Beltane: Its History and Modern Celebration in Wicca in America

by Rowan Moonstone

The celebration of May 1st, or Beltane as it is known in Wicca Circles, is one of the most important festivals of our religious year. I will attempt here to answer some of the most often asked questions about this holiday. An extensive bibliography follows the article so that the interested reader can do further research.

1. Where does the festival of Beltane originate?

Beltane, as practiced by modern day Witches and Pagans, has its origins among the Celtic peoples of Western Europe and the British Isles, particularly Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

THE WHEEL OF THE YEAR

(AN ORAL TEACHING OF THE FAERY TRADITION OF WITCHCRAFT)

 

In  love,  the  Horned God, changing form and changing face, ever seeks the Goddess. In this world, the search and the seeking appear in the Wheel of the Year.

The Standard Holidays of the Wheel of the Year:

(Date Note: The actual date* of some holidays will vary depending on the year.
Consult a proper Astrological reference book to be sure.)

Celebrating Candlemass

February 2 is one of the great cross-quarter days which make up the wheel of the year. It falls midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox and in many traditions is considered the beginning of spring.

Awakening the Ground

In Western Europe, this was the time for preparing the fields for the first planting. Even in Seattle, you can begin turning over and enriching the soil in anticipation of the first sowing in March. Pamela Berger has written a book, The Goodess Obscured: Transformation of the Grain Protectress from Goddess to Saint, about the rituals celebrated at this time of year, when the ground is first awakened and the seed placed in the belly of the earth. This is a significant moment in a community which depends on the earth for sustenance. The fields were purified and offerings were made to the goddess.

Yule

Winter Solstice

Yule: the Winter Solstice, Yuletide (Teutonic), Alban Arthan (Caledonii)
Around Dec. 21
This Sabbat represents the rebirth of light. Here, on the longest night of the year, the Goddess gives birth to the Sun God and hope for new light is reborn.
Yule is a time of awakening to new goals and leaving old regrets behind. Yule coincides closely with the Christian Christmas celebration. Christmas was once a movable feast celebrated many different times during the year. The choice of December 25 was made by the Pope Julius I in the fourth century AD because this coincided with the pagan rituals of Winter Solstice, or Return of the Sun. The intent was to replace the pagan celebration with the Christian one.

Samhain

October 31

Samhain: (pronounced SOW-in, SAH-vin, or SAM-hayne) Shadowfest (Strega), Martinmas (Celtic/Scottish) October 31
“Samhain” means “End of Summer”. Its historical origin is The Feast of the Dead in Celtic lands. Samhain, popularly known as Halloween, is the Witches’ New Year.
It is said to be the time when the veil between the worlds is very thin, when souls that are leaving this physical plane can pass out and souls that are reincarnating can pass in.
Darkness increases and the Goddess reigns as the Crone, part of the three-in-one that also includes the Maiden and Mother.

A Mabon rite outline

(soon to be a major Mabon Ritual, at a terminal near you.)

General Mabon info to start with, set the mood &c…

What is Mabon?

Mabon, sometimes known as the Harvest/Thanksgiving ritual of the Autumn Equinox, is one of the Spokes of the Wheel of the Year. In the many Earth or Pagan Religions, a special kinship with the passing of the seasons is felt… this is usually due to the history of said traditions, most of which stem from agrarian cultures where the seasons marked the way of life. From planting to reaping to winter to summer… the seasons were of great importance to our ancestors, for their very existence depended upon good harvests, mild winters, enough rainfall, and the like.

A Witch’s Thoughts on Halloween

Most people celebrate Halloween as a children’s holiday of candy and costumes.  However, I will be celebrating tonight as Samhain (“Sow-wen”), the Celtic New Year, the night for remembering loved ones past and looking toward the future. For I am a Neo-pagan, a follower of the Old Religion, a Wiccan.  I am a Witch.

Boudica’s last battle – the possibilities compared

Introduction by Bob Trubshaw

Generations of schoolkids have been brought up on the fateful battle of Boadicea against the Roman army. Modern historians would prefer to spell her name Boudica – which means ‘Victoria’ in British Celtic languages – but they have little evidence to offer for the site of the fateful encounter. Nevertheless, a number of suggestions have been put forward. At the beginning of this year, as a result of helpful ‘intervention’ by Philip Heselton, I was approached by Broc Beag who had discovered little-known references to Boudica’s last battle being in north Wales. This is mostly nineteenth century antiquarian speculation and much of the ‘evidence’ relies on regarding bronze age burial mounds and Anglo-Saxon cross shafts as contemporary with the Roman invasion but, nevertheless, suggests that there is a deep-rooted local tradition for Boudica’s battle being in this vicinity.

Mar’rallang

by Dr Anthony E. Smart

 
This Aboriginal story recounts the marriage of two sisters, so alike they bore the same name, to one man. The sameness of the sisters may allude actually to a two-season year, a two-sun cosmology, a dual-ruler system, the dichotomy/unity of life and death, and so on. In Greek mythology, the opposite is common: twin brothers (or a father and son, or uncle and nephew) marrying the same woman.