Beltane Tryst

Beltane is the sexiest high holiday for witches and is anticipated all year. I always look forward to having a joyful “spree” every May. Witches begin to celebrate Beltane on the last night of April, and it is traditional for the festivities to last all night. This is a time for feasting, dancing, laughter, and lots of lovemaking. May Day is when revelers erect a beribboned Maypole and dance around it in gay garb followed by pagan picnicking and sexy siestas. Another bonus of Beltane is that this is the one day in the year when it is “officially OK” to enjoy sex outside your existing relationship. This is the day we look the other way.

First, serve a sensual feast of foods from the following list, called “Oral Fixations,” along with beer, wine, ciders, and honeyed mead that you can make or obtain from a microbrewery. Gather some of spring’s bounty of flowers— narcissus, daffodils, tulips, and my favorite, freesias, in your favorite colors. Set out candles in spring colors—yellow, pink, red, green, white, purple. With your arms extended, point to each of the four directions and say, “To the east, to the south, to the west, and to the north,” and recite this Beltane rhyme:

Hoof and horn, hoof and horn, 

Tonight our spirits are reborn. 

Welcome joy to my home,

Fill my friends with love and laughter. 

So mote it be.

Floralia Hunt

This ritual blends the traditional egg hunt with a ceremony to honor Flora, the Roman goddess of flower. Essential elements for this ritual are baskets with handles (one for each guest), egg-shaped chocolates and sweets, or small hollow plastic eggs filled with blessings written on paper slips, and a vase. Ask each guest to bring a large dish of food for sharing, and to dress in light, flowing spring clothes and colors. Each guest must also bring a flower to represent a wish they have for a new project or endeavor they intend to embark on this year. This flower will be used to make an offering to Flora so that she may bless the project as it grows and develops. This flower can be chosen from the Language of Flowers list in the appendix on page 325. By carefully deciding on a certain type of flower, your guests can enhance the power of their spring wish.

Prepare for this ritual by deciding whether you will hold it inside or risk the whimsical weather of April outdoors. Consult your local weather channel, consult an almanac, and cross your fingers. If you choose to hold it outdoors, then scout out the area well to identify potential problem spots (low-lying areas that might be muddy, for example, or high-traffic areas where strangers might interfere, or even join in). Also mark off a perimeter to limit your hunt. Place sticks in the ground with bright ribbons tied to them to mark that perimeter, so that your guests know not to bother searching past that point. If you choose to hold the ritual inside, decide which rooms will be off-limits for your hunt.

Once you have your area set, take some time to write out various blessings and good wishes on slips of paper. Blessings might include, “Joy and happiness with every dawn,” “May your love only increase,” or “Wealth and abundance are yours.” Tuck one blessing in each plastic egg, then gather all the eggs and blessings together and ask for Flora’s benison upon them:

Flower queen,

Princess of the spring,

Lovely Maiden of garden and field,

Bless these tokens and fill them with your goodwill. 

May those who receive them feel your love and bright beauty.

Take your goodies and blessings and hide them in the space you have chosen. Be cunning, but don’t make them too hard to find. When your guests arrive, choose someone to stand in the north, the east, the south, and the west, then cast the circle. Turn to the east. The speaker for the east should say:

Sacred breezes of the east,

Bring us the gentle scent of Flora’s blossoms. 

Flora, queen of spring, we welcome you.

Turn to the south. The speaker for the south should say:

Sacred breezes of the south,

Bless us with the vibrant color of Flora’s blooms. 

Flora, queen of spring, we welcome you.

Turn to the west. The speaker for the west should say: 

Sacred breezes of the west,

Bless us with the beauty of Flora’s crop. 

Flora, queen of spring, we welcome you.

Turn finally to the north, where the speaker for the north should say: 

Sacred breezes of the north,

Bless us with the abundance of Flora’s bounty. 

Flora, queen of spring, we welcome you.

Ask your guests to come up one by one, state a wish to Flora, and place their single flower in the vase. When everyone has made a spring wish, there will be a beautiful bouquet created for Flora.

Now hand your guests a basket each, and tell them to further seek Flora’s blessings in the form of eggs, the symbol of fertility and new life. Laugh with your guests as they hunt high and low. Help the younger ones, or the ones who seem to be having difficulty finding any. Your guests should remember that this is not a traditional Easter egg hunt; the object is not to return with the largest collection of eggs. Instead, they are seeking Flora’s blessings.

When everyone returns, have a spring picnic or buffet of potluck dishes, and whatever treats were hidden. Your guests may choose to share the written blessings they found aloud, or keep them secret. Enjoy the spring air, and remember that Flora has blessed your new projects. 

April Festivals, Ceremonies, and More

 April 1, April Fool’s Day; Festival of Kali (Hindu)

April 2, International Children’s Book Day

April 3, Birthday of the Buddha

April 4, Megalesia in Rome (from 204 BCE), celebrating the mother goddess, Cybele

April 5, Tomb-Sweeping Day in Taiwan, or Quin Ming Jie 

April 6, First recorded solar eclipse in history, 684 BCE 

April 7, World Health Day

April 8, Hana Matsurei, Flower Festival (Japan)

April 9, Feast of Glory for Baha’i faith

April 10, Anniversary of the first Arbor Day, 1872. Plant a tree!

