire. The practice of decorating the May Bush or ''Dos Bhealtaine'' with flowers, ribbons, garlands and colored egg shells has survived to some extent among the diaspora as well, most notably in Newfoundland, and in some [[Easter]] traditions observed on the [[East Coast of the United States]].<ref name="Danaher"/>
 
 
 
Bealtaine is a [[cross-quarter day]], marking the midpoint in the [[Sun]]'s progress between the [[spring equinox]] and summer [[solstice]]. Since the Celtic year was based on both lunar and solar cycles, it is possible that the holiday was celebrated on the full moon nearest the midpoint between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. The [[astronomy|astronomical]] date for this midpoint is closer to May 5 or May 7, but this can vary from year to year.<ref name="Dames"/>
 
 
 
Placenames in Ireland which contain remnants of the word 'Bealtaine' include a number of places called 'Beltany' - indicating places where Bealtaine festivities were once held. There are two 'Beltany's in [[County Donegal]], one near [[Raphoe]] and the other in the parish of Tulloghobegly. Two others are located in [[County Tyrone]], one near [[Clogher]] and the other in the parish of Cappagh. In the parish of Kilmore, [[County Armagh]], there is a place called Tamnaghvelton/''Tamhnach Bhealtaine'' ('field of the Bealtaine festivities'). Lisbalting/''Lios Bealtaine'' ('fort or enclosure of Bealtaine') is located in Kilcash Parish, County Tipperary. Glasheennabaultina ('the Bealtaine stream') is the name of a stream joining the River Galey near Athea, [[County Limerick]].
 
  
 
==Customs==
 
==Customs==
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For the [[Celt]]s, Beltane marked the beginning of the pastoral summer season when the herds of livestock were driven out to the summer pastures and mountain grazing lands.<ref name=hutton>Ronald Hutton, ''The Stations Of The Sun'' (Oxford University Press, 2001, ISBN 978-0192854483).</ref><ref name=monaghan>Patricia Monaghan, ''The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore'' (Checkmark Books, 2008, ISBN 978-0816075560).</ref><ref name=koch> John T. Koch, ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia'' (ABC-CLIO, 2005, ISBN 978-1851094400).</ref> Rituals were held at that time to protect them from harm, both natural and supernatural, and this mainly involved the "symbolic use of fire."<ref name=hutton/> There were also rituals to protect crops, dairy products, and people, and to encourage growth. The ''[[aos sí|sí]]'' (often described as 'the spirits' or 'the fairies') were thought to be especially active at Beltane (as at Samhain) and the goal of many Beltane rituals was to appease the ''sí''.<ref name=hutton/><ref name=monaghan/> Beltaine was a "spring time festival of optimism" during which "fertility ritual again was important, perhaps connecting with the waxing power of the sun."<ref name="Chadwick"/>
  
Beltane was one of four Gaelic seasonal festivals: [[Samhain]] (~1 November), [[Imbolc]] (~1 February), Beltane (~1 May) and [[Lughnasadh]] (~1 August). Beltane (the beginning of summer) and Samhain (the beginning of winter) are thought to have been the most important of the four Gaelic festivals. Sir [[James George Frazer]] wrote in ''[[The Golden Bough|The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion]]'' that the times of Beltane and Samhain are of little importance to European crop-growers, but of great importance to herdsmen. Thus, he suggests that halving the year at 1 May and 1 November dates from a time when the Celts were mainly a pastoral people, dependent on their herds.<ref name=Frazer/>
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===Bonfires===
 +
The lighting of [[bonfire]]s on ''Oidhche Bhealtaine'' (the eve of Bealtaine) on mountains and hills of ritual and political significance was one of the main activities of the festival.<ref name="Danaher"> Kevin Danaher, ''The Year in Ireland'' (Dublin: Mercier, 1971, ISBN 978-1856350938). </ref><ref name="Chadwick"> Nora Chadwick, ''The Celts'' (Penguin, 1981, ISBN 978-0140212112).</ref>
  
Beltane marked the beginning of the pastoral summer season, when livestock were driven out to the summer pastures.<ref name=hutton>Ronald Hutton, ''The Stations Of The Sun'' (Oxford University Press, 2001, ISBN 978-0192854483).</ref><ref name=monaghan>Patricia Monaghan, ''The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore'' (Checkmark Books, 2008, ISBN 978-0816075560).</ref><ref name=koch> John T. Koch, ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia'' (ABC-CLIO, 2005, ISBN 978-1851094400). </ref> Rituals were held at that time to protect them from harm, both natural and supernatural, and this mainly involved the "symbolic use of fire".<ref name=hutton/> There were also rituals to protect crops, dairy products and people, and to encourage growth. The ''[[aos sí|sí]]'' (often described as 'the spirits' or 'the fairies') were thought to be especially active at Beltane (as at Samhain) and the goal of many Beltane rituals was to appease the ''sí''.<ref name=hutton/><ref name=monaghan/> Beltaine was a "spring time festival of optimism" during which "fertility ritual again was important, perhaps connecting with the waxing power of the sun".<ref name="Chadwick"/>
+
Early Gaelic sources from around the tenth century state that the [[druid]]s of the community would create a [[need-fire]] on top of a hill on this day and drive the village's cattle through the fires to purify them and bring luck (''Eadar dà theine Bhealltainn'' in [[Scottish Gaelic]], 'Between two fires of Beltane'). This term is also found in Irish and is used as a turn of phrase to describe a situation which is difficult to escape from. In Scotland, boughs of [[juniper]] were sometimes thrown on the fires to add an additional element of purification and blessing to the smoke. People would also pass between the two fires to purify themselves. This was echoed throughout history after [[Christianization]], with lay people instead of Druid priests creating the need-fire. The festival persisted widely up until the 1950s, and in some places the celebration of Beltane continues today.<ref name="MacKillop">James MacKillop, ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology'' (Oxford University Press, 2000, ISBN 978-0192801203).</ref><ref name="Campbell">John Gregorson Campbell, ''The Gaelic Otherworld'' (Edinburgh, Birlinn Ltd., 2005, ISBN 978-1841582078).</ref>
  
The earliest mention of Beltane is in [[Old Irish literature]] from [[Gaelic Ireland]]. According to the early medieval texts ''[[Sanas Cormaic]]'' and ''[[Tochmarc Emire]]'', Beltane was held on May 1st and marked the beginning of summer. The texts say that, to protect cattle from disease, the [[druid]]s would make two fires "with great incantations" and drive the cattle between them.<ref> Kuno Meyer (ed.), ''Sanas Cormaic: Cormac's Glossary'' (Llanerch Press, 1994, ISBN 978-1897853269).</ref>
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According to seventeenth century historian [[Geoffrey Keating]], there was a great gathering at the hill of [[Uisneach]] each Beltane in medieval Ireland, where a sacrifice was made to a god named Beil. Keating wrote that two bonfires would be lit in every district of Ireland, and cattle would be driven between them to protect them from disease.<ref>Geoffrey Keating, [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100054/index.html ''The History of Ireland''] Translated by David Comyn and Patrick S. Dinneen. CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts. Retrieved May 3, 2022.</ref> Excavations at Uisneach in the twentieth century found evidence of large fires and charred bones, showing it to have been ritually significant.<ref name=patterson2>Nerys T. Patterson, ''Cattle Lords and Clansmen: The Social Structure of Early Ireland'' (University of Notre Dame Press, 1994, ISBN 978-0268008000). </ref><ref name="MacKillop"/>
  
===Bonfires===
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Bonfires continued to be a key part of the festival, and were generally lit on mountains and hills.<ref name="Chadwick"/><ref name="Danaher"/> In the nineteenth century, for example, John Ramsay described Scottish Highlanders kindling a [[need-fire]] or [[force-fire]] at Beltane. Such a fire was deemed sacred.<ref name=hutton/> In the nineteenth century, the ritual of driving cattle between two fires—as described in ''Sanas Cormaic'' almost 1000 years before—was still practiced across most of Ireland<ref name=hutton/> and in parts of Scotland.<ref name=monaghan/> Sometimes the cattle would be driven ''around'' a bonfire or be made to leap over flames or embers. The people themselves would do likewise.<ref name=hutton/> In the Isle of Man, people ensured that the smoke blew over them and their cattle.<ref name=koch/> In [[County Dublin]], the skull and bones of a horse were burnt on the bonfires.<ref name=monaghan/> On Beltane Eve, all [[hearth]] fires and candles would be doused and, at the end of the festival, they would be re-lit from the Beltane bonfire.<ref name=hutton/><ref name=monaghan/> When the bonfire had died down, its ashes were thrown among the sprouting crops. From these rituals, it is clear that the fire was seen as having protective powers.<ref name=hutton/> Similar rituals were part of May Day, Midsummer, or Easter customs in other parts of the British Isles and mainland Europe. According to Frazer, the fire rituals are a kind of [[sympathetic magic|imitative or sympathetic magic]]. According to one theory, they were meant to mimic the Sun and to "ensure a needful supply of sunshine for men, animals, and plants." According to another, they were meant to symbolically "burn up and destroy all harmful influences."<ref name=Frazer/>
According to seventeenth century historian [[Geoffrey Keating]], there was a great gathering at the hill of [[Uisneach]] each Beltane in medieval Ireland, where a sacrifice was made to a god named Beil. Keating wrote that two bonfires would be lit in every district of Ireland, and cattle would be driven between them to protect them from disease.<ref>Geoffrey Keating, [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100054/index.html ''The History of Ireland''] Translated by David Comyn and Patrick S. Dinneen. CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts. Retrieved December 23, 2013.</ref> There is no reference to such a gathering in the [[Irish annals]], but the medieval ''[[Dindsenchas]]'' includes a tale of a hero lighting a holy fire on Uisneach that blazed for seven years. Ronald Hutton writes that this may "preserve a tradition of Beltane ceremonies there", but adds "Keating or his source may simply have conflated this legend with the information in ''Sanas Chormaic'' to produce a piece of pseudo-history".<ref name=hutton/> Nevertheless, excavations at Uisneach in the twentieth century found evidence of large fires and charred bones, showing it to have been ritually significant.<ref name=patterson2>Nerys T. Patterson, ''Cattle Lords and Clansmen: The Social Structure of Early Ireland'' (University of Notre Dame Press, 1994, ISBN 978-0268008000). </ref><ref name="MacKillop"/>
 
  
Bonfires continued to be a key part of the festival in the modern era, and were generally lit on mountains and hills.<ref name="Chadwick"/><ref name="Danaher"/> Ronald Hutton wrote that "To increase the potency of the holy flames, in Britain at least they were often kindled by the most primitive of all means, of friction between wood".<ref name=hutton/> In the nineteenth century, for example, John Ramsay described Scottish Highlanders kindling a [[need-fire]] or [[force-fire]] at Beltane. Such a fire was deemed sacred.<ref name=hutton/> In the nineteenth century, the ritual of driving cattle between two fires—as described in ''Sanas Cormaic'' almost 1000 years before—was still practiced across most of Ireland<ref name=hutton/> and in parts of Scotland.<ref name=monaghan/> Sometimes the cattle would be driven ''around'' a bonfire or be made to leap over flames or embers. The people themselves would do likewise.<ref name=hutton/> In the Isle of Man, people ensured that the smoke blew over them and their cattle.<ref name=koch/> In [[County Dublin]], the skull and bones of a horse were burnt on the bonfires.<ref name=monaghan/> On Beltane Eve, all [[hearth]] fires and candles would be doused and, at the end of the festival, they would be re-lit from the Beltane bonfire.<ref name=hutton/><ref name=monaghan/> When the bonfire had died down, its ashes were thrown among the sprouting crops. From these rituals, it is clear that the fire was seen as having protective powers.<ref name=hutton/> Similar rituals were part of May Day, Midsummer, or Easter customs in other parts of the British Isles and mainland Europe. According to Frazer, the fire rituals are a kind of [[sympathetic magic|imitative or sympathetic magic]]. According to one theory, they were meant to mimic the Sun and to "ensure a needful supply of sunshine for men, animals, and plants". According to another, they were meant to symbolically "burn up and destroy all harmful influences".<ref name=Frazer/>
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In the Scottish Highlands, food was cooked at the bonfire following certain rituals. In 1769, [[Thomas Pennant]] wrote that, in [[Perthshire]], a [[caudle]] made from eggs, butter, oatmeal, and milk was cooked on the bonfire. Some of the mixture was poured on the ground as a [[libation]]. Everyone present would then take an oatmeal cake. A piece was offered to the spirits to protect their livestock (one piece to protect the horses, one to protect the sheep, and so forth) and a piece was offered to each of the animals that might harm their livestock (one to the fox, one to the eagle, and so forth). Afterwards, they would drink the caudle.<ref name=hutton/><ref name=monaghan/>
  
In the Scottish Highlands, food was cooked at the bonfire following certain rituals. In 1769, [[Thomas Pennant]] wrote that, in [[Perthshire]], a [[caudle]] made from eggs, butter, oatmeal, and milk was cooked on the bonfire. Some of the mixture was poured on the ground as a [[libation]]. Everyone present would then take an oatmeal cake. A bit of it was offered to the spirits to protect their livestock (one bit to protect the horses, one bit to protect the sheep, and so forth) and a bit was offered to each of the animals that might harm their livestock (one to the fox, one to the eagle, and so forth). Afterwards, they would drink the caudle.<ref name=hutton/><ref name=monaghan/>
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===Flowers and May Bushes===
 
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Another common aspect of the festival which survived up until the early twentieth century was the hanging of May Boughs on the doors and windows of houses and the erection of May Bushes in farmyards, which usually consisted either of a branch of [[rowan]]/''caorthann'' (mountain ash) or more commonly [[Common Hawthorn|whitethorn]]/''sceach geal'' (hawthorn) which is in bloom at the time and is commonly called the 'May Bush' or just 'May' in [[Hiberno-English]]. [[Furze]]/''aiteann'' was also used for the May Boughs, May Bushes and as fuel for the bonfire.  
According to eighteenth century writers, in parts of Scotland there was another ritual involving the oatmeal cake. In this ritual, the cake (called the ''bannoch Bealltainn'' or "Beltane cake") would be cut and one of the slices marked with charcoal. The slices would then be put in a [[Bonnet (headgear)|bonnet]] and everyone would take one out while blindfolded. According to one writer, whomever got the marked piece would have to leap through the fire three times. According to another, those present would pretend to throw him into the fire and, for some time afterwards, they would speak of him as if he were dead. This "may embody a memory of actual human sacrifice", or it may have always been symbolic.<ref name=hutton/> A similar ritual (pretending to burn someone in the fire) was practiced at spring and summer bonfire festivals in other parts of Europe.<ref name=Frazer/>
 
  
===Flowers and May Bushes===
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The May Bush was popular in parts of Ireland until the late nineteenth century.<ref name=monaghan/> This was small tree, typically a thorn tree, that would be decorated with bright flowers, ribbons, painted shells, and so forth. There were household May Bushes (which would be set outside each house) and communal May Bushes (which would be set in a public spot or paraded around the neighborhood). In [[Dublin]] and [[Belfast]], May Bushes were brought into town from the countryside and decorated by the whole neighborhood.<ref name=monaghan/> In some places, it was customary to dance around the May Bush, and at the end of the festivities it was burned in the bonfire.<ref name=clark>Katharine Clark, ''An Irish Book of Shadows'' (Galde Press, 2001, ISBN 978-1880090992).</ref> The practice of decorating the May Bush or ''Dos Bhealtaine'' with flowers, ribbons, garlands, and colored egg shells has survived to some extent among the diaspora as well, most notably in Newfoundland, and in some [[Easter]] traditions observed on the [[East Coast of the United States]].<ref name="Danaher"/>
Yellow flowers such as [[Primula vulgaris|primrose]], [[rowan]], [[Crataegus monogyna|hawthorn]], [[gorse]], [[hazel]] and [[Caltha palustris|marsh marigold]] were set at doorways and windows in 19th century Ireland, Scotland and Mann. Sometimes loose flowers were strewn at the doors and windows and sometimes they would be made into [[flower bouquet|bouquets]], [[garland]]s or crosses and fastened to them. They would also be fastened to cows and equipment for milking and butter making. It is likely that such flowers were used because they evoked fire.<ref name=hutton/> Similar May Day customs are found across Europe.
 
  
The May Bush was popular in parts of Ireland until the late nineteenth century.<ref name=monaghan/> This was small tree, typically a thorn tree, that would be decorated with bright flowers, ribbons, painted shells, and so forth. There were household May Bushes (which would be set outside each house) and communal May Bushes (which would be set in a public spot or paraded around the neighborhood). In [[Dublin]] and [[Belfast]], May Bushes were brought into town from the countryside and decorated by the whole neighbourhood.<ref name=monaghan/> In some places, it was customary to dance around the May Bush, and at the end of the festivities it was burnt in the bonfire.<ref name=clark>Katharine Clark, ''An Irish Book of Shadows'' (Galde Press, 2001, ISBN 978-1880090992).</ref>
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Yellow flowers such as [[Primula vulgaris|primrose]], [[rowan]], [[Crataegus monogyna|hawthorn]], [[gorse]], [[hazel]], and [[Caltha palustris|marsh marigold]] were set at doorways and windows in nineteenth century Ireland, Scotland, and Mann. Sometimes loose flowers were strewn at the doors and windows and sometimes they would be made into [[flower bouquet]]s, [[garland]]s, or crosses and fastened to them. They would also be fastened to cows and equipment for milking and butter making. It is likely that such flowers were used because they evoked fire.<ref name=hutton/> Similar May Day customs are found across Europe.
  
Thorn trees were seen as special trees and were associated with the ''sí'' or fairies. The custom of decorating a May Bush or [[Maypole|May Tree]] was found in many parts of Europe. Frazer believed that such customs are a relic of [[tree worship]]: "The intention of these customs is to bring home to the village, and to each house, the blessings which the tree-spirit has in its power to bestow."<ref name=Frazer>James George Frazer, ''The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion'' (Suzeteo Enterprises, 2012, ISBN 978-19368304590).</ref> Sharon MacLeod wrote that May Bushes were set outside farmhouses "to encourage and protect the abundance of milk during the summer".<ref name=macleod>Sharon Paice MacLeod, ''Celtic Myth and Religion'' (McFarland, 2011). </ref>
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Thorn trees were seen as special trees and were associated with the ''sí'' or fairies. The custom of decorating a May Bush or [[Maypole|May Tree]] was found in many parts of Europe. Frazer believed that such customs are a relic of [[tree worship]]: "The intention of these customs is to bring home to the village, and to each house, the blessings which the tree-spirit has in its power to bestow."<ref name=Frazer>James George Frazer, ''The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion'' (Suzeteo Enterprises, 2012, ISBN 978-1936830459).</ref> Sharon MacLeod wrote that May Bushes were set outside farmhouses "to encourage and protect the abundance of milk during the summer."<ref name=macleod>Sharon Paice MacLeod, ''Celtic Myth and Religion'' (McFarland, 2011, ISBN 978-0786464760). </ref>
  
 
===Other customs===
 
===Other customs===
 
[[Holy well]]s were often visited at Beltane, as well as at the other Gaelic festivals of [[Imbolc]] and [[Lughnasadh]]. Visitors to holy wells would pray for health while walking "[[sunwise]]" (moving from east to west) around the well. They would then leave offerings; typically [[coin]]s or [[clootie]]s (strips of cloth or rags).<ref name=monaghan/> The first water drawn from a well on Beltane was seen as being especially potent, as was Beltane morning [[dew]]. At dawn on Beltane, maidens would roll in the dew or wash their faces with it. It would also be collected in a jar, left in the sunlight, and then filtered. The dew was thought to maintain youthfulness, increase sexual attractiveness, and help with skin ailments.<ref name=koch/><ref name=clark/><ref name=macleod/>
 
[[Holy well]]s were often visited at Beltane, as well as at the other Gaelic festivals of [[Imbolc]] and [[Lughnasadh]]. Visitors to holy wells would pray for health while walking "[[sunwise]]" (moving from east to west) around the well. They would then leave offerings; typically [[coin]]s or [[clootie]]s (strips of cloth or rags).<ref name=monaghan/> The first water drawn from a well on Beltane was seen as being especially potent, as was Beltane morning [[dew]]. At dawn on Beltane, maidens would roll in the dew or wash their faces with it. It would also be collected in a jar, left in the sunlight, and then filtered. The dew was thought to maintain youthfulness, increase sexual attractiveness, and help with skin ailments.<ref name=koch/><ref name=clark/><ref name=macleod/>
  
People also took steps specifically to ward-off or allay the ''sí'' (who are often likened to [[fairies]]). This included turning one's clothing inside-out, carrying iron or salt, and leaving small offerings at the doorstep or at places associated with the ''sí''.<ref name=macleod/> In Ireland, cattle would be brought to '[[fairy fort]]s' and bled. The owners would taste the blood and then pour it into the earth with prayers for the herd's safety.<ref name=monaghan/> Sometimes the blood would be left to dry and then be burnt. It was thought that dairy products were especially at risk from the ''sí''. To protect farm produce and encourage fertility, farmers would lead a procession around the boundaries of their farm. They would "carry with them seeds of grain, implements of husbandry, the first well water, and the herb [[vervain]] (or [[rowan]] as a substitute). The procession generally stopped at the four cardinal points of the compass, beginning in the east, and rituals were performed in each of the four directions".<ref name=macleod/>
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People also took steps specifically to ward-off or allay the ''sí'' (who are often likened to [[fairies]]). This included turning one's clothing inside-out, carrying iron or salt, and leaving small offerings at the doorstep or at places associated with the ''sí''.<ref name=macleod/> In Ireland, cattle would be brought to '[[fairy fort]]s' and bled. The owners would taste the blood and then pour it into the earth with prayers for the herd's safety.<ref name=monaghan/> Sometimes the blood would be left to dry and then be burned. To protect farm produce and encourage fertility, farmers would lead a procession around the boundaries of their farm. They would "carry with them seeds of grain, implements of [[husbandry]], the first well water, and the herb [[vervain]] (or [[rowan]] as a substitute). The procession generally stopped at the four cardinal points of the compass, beginning in the east, and rituals were performed in each of the four directions."<ref name=macleod/>
  
The festival persisted widely up until the 1950s, and in some places the celebration of Beltane continues today.<ref name="MacKillop"/><ref name="McNeill2">McNeill (1959) Vol. 2. p.63</ref><ref name="Campbell">John Gregorson Campbell, ''The Gaelic Otherworld'' (Edinburgh, Birlinn Ltd., 2005, ISBN 978-1841582078).</ref>
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==Revival==
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[[File:Beltane Bonfire on Calton Hill.JPG|thumb|400 px|The bonfire lit on Calton Hill, [[Edinburgh]], to welcome Beltane morning, 2008.]]
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As a festival, Beltane had largely died out by the mid-twentieth century, although some of its customs continued. The lighting of a community Beltane fire from which each hearth fire is then relit is observed today in some parts of the [[Gaelic diaspora]], though in most of these cases it is a cultural revival rather than an unbroken survival of the ancient tradition.<ref name="Danaher"/><ref name="Dames"/><ref name="McNeill">F. Marian McNeill, ''Silver Bough: Calendar of Scottish National Festivals, Vols. 1-4'' (Glasgow: Stuart Titles Ltd, 1990, ISBN 978-0948474040).</ref>
  
==Revival==
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In some areas of [[Newfoundland]], the custom of decorating the May Bush is also still extant.<ref>[http://www.heritage.nf.ca/society/custom_may_bush.html The May Bush in Newfoundland]. Retrieved May 3, 2022.</ref> The town of [[Peebles]] in the [[Scottish Borders]] holds a traditional week-long "Beltane Fair" every year in June, when a local girl is crowned Beltane Queen on the steps of the parish church. Like other Borders festivals, it incorporates a [[Common Riding]].<ref>[http://beltane.peebles-theroyalburgh.info/ Peebles Beltane Festival]. Retrieved May 3, 2022.</ref>
[[File:Beltane Bonfire on Calton Hill.JPG|thumb|The bonfire lit on Calton Hill, Edinburgh, to welcome Beltane morning, 2008.]]
 
As a festival, Beltane had largely died-out by the mid-twentieth century, although some of its customs continued and in some places it has been revived as a cultural event. The lighting of a community Beltane fire from which each hearth fire is then relit is observed today in some parts of the [[Gaelic diaspora (disambiguation)|Gaelic diaspora]], though in most of these cases it is a cultural revival rather than an unbroken survival of the ancient tradition.<ref name="Danaher"/><ref name="Dames"/><ref name="McNeill">McNeill, F. Marian (1959) ''The Silver Bough'', Vol. 2. William MacLellan, Glasgow ISBN 0-85335-162-7 p. 56</ref> In some areas of Newfoundland, the custom of decorating the May Bush is also still extant.<ref>[http://www.heritage.nf.ca/society/custom_may_bush.html The May Bush in Newfoundland]. Retrieved December 17, 2013.</ref> The town of [[Peebles]] in the [[Scottish Borders]] holds a traditional week-long "Beltane Fair" every year in June, when a local girl is crowned Beltane Queen on the steps of the parish church. Like other Borders festivals, it incorporates a [[Common Riding]].<ref>[http://www.peeblesbeltanefestival.co.uk The History of Peebles Beltane Festival]. Retrieved December 17, 2013.</ref>
 
  
Since 1988, a [[Beltane Fire Festival]] has been held every year during the night of 30 April on [[Calton Hill, Edinburgh|Calton Hill]] in [[Edinburgh]], Scotland. While inspired by traditional Beltane, this festival is a modern arts and cultural event which incorporates myth and drama from a variety of world cultures and diverse literary sources.<ref>[http://www.beltane.org Beltane Fire Society The building blocks of a festival] - Beltane Fire Society. Retrieved December 17, 2013.</ref>
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Since 1988, a [[Beltane Fire Festival]] has been held every year during the night of 30 April on [[Calton Hill, Edinburgh|Calton Hill]] in [[Edinburgh]], Scotland. While inspired by traditional Beltane, this festival is a modern arts and cultural event which incorporates myth and drama from a variety of world cultures and diverse literary sources.<ref name=FireSociety>[http://www.beltane.org Beltane Fire Society] Retrieved May 3, 2022.</ref>
  
 
===Neopagan===
 
===Neopagan===
Beltane is observed by [[Neopaganism|Neopagan]]s in various forms, and by a variety of names. As forms of Neopaganism can be quite different and have very different origins, these representations can vary considerably despite the shared name. Some celebrate in a manner as close as possible to how the Ancient Celts and Living Celtic cultures have maintained the traditions, while others observe the holiday with rituals taken from numerous other unrelated sources, Celtic culture being only one of the sources used.<ref name="Adler">Margot Adler, ''Drawing Down the Moon'' (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1987, ISBN 978-0807032374).</ref>
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[[Image:Wheel of the Year.svg|right|400px|thumb|The '''Wheel of the Year''' in the [[Northern Hemisphere]]. In the [[Southern Hemisphere]] these festivals are commonly shifted by six months to match the local seasons. The '''Wheel of the Year''' is a [[Wicca]]n and [[Neopaganism|Neopagan]] term for the annual cycle of the [[Earth]]'s [[season]]s. It consists of eight festivals, spaced at approximately even intervals throughout the year. These festivals are referred to by Wiccans as Sabbats.]]
 
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Beltane is observed by [[Neopaganism|Neopagan]]s in various forms, and by a variety of names. Some celebrate in a manner as close as possible to how the Ancient [[Celts]] and Living Celtic cultures have maintained the traditions, while others observe the holiday with rituals taken from numerous other unrelated sources, Celtic culture being only one of the sources used.<ref name="Adler">Margot Adler, ''Drawing Down the Moon'' (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1987, ISBN 978-0807032374).</ref>
===Celtic Reconstructionist===
 
Like other [[Polytheistic reconstructionism|Reconstructionist]] traditions, [[Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism|Celtic Reconstructionist Pagans]] place emphasis on historical accuracy. They base their celebrations and rituals on traditional lore from the living Celtic cultures, as well as research into the older beliefs of the [[Celtic polytheism|polytheistic]] Celts.
 
 
 
Celtic Reconstructionists usually celebrate ''Lá Bealtaine'' when the local [[Common Hawthorn|hawthorn]] trees are in bloom, or on the full moon that falls closest to this event. Many observe the traditional bonfire rites, to whatever extent this is feasible where they live, including the dousing of the household hearth flame and relighting of it from the community festival fire. Some decorate May Bushes and prepare traditional festival foods. Pilgrimages to [[Clootie well|holy wells]] are traditional at this time, and offerings and prayers to the spirits or deities of the wells are usually part of this practice. Crafts such as the making of equal-armed [[rowan]] crosses are common, and often part of rituals performed for the blessing and protection of the household and land.<ref name="Bonewits">Isaac Bonewits, ''Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism'' (New York, NY: Citadel Press Inc., 2006, ISBN 978-0806527109).</ref><ref name="Healy">Elizabeth Healy, ''In Search of Ireland's Holy Wells'' (Merlin Publishing, 2001, ISBN 978-0863278655).</ref>
 
  
 
===Wicca===
 
===Wicca===
{{main|Wheel of the Year}}
 
[[Image:Wheel of the Year.svg|right|325px|thumb|The '''Wheel of the Year''' in the [[Northern Hemisphere]]. In the [[Southern Hemisphere]] these festivals are commonly shifted by six months to match the local seasons. The '''Wheel of the Year''' is a [[Wicca]]n and [[Neopaganism|Neopagan]] term for the annual cycle of the [[Earth]]'s [[season]]s. It consists of eight festivals, spaced at approximately even intervals throughout the year. These festivals are referred to by Wiccans as Sabbats.]]
 
 
[[Wicca]]ns and Wiccan-inspired Neopagans celebrate a variation of Beltane as a [[Wheel of the Year|sabbat]], one of the eight solar holidays. Although the holiday may use features of the Gaelic Bealtaine, such as the [[bonfire]], it bears more relation to the Germanic [[May Day]] festival, both in its significance (focusing on fertility) and its rituals (such as [[maypole]] dancing). Some Wiccans celebrate Beltane by enacting the marriage of the [[May Lord]] and [[Goddess|Lady]] with maypoles and bonfires.<ref name="SpiralDance">Starhawk, ''The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess'' (New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1989, ISBN 978-0062508140).</ref>
 
[[Wicca]]ns and Wiccan-inspired Neopagans celebrate a variation of Beltane as a [[Wheel of the Year|sabbat]], one of the eight solar holidays. Although the holiday may use features of the Gaelic Bealtaine, such as the [[bonfire]], it bears more relation to the Germanic [[May Day]] festival, both in its significance (focusing on fertility) and its rituals (such as [[maypole]] dancing). Some Wiccans celebrate Beltane by enacting the marriage of the [[May Lord]] and [[Goddess|Lady]] with maypoles and bonfires.<ref name="SpiralDance">Starhawk, ''The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess'' (New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1989, ISBN 978-0062508140).</ref>
  
 
Among the Wiccan sabbats, Beltane is a [[cross-quarter day]]; it is celebrated in the northern hemisphere on May 1 and in the southern hemisphere on November 1. Beltane follows [[Ostara]] and precedes [[Midsummer]].
 
Among the Wiccan sabbats, Beltane is a [[cross-quarter day]]; it is celebrated in the northern hemisphere on May 1 and in the southern hemisphere on November 1. Beltane follows [[Ostara]] and precedes [[Midsummer]].
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===Celtic Reconstructionist===
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[[Celtic Reconstructionist]]s usually celebrate ''Lá Bealtaine'' when the local [[Common Hawthorn|hawthorn]] trees are in bloom, or on the full moon that falls closest to this event. Many observe the traditional bonfire rites, to whatever extent this is feasible where they live, including the dousing of the household hearth flame and relighting of it from the community festival fire. Some decorate May Bushes and prepare traditional festival foods. [[Pilgrimage]]s to [[holy well]]s are traditional at this time, and offerings and prayers to the spirits or deities of the wells are usually part of this practice. Crafts such as the making of equal-armed [[rowan]] crosses are common, and often part of rituals performed for the blessing and protection of the household and land.<ref name="Bonewits">Isaac Bonewits, ''Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism'' (New York, NY: Citadel Press Inc., 2006, ISBN 978-0806527109).</ref><ref name="Healy">Elizabeth Healy, ''In Search of Ireland's Holy Wells'' (Merlin Publishing, 2001, ISBN 978-0863278655).</ref>
  
 
===Beltane Fire Festival in Edinburgh===
 
===Beltane Fire Festival in Edinburgh===
[[Image:The Phoenix and Sprites.JPG|thumb|left|250 px|The burning [[Phoenix (mythology)|Phoenix]] and sprites at the Beltane Fire Festival.]]  
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[[Image:The Phoenix and Sprites.JPG|thumb|right|400 px|The burning [[Phoenix (mythology)|Phoenix]] and sprites at the Beltane Fire Festival.]]  
[[Image:Beltane Dancers 2006.jpg|thumb|left|250 px|Fire festival dancers, 2006.]]
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[[Image:Beltane Dancers 2006.jpg|thumb|right|400 px|Fire festival dancers, 2006.]]
  
'''Beltane Fire Festival''' is an annual participatory arts event and ritual drama, held on April 30 on [[Calton Hill, Edinburgh|Calton Hill]] in [[Edinburgh]], [[Scotland]]. It is inspired by the ancient [[Gaels|Gaelic]] festival of Beltane which marked the beginning of summer.<ref>[http://beltanefiresociety.wordpress.com/a-detailed-history-of-beltane/ A Detailed History of Beltane], Beltane Fire Society. Retrieved December 17, 2013.</ref> The modern festival was started in 1988 by a small group of enthusiasts, with academic support from the School of Scottish Studies at the [[University of Edinburgh]]. Since then the festival has grown, with an audience of around 12 thousand people sharing the spectacular procession.
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The Beltane Fire Festival is an annual participatory arts event and ritual drama, held on April 30 on [[Calton Hill, Edinburgh|Calton Hill]] in [[Edinburgh]], [[Scotland]]. It is inspired by the ancient [[Gaels|Gaelic]] festival of Beltane which marked the beginning of summer.<ref>[https://beltane.org/a-detailed-history-of-beltane/ A Detailed History of Beltane] ''Beltane Fire Society''. Retrieved May 3, 2022.</ref> The modern festival was started in 1988 by a small group of enthusiasts, with academic support from the School of Scottish Studies at the [[University of Edinburgh]]. Since then the festival has grown, with an audience of over ten thousand people sharing the spectacular procession.  
  
The main event of the festival is the procession of performers, starting at the Acropolis ([[National Monument, Edinburgh|National Monument]]), who perform a ritual drama loosely based on some aspects of the pre-Christian festival of Beltane, and other mythologies from ancient cultures. The fertility of the land and animals is celebrated and encouraged. Led by one of the Blue Men, the procession's guides and guards, the [[Green Man]] (in winter guise) appears through the columns. Next the Need Fire is made; this is the making of fire by traditional methods, and all fire seen on the night is produced from this first flame. The Torchbearers and Processional Drummers are next over the top of the Acropolis, followed by the White Warrior Women and finally the [[May Queen]]. A horn signals the May Queen's birth, and the drums begin. The May Queen and her White Women, four of whom are her Handmaidens, proceed to be born of the Earth, greet the (four) [[cardinal direction]]s in back bends and bow to the crowd of spectators (in three directions). After they finally acknowledge the Earth and the sky, the Green Man (who has been watching this from the ground) is allowed to approach the May Queen at the very top. She accepts him as her consort and the procession begins, led by the May Queen. The four Handmaidens, White Women bodyguards and Processional Drummers then join the May Queen and Green Man, and all are flanked by Torchbearers and Stewards and guided and protected by four Blue Men onto one of the footpaths running along the top of Calton Hill.
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Originally intended to take place on [[Arthur's Seat]], the home of earlier Edinburgh Beltane celebrations, for practical reasons the location was moved to Calton Hill. While the festival draws on a variety of historical, mythological and literary influences, the organizers do not claim it to be anything other than "a modern celebration of Beltane," evolving with its participants.<ref name=FireSociety/>
  
The footpath reaches an intersection, and the May Queen spins to decide which direction to turn in, choosing the leftward path which leads to the Fire Arch. Between the intersection and Arch, the Handmaidens and White Women stir the air with their wands, gathering the energies of the Earth, while the Drummers change rhythms to indicate the difference in purpose.
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The main event of the festival is the Procession of the May Queen around the Hill, starting at the Acropolis ([[National Monument, Edinburgh|National Monument]]). Participants in the procession perform a ritual drama loosely based on some aspects of the pre-Christian festival of Beltane, and other mythologies from ancient cultures. Key elements include the death and rebirth of Green Man, and the lighting of the bonfire.
 
 
At the Fire Arch, the Guardians first greet the May Queen and Green Man, and perform a dance which represents the rituals necessary to open a path into the Underworld. As the procession passes through the Fire Arch, the Handmaidens and White Women begin to keen, mourning the losses of the world over the past year. This continues until the procession reaches the Point of the Element of Air.
 
 
 
At the ''Air Point'', performers representing the element of Air put on a display for the May Queen and Green Man and present them with a gift. Having awakened Air, the May Queen leads the procession through the point and around the side of the hill to the ''Earth Point'', which is situated in the midst of a stand of trees on the North-eastern side of Calton Hill. More dancers and acrobats perform for the May Queen and Green Man, and they are presented with a bannock bread before the procession continues again, passing through the point and around to ''Water Point'', on the Northern side of the hill with a view overlooking the [[Firth of Forth]]. Again a ritual performance occurs here, including the washing of the May Queen and Green Man's faces in the "dew." After this point's gift is presented the procession heads on to ''Fire Point''.
 
 
 
Again, dancers and acrobats perform and offer the May Queen and Green Man a gift. The procession wends its way down the side of the hill to a lower footpath, where the Handmaidens and White Women begin gathering the energies of the awakening Earth and sending them deep into the hill. The procession pauses below the [[City Observatory, Edinburgh|City Observatory]] to watch the Fire Point display on the hillside above and another gift is presented.
 
 
 
Once awakened by the power of the May Queen the Elements do not follow the procession but are drawn towards each other and move from their "points" towards a place where they can gather and unify, thus restoring the natural order.
 
 
 
Having awakened the four elements, the May Queen guides the procession around the Western side of the hill. The first of the Red Men, imps created with the May Queen's appearance at the Monument and representing the forces of Chaos, spot the procession as it passes below and are attracted to the May Queen and her Warriors. As the procession rounds the hill, the Red Men begin to taunt the White Women, and then stage a series of charges as the procession reaches the base of the hill on the South side of the Observatory. This represents the Red Men's interest in capturing the May Queen on behalf of their their lord the Green Man. The White Women ward the Red Men off in the end without 'killing' any of them as any unnecessary 'deaths' would lead to a lessening of the energies needed to bring about the change of the seasons from Winter to Summer.
 
 
 
The procession completes a full circle, arriving back at the path intersection, and turns to cross over the top of the hill and down into a valley where a stage has been set up for the final display. The Handmaidens perform a ritual to 'cleanse' the stage while the Torchbearers, Stewards and White Women form a circle around the open space surrounding the stage. The May Queen and Green Man mount the stage and the May Queen begins her ritual to awaken the Earth to summertime.
 
 
 
While she and her Handmaidens and the White Women begin to spin and focus the energies they have been gathering throughout the night, the Red Men are allowed to approach the stage and circle it, increasing the power further. Overcome with the May Queen's beauty and goaded by the presence of the Red Men, the Green Man can no longer resist and catches the May Queen. This act is strictly forbidden, and the Green Man is ritually killed by the Handmaidens, lifted and turned anticlockwise, his bulky Winter form stripped away and thrown to the Red Men, he is then turned clockwise and presented to the May Queen.
 
 
 
The May Queen takes pity on the Green Man and brings him back to life, like a young sapling breaking the earth after Winter's hoarfrost is melted away. Overwhelmed by the new life that fills him the Green Man dances presenting himself to the four directions, repeating the actions of the May Queen from the beginning of the procession.
 
 
 
The May Queen then crowns the Green Man and leads the procession up the hill to the bonfire, on a high Northern point overlooking the valley on the hill and the city of Edinburgh below. The White Women and Red Men surround the bonfire (making an outer and middle layer respectively) with the Handmaidens forming the innermost layer. A set of wax hands are then lit and the May Queen and the Green Man make their way into the very centre of the Reds and Whites. They walk around the bonfire with the lit wax hands three times, on the fourth circuit they light the bonfire with the flaming hands in four places. They then walk thrice more around the bonfire as the Beltane blessing is announced to the gathered people. The lighting of the bonfire signals the end of Winter and the coming of Summer, and the Green Man's Winter form is symbolically cast into the pyre. At the same time the stage is occupied by Fire Point, this symbolises the old tradition where farmers would drive their herds between two bonfires at this time of year to bless them.
 
 
 
Once the bonfire is lit, the procession passes through the crowds to the May Queen's Bower, on the side of the hill below and behind the Acropolis, where the procession can finally relax. The Fire Arch Guardians formally present their gift to the May Queen and Green Man, and [[Handfasting]]s are held as the couples are blessed and jump together over the Willow-switch withies of the Blue Men, representing a commitment which will last through all trials for a year and a day.
 
 
 
After this, the four Elements and other groups (these vary but will usually include "No Point," that entertain spectators without being in a fixed location) formally present their gifts to the May Queen and Green Man, and the Red Men are presented before the Handmaidens and White Women. Symbolically, they seduce/are seduced by the White Women and Handmaidens, representing a union between the White Order and the Red Chaos. The rest of the performers are then invited into the Bower circle to dance and celebrate the arrival of summer, and finally so are the spectators.
 
  
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==
Line 151: Line 103:
 
*Dames, Michael. ''Mythic Ireland''. London: Thames & Hudson, 1996. ISBN 978-0500278727
 
*Dames, Michael. ''Mythic Ireland''. London: Thames & Hudson, 1996. ISBN 978-0500278727
 
*Danaher, Kevin. ''The Year in Ireland''. Dublin: Mercier, 1971. ISBN 978-1856350938
 
*Danaher, Kevin. ''The Year in Ireland''. Dublin: Mercier, 1971. ISBN 978-1856350938
 +
*Delamarre, Xavier. ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise''. Paris: Editions Errance, 2008. ISBN 2877723690
 +
*Frazer, James George. ''The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion''. Suzeteo Enterprises, 2012. ISBN 0199538824
 
*Hamilton, Claire. ''Celtic Book of Seasonal Meditations: Celebrate the Traditions of the Ancient Celts''. York Beach, ME: Red Wheel/Weiser, 2003. ISBN 1590030559
 
*Hamilton, Claire. ''Celtic Book of Seasonal Meditations: Celebrate the Traditions of the Ancient Celts''. York Beach, ME: Red Wheel/Weiser, 2003. ISBN 1590030559
 
*Healy, Elizabeth. ''In Search of Ireland's Holy Wells''. Merlin Publishing, 2001. ISBN 978-0863278655
 
*Healy, Elizabeth. ''In Search of Ireland's Holy Wells''. Merlin Publishing, 2001. ISBN 978-0863278655
*Hutton, Ronald. The Stations Of The Sun. Oxford University Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0192854483
+
*Hutton, Ronald. ''Stations Of The Sun.'' Oxford University Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0192854483
*Koch, John T. ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia''. ABC-CLIO, 2005. ISBN 978-1851094400
+
*Koch, John T. ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia''. ABC-CLIO, 2005. ISBN 978-1851094400
 
*MacLeod, Sharon Paice. ''Celtic Myth and Religion''. McFarland, 2011. ISBN 978-0786464760
 
*MacLeod, Sharon Paice. ''Celtic Myth and Religion''. McFarland, 2011. ISBN 978-0786464760
 
*MacKillop, James. ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology''. Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0192801203
 
*MacKillop, James. ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology''. Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0192801203
 
*McNeill, F. Marian. ''Silver Bough: Calendar of Scottish National Festivals, Vols. 1-4''. Glasgow: Stuart Titles Ltd, 1990. ISBN 978-0948474040
 
*McNeill, F. Marian. ''Silver Bough: Calendar of Scottish National Festivals, Vols. 1-4''. Glasgow: Stuart Titles Ltd, 1990. ISBN 978-0948474040
 
*Meyer, Kuno. (ed.). ''Sanas Cormaic: Cormac's Glossary''. Llanerch Press, 1994. ISBN 978-1897853269
 
*Meyer, Kuno. (ed.). ''Sanas Cormaic: Cormac's Glossary''. Llanerch Press, 1994. ISBN 978-1897853269
*Monaghan, Patricia. The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore. Checkmark Books, 2008. ISBN 978-0816075560
+
*Monaghan, Patricia. ''The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore.'' Checkmark Books, 2008. ISBN 978-0816075560
*Patterson, Nerys T. ''Cattle Lords and Clansmen: The Social Structure of Early Ireland''. University of Notre Dame Press, 1994. ISBN 978-0268008000
+
*Patterson, Nerys T. ''Cattle Lords and Clansmen: The Social Structure of Early Ireland''. University of Notre Dame Press, 1994. ISBN 0268008000
 
*Starhawk. ''The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess''. New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1989. ISBN 978-0062508140
 
*Starhawk. ''The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess''. New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1989. ISBN 978-0062508140
 
 
 
* Carmichael, Alexander. ''Carmina Gadelica''. Lindisfarne Press, 1992. ISBN 0940262509
 
 
 
* Evans-Wentz, W. Y. ''The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries''. New York, NY: Citadel, 1990. ISBN 0806511605
 
 
* McNeill, F. Marian. ''Silver Bough: Calendar of Scottish National Festivals, Vols. 1-4''. Glasgow: Stuart Titles Ltd, 1990. ISBN 0948474041
 
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
All links retrieved
+
All links retrieved January 20, 2022.
  
 +
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/holydays/beltane_1.shtml Beltane] - BBC
 
* [http://www.beltane.org/ Beltane Fire Society] - The official BFS website
 
* [http://www.beltane.org/ Beltane Fire Society] - The official BFS website
 
* [http://www.night-watch.net/ Night Watch] - The Torchbearers and Stewards of Beltane
 
* [http://www.night-watch.net/ Night Watch] - The Torchbearers and Stewards of Beltane

Revision as of 19:45, 3 May 2022

Beltane
Beltane
Beltane Fire Festival 2019, Calton Hill, Edinburgh
Also called Lá Bealtaine, Bealltainn, Beltain, Beltaine
Observed by Gaels, Irish People, Scottish People, Manx people, Neopagans
Type Gaelic, Celtic, Pagan
Date Northern Hemisphere: May 1
Southern Hemisphere: November 1
Celebrations Traditional first day of summer in Ireland, Scotland and Isle of Man
Related to Walpurgis Night, May Day

Beltane (pronounced /ˈbɛltən/) is the anglicized spelling of Bealtaine or Bealltainn, the Gaelic names for either the month of May or the festival that takes place on the first day of May. In Irish Gaelic the month of May is known as Mí Bealtaine or Bealtaine and the festival as Lá Bealtaine ('day of Bealtaine' or, 'May Day'). In Scottish Gaelic the month is known as either (An) Cèitean or a' Mhàigh, and the festival is known as Latha Bealltainn or simply Bealltainn. The feast was also known as Céad Shamhain or Cétshamhainin from which the word Céitean derives.

As an ancient Gaelic festival, Beltane was celebrated in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. There were similar festivals held at the same time in the other Celtic countries of Wales, Brittany, and Cornwall.

Beltane was one of four Gaelic seasonal festivals: Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, and Lughnasadh. Beltane (the beginning of summer) and Samhain (the beginning of winter) are thought to have been the most important. The festival survives in folkloric practices in the Celtic Nations and the diaspora, and has experienced a degree of revival since the late twentieth century.

Etymology

Since the early twentieth century it has been commonly accepted that Old Irish Beltaine is derived from a Common Celtic *belo-te(p)niâ, meaning "bright fire." The element *belo- might be cognate with the English word bale (as in 'bale-fire') meaning 'white' or 'shining'; compare Old English bael, and Lithuanian/Latvian baltas/balts, found in the name of the Baltic; in Slavic languages byelo or beloye also means 'white', as in Беларусь (White Russia or Belarus) or Бе́лое мо́ре (White Sea).

A more recent etymology by Xavier Delamarre suggests it derives from a Common Celtic *Beltinijā, cognate with the name of the Lithuanian goddess of death Giltinė, the root of both being Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- ("suffering, death").[1]

Origins

Beltane is a cross-quarter day, marking the midpoint in the Sun's progress between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Since the Celtic year was based on both lunar and solar cycles, it is possible that the holiday was celebrated on the full moon nearest the midpoint between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. The astronomical date for this midpoint is closer to May 5th or May 7th, but this can vary from year to year.[2]

Beltane was one of four Gaelic seasonal festivals: Samhain (~1 November), Imbolc (~1 February), Beltane (~1 May), and Lughnasadh (~1 August). Beltane (the beginning of summer) and Samhain (the beginning of winter) are thought to have been the most important of the four. Sir James George Frazer wrote in The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion that the times of Beltane and Samhain are of little importance to European crop-growers, but of great importance to herdsmen. Thus, he suggests that halving the year at the beginning May and November dates from a time when the Celts were mainly a pastoral people, dependent on their herds.[3]

The earliest mention of Beltane is in Old Irish literature from Gaelic Ireland. According to the early medieval texts Sanas Cormaic and Tochmarc Emire, Beltane was held on May 1st and marked the beginning of summer. The texts say that, to protect cattle from disease, the druids would make two fires "with great incantations" and drive the cattle between them.[4]

In Irish mythology, the beginning of the summer season for the Tuatha Dé Danann and the Milesians started at Beltane. Great bonfires would mark a time of purification and transition, heralding in the season in the hope of a good harvest later in the year, and were accompanied with ritual acts to protect the people from any harm by Otherworldly spirits, such as the Aos Sí. Like the festival of Samhain, celebrated on October 31st which is the opposite position in the year, Beltane was a time when the Otherworld was seen as particularly close at hand.

Customs

For the Celts, Beltane marked the beginning of the pastoral summer season when the herds of livestock were driven out to the summer pastures and mountain grazing lands.[5][6][7] Rituals were held at that time to protect them from harm, both natural and supernatural, and this mainly involved the "symbolic use of fire."[5] There were also rituals to protect crops, dairy products, and people, and to encourage growth. The (often described as 'the spirits' or 'the fairies') were thought to be especially active at Beltane (as at Samhain) and the goal of many Beltane rituals was to appease the .[5][6] Beltaine was a "spring time festival of optimism" during which "fertility ritual again was important, perhaps connecting with the waxing power of the sun."[8]

Bonfires

The lighting of bonfires on Oidhche Bhealtaine (the eve of Bealtaine) on mountains and hills of ritual and political significance was one of the main activities of the festival.[9][8]

Early Gaelic sources from around the tenth century state that the druids of the community would create a need-fire on top of a hill on this day and drive the village's cattle through the fires to purify them and bring luck (Eadar dà theine Bhealltainn in Scottish Gaelic, 'Between two fires of Beltane'). This term is also found in Irish and is used as a turn of phrase to describe a situation which is difficult to escape from. In Scotland, boughs of juniper were sometimes thrown on the fires to add an additional element of purification and blessing to the smoke. People would also pass between the two fires to purify themselves. This was echoed throughout history after Christianization, with lay people instead of Druid priests creating the need-fire. The festival persisted widely up until the 1950s, and in some places the celebration of Beltane continues today.[10][11]

According to seventeenth century historian Geoffrey Keating, there was a great gathering at the hill of Uisneach each Beltane in medieval Ireland, where a sacrifice was made to a god named Beil. Keating wrote that two bonfires would be lit in every district of Ireland, and cattle would be driven between them to protect them from disease.[12] Excavations at Uisneach in the twentieth century found evidence of large fires and charred bones, showing it to have been ritually significant.[13][10]

Bonfires continued to be a key part of the festival, and were generally lit on mountains and hills.[8][9] In the nineteenth century, for example, John Ramsay described Scottish Highlanders kindling a need-fire or force-fire at Beltane. Such a fire was deemed sacred.[5] In the nineteenth century, the ritual of driving cattle between two fires—as described in Sanas Cormaic almost 1000 years before—was still practiced across most of Ireland[5] and in parts of Scotland.[6] Sometimes the cattle would be driven around a bonfire or be made to leap over flames or embers. The people themselves would do likewise.[5] In the Isle of Man, people ensured that the smoke blew over them and their cattle.[7] In County Dublin, the skull and bones of a horse were burnt on the bonfires.[6] On Beltane Eve, all hearth fires and candles would be doused and, at the end of the festival, they would be re-lit from the Beltane bonfire.[5][6] When the bonfire had died down, its ashes were thrown among the sprouting crops. From these rituals, it is clear that the fire was seen as having protective powers.[5] Similar rituals were part of May Day, Midsummer, or Easter customs in other parts of the British Isles and mainland Europe. According to Frazer, the fire rituals are a kind of imitative or sympathetic magic. According to one theory, they were meant to mimic the Sun and to "ensure a needful supply of sunshine for men, animals, and plants." According to another, they were meant to symbolically "burn up and destroy all harmful influences."[3]

In the Scottish Highlands, food was cooked at the bonfire following certain rituals. In 1769, Thomas Pennant wrote that, in Perthshire, a caudle made from eggs, butter, oatmeal, and milk was cooked on the bonfire. Some of the mixture was poured on the ground as a libation. Everyone present would then take an oatmeal cake. A piece was offered to the spirits to protect their livestock (one piece to protect the horses, one to protect the sheep, and so forth) and a piece was offered to each of the animals that might harm their livestock (one to the fox, one to the eagle, and so forth). Afterwards, they would drink the caudle.[5][6]

Flowers and May Bushes

Another common aspect of the festival which survived up until the early twentieth century was the hanging of May Boughs on the doors and windows of houses and the erection of May Bushes in farmyards, which usually consisted either of a branch of rowan/caorthann (mountain ash) or more commonly whitethorn/sceach geal (hawthorn) which is in bloom at the time and is commonly called the 'May Bush' or just 'May' in Hiberno-English. Furze/aiteann was also used for the May Boughs, May Bushes and as fuel for the bonfire.

The May Bush was popular in parts of Ireland until the late nineteenth century.[6] This was small tree, typically a thorn tree, that would be decorated with bright flowers, ribbons, painted shells, and so forth. There were household May Bushes (which would be set outside each house) and communal May Bushes (which would be set in a public spot or paraded around the neighborhood). In Dublin and Belfast, May Bushes were brought into town from the countryside and decorated by the whole neighborhood.[6] In some places, it was customary to dance around the May Bush, and at the end of the festivities it was burned in the bonfire.[14] The practice of decorating the May Bush or Dos Bhealtaine with flowers, ribbons, garlands, and colored egg shells has survived to some extent among the diaspora as well, most notably in Newfoundland, and in some Easter traditions observed on the East Coast of the United States.[9]

Yellow flowers such as primrose, rowan, hawthorn, gorse, hazel, and marsh marigold were set at doorways and windows in nineteenth century Ireland, Scotland, and Mann. Sometimes loose flowers were strewn at the doors and windows and sometimes they would be made into flower bouquets, garlands, or crosses and fastened to them. They would also be fastened to cows and equipment for milking and butter making. It is likely that such flowers were used because they evoked fire.[5] Similar May Day customs are found across Europe.

Thorn trees were seen as special trees and were associated with the or fairies. The custom of decorating a May Bush or May Tree was found in many parts of Europe. Frazer believed that such customs are a relic of tree worship: "The intention of these customs is to bring home to the village, and to each house, the blessings which the tree-spirit has in its power to bestow."[3] Sharon MacLeod wrote that May Bushes were set outside farmhouses "to encourage and protect the abundance of milk during the summer."[15]

Other customs

Holy wells were often visited at Beltane, as well as at the other Gaelic festivals of Imbolc and Lughnasadh. Visitors to holy wells would pray for health while walking "sunwise" (moving from east to west) around the well. They would then leave offerings; typically coins or clooties (strips of cloth or rags).[6] The first water drawn from a well on Beltane was seen as being especially potent, as was Beltane morning dew. At dawn on Beltane, maidens would roll in the dew or wash their faces with it. It would also be collected in a jar, left in the sunlight, and then filtered. The dew was thought to maintain youthfulness, increase sexual attractiveness, and help with skin ailments.[7][14][15]

People also took steps specifically to ward-off or allay the (who are often likened to fairies). This included turning one's clothing inside-out, carrying iron or salt, and leaving small offerings at the doorstep or at places associated with the .[15] In Ireland, cattle would be brought to 'fairy forts' and bled. The owners would taste the blood and then pour it into the earth with prayers for the herd's safety.[6] Sometimes the blood would be left to dry and then be burned. To protect farm produce and encourage fertility, farmers would lead a procession around the boundaries of their farm. They would "carry with them seeds of grain, implements of husbandry, the first well water, and the herb vervain (or rowan as a substitute). The procession generally stopped at the four cardinal points of the compass, beginning in the east, and rituals were performed in each of the four directions."[15]

Revival

The bonfire lit on Calton Hill, Edinburgh, to welcome Beltane morning, 2008.

As a festival, Beltane had largely died out by the mid-twentieth century, although some of its customs continued. The lighting of a community Beltane fire from which each hearth fire is then relit is observed today in some parts of the Gaelic diaspora, though in most of these cases it is a cultural revival rather than an unbroken survival of the ancient tradition.[9][2][16]

In some areas of Newfoundland, the custom of decorating the May Bush is also still extant.[17] The town of Peebles in the Scottish Borders holds a traditional week-long "Beltane Fair" every year in June, when a local girl is crowned Beltane Queen on the steps of the parish church. Like other Borders festivals, it incorporates a Common Riding.[18]

Since 1988, a Beltane Fire Festival has been held every year during the night of 30 April on Calton Hill in Edinburgh, Scotland. While inspired by traditional Beltane, this festival is a modern arts and cultural event which incorporates myth and drama from a variety of world cultures and diverse literary sources.[19]

Neopagan

The Wheel of the Year in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere these festivals are commonly shifted by six months to match the local seasons. The Wheel of the Year is a Wiccan and Neopagan term for the annual cycle of the Earth's seasons. It consists of eight festivals, spaced at approximately even intervals throughout the year. These festivals are referred to by Wiccans as Sabbats.

Beltane is observed by Neopagans in various forms, and by a variety of names. Some celebrate in a manner as close as possible to how the Ancient Celts and Living Celtic cultures have maintained the traditions, while others observe the holiday with rituals taken from numerous other unrelated sources, Celtic culture being only one of the sources used.[20]

Wicca

Wiccans and Wiccan-inspired Neopagans celebrate a variation of Beltane as a sabbat, one of the eight solar holidays. Although the holiday may use features of the Gaelic Bealtaine, such as the bonfire, it bears more relation to the Germanic May Day festival, both in its significance (focusing on fertility) and its rituals (such as maypole dancing). Some Wiccans celebrate Beltane by enacting the marriage of the May Lord and Lady with maypoles and bonfires.[21]

Among the Wiccan sabbats, Beltane is a cross-quarter day; it is celebrated in the northern hemisphere on May 1 and in the southern hemisphere on November 1. Beltane follows Ostara and precedes Midsummer.

Celtic Reconstructionist

Celtic Reconstructionists usually celebrate Lá Bealtaine when the local hawthorn trees are in bloom, or on the full moon that falls closest to this event. Many observe the traditional bonfire rites, to whatever extent this is feasible where they live, including the dousing of the household hearth flame and relighting of it from the community festival fire. Some decorate May Bushes and prepare traditional festival foods. Pilgrimages to holy wells are traditional at this time, and offerings and prayers to the spirits or deities of the wells are usually part of this practice. Crafts such as the making of equal-armed rowan crosses are common, and often part of rituals performed for the blessing and protection of the household and land.[22][23]

Beltane Fire Festival in Edinburgh

The burning Phoenix and sprites at the Beltane Fire Festival.
Fire festival dancers, 2006.

The Beltane Fire Festival is an annual participatory arts event and ritual drama, held on April 30 on Calton Hill in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is inspired by the ancient Gaelic festival of Beltane which marked the beginning of summer.[24] The modern festival was started in 1988 by a small group of enthusiasts, with academic support from the School of Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Since then the festival has grown, with an audience of over ten thousand people sharing the spectacular procession.

Originally intended to take place on Arthur's Seat, the home of earlier Edinburgh Beltane celebrations, for practical reasons the location was moved to Calton Hill. While the festival draws on a variety of historical, mythological and literary influences, the organizers do not claim it to be anything other than "a modern celebration of Beltane," evolving with its participants.[19]

The main event of the festival is the Procession of the May Queen around the Hill, starting at the Acropolis (National Monument). Participants in the procession perform a ritual drama loosely based on some aspects of the pre-Christian festival of Beltane, and other mythologies from ancient cultures. Key elements include the death and rebirth of Green Man, and the lighting of the bonfire.

Notes

  1. Xavier Delamarre, Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise (Paris:Editions Errance, 2008, ISBN 978-2877723695).
  2. 2.0 2.1 Michael Dames, Mythic Ireland (London: Thames & Hudson, 1996, ISBN 978-0500278727).
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 James George Frazer, The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Suzeteo Enterprises, 2012, ISBN 978-1936830459).
  4. Kuno Meyer (ed.), Sanas Cormaic: Cormac's Glossary (Llanerch Press, 1994, ISBN 978-1897853269).
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 Ronald Hutton, The Stations Of The Sun (Oxford University Press, 2001, ISBN 978-0192854483).
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 Patricia Monaghan, The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore (Checkmark Books, 2008, ISBN 978-0816075560).
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 John T. Koch, Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia (ABC-CLIO, 2005, ISBN 978-1851094400).
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Nora Chadwick, The Celts (Penguin, 1981, ISBN 978-0140212112).
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Kevin Danaher, The Year in Ireland (Dublin: Mercier, 1971, ISBN 978-1856350938).
  10. 10.0 10.1 James MacKillop, Dictionary of Celtic Mythology (Oxford University Press, 2000, ISBN 978-0192801203).
  11. John Gregorson Campbell, The Gaelic Otherworld (Edinburgh, Birlinn Ltd., 2005, ISBN 978-1841582078).
  12. Geoffrey Keating, The History of Ireland Translated by David Comyn and Patrick S. Dinneen. CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  13. Nerys T. Patterson, Cattle Lords and Clansmen: The Social Structure of Early Ireland (University of Notre Dame Press, 1994, ISBN 978-0268008000).
  14. 14.0 14.1 Katharine Clark, An Irish Book of Shadows (Galde Press, 2001, ISBN 978-1880090992).
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Sharon Paice MacLeod, Celtic Myth and Religion (McFarland, 2011, ISBN 978-0786464760).
  16. F. Marian McNeill, Silver Bough: Calendar of Scottish National Festivals, Vols. 1-4 (Glasgow: Stuart Titles Ltd, 1990, ISBN 978-0948474040).
  17. The May Bush in Newfoundland. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  18. Peebles Beltane Festival. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  19. 19.0 19.1 Beltane Fire Society Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  20. Margot Adler, Drawing Down the Moon (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1987, ISBN 978-0807032374).
  21. Starhawk, The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess (New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1989, ISBN 978-0062508140).
  22. Isaac Bonewits, Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism (New York, NY: Citadel Press Inc., 2006, ISBN 978-0806527109).
  23. Elizabeth Healy, In Search of Ireland's Holy Wells (Merlin Publishing, 2001, ISBN 978-0863278655).
  24. A Detailed History of Beltane Beltane Fire Society. Retrieved May 3, 2022.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Adler, Margot. Drawing Down the Moon. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1987. ISBN 978-0807032374
  • Bonewits, Isaac. Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism. New York, NY: Citadel Press Inc., 2006. ISBN 978-0806527109
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External links

All links retrieved January 20, 2022.


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