April 11, Anniversary of when Haley’s Comet was closest to Earth

April 12, Roman festival of Cerealia begins, honoring the grain goddess, Ceres

April 13, International Librarian’s Day

April 14, Songkran Day, Thai New Year

April 15, Fordicia in honor of the Roman goddess Tellus

April 16, Anniversary of Gandhi’s “Prayer and Fasting Day,” 1919

April 17, Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, deposing Communism

April 18, Friendship day in Brazil

April 19, Saint Dunstan’s Day, Joan of Arc is declared a saint in 1909

April 20, Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, circa 571 BCE 

April 21, International Creativity Day

April 22, Earth Day

April 23, World Book Day 

April 24, Astronomy Day

April 25, Festival of Robigalia, for the Roman goddess Robigus who protected crops from mildew

April 26, Birthday of Leonardo de Vinci (1452), painter 

April 27, Freedom Day in South Africa

April 28, Floralia, the festival celebrating Flora, the Roman flower goddess

April 29, Greenery Day in Japan

April 30, Walpurgisnacht in Germany, May Eve

In April, many cultures honor the continuing growth seen in nature with such festivals as the Christian Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of the crucified Christ. This theme of resurrection is found in the mythology of many cultures, including Celtic mythology. In the spring, the Green Man, an avatar of the forests and fields, rises from his autumnal grave to stand tall once more. 

Mardi Gras or Carnival: a Moveable Feast

Mardi Gras means “Fat Tuesday,” the last day before Lent, when Catholics were formerly forbidden to eat meat (or fat). Fat Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, when the Lenten season begins. Depending on how early or late Easter is each year, Mardi Gras can be celebrated in March or April. The first Mardi Gras celebration was in New Orleans in 1827. In the olden times, people dressed in animal skin, pelted each other with bunches of flowers, and drank wine. Also called Carnival, this is a very important rite of spring and has traveled all over the world. It is perhaps most grandly celebrated in Brazil. Carnival and Mardi Gras last for days and involve parades, costumes, special foods, and much frolicking. This is an opportunity for you to choose what most appeals to you and create a gorgeous spring ritual.

Ostara’s Equinox: a Ritual for Spring

At this time, celebrate the festival of Ostara, the Saxon goddess who is the personification of the rising sun. Her totem is the rabbit. Legend has it that her rabbit brought forth the brightly colored eggs now associated with Easter. At this time the world is warming under the sun as spring approaches. Every plant, animal, man, and woman feels this growing fever for spring.

This ritual is intended for communities, so gather a group. Tell everyone to bring a “spring food” such as deviled eggs, salads with flowers in them, fresh broths, berries, mushrooms, fruits, pies, veggie casseroles, and quiches. Have the food table at the opposite side of the area away from the altar, but decorate it with flowers and pussy willow branches that are just beginning to bud. These are the harbingers of spring.

Essential elements for this ritual are an altar table; a cot; bay laurel leaves; bowls of water; multicolored crystals; candles; a jar of honey; fruits of yellow, red, white, and purple; musical instruments; and one bowl each of seeds, leaves, flowers, and fruit.

1. Create your own Ostara altar in the middle of the ritual area by covering the table with a cloth of color that represents spring to you. It could be a richly hued flowered cloth or a light green solid color. the cloth should represent new life. Scatter bay laurel leaves around the table. Place goddesses on the altar table, too, with Ostara at the center. Put colored eggs, chocolate rabbits, candles, and crystals around the goddesses. In the east, set a yellow candle and crystals of amber, gold, and yellow such as citrine or agate. Place yellow fruit such as pears or bananas in front of the candle as an offering to the energies of the east. In the south, set a red candle and red and orange stones such as garnet or the newly available “rough rubies,” which cost only a few cents each. Apples and pomegranates are excellent red food to place in front of the candle. In the west, set a purple candle with amethysts in front of it. Sweet plums are a perfect fruit to place in front of the candle. In the north, set a white candle and a clear quartz or white crystal. Honeydew melon is an appropriate selection for the fruit offering.
   
   
2. Choose four representatives to invoke the directions.

• East—Everyone faces east. The representative for the direction should weave a story and create a vision that can be shared by all that is characterized by new beginnings, such as the rising of the morning sun. Spring is the time for new beginnings and growth in nature. The speaker can, for example, take the bowl of seeds and tell the tale of the seeds sprouting in the dark moist soil of Mother Earth. Pass the bowl of seeds around to everyone and urge them to take some seeds home to plant.
• South—Everyone faces south. The speaker for this direction should invoke the power of the leaf. Leaves draw in the energy of the sun through photosynthesis and help keep an important cycle of life moving. Leaves grow throughout the summer season, drinking in the water of life and using the power of the sun for photosynthesis. Pass the bowl of leaves around the group.
• West—Everyone faces west. The speaker for this direction should invoke the power of flowers. Flowers bud and bloom. They follow the sun and are some of nature’s purest expressions of beauty. Flowers bring joy to people and many flowers become fruit. Pass the bowl of flowers to the group and urge everyone to take some.
• North—Everyone faces the north. The speaker for the north should invoke fruit and harvest time. Fruit is the result of nature’s generosity. Fruit also contains the seeds for our future. Pass the bowl of fruit around and suggest everyone take one and eat it, meditating on the glory and deep meaning it contains. If it is appropriate, you can also offer juice or wine as part of the fruit invocation. Wine is the glorious nectar of fruit. 

3. Now it’s time for the ritual enactment. Everyone takes a seat around the altar. Drummers should start to play a gentle rhythm. Chanting, singing, and ululating are also encouraged, however people feel comfortable expressing themselves.

4. Each speaker should in turn light a candle and invoke the ancestors of the group. Remembrances to people who have died in the past year are an important respect paid to the community at large.

5. Next is the honoring of the moon. Ask people to speak about the moon, reciting their favorite moon poems or moon memories.

6. Anointing the third eye blesses your insight for the coming year. Pass the bowls of water and laurel leaves around. Take a leaf and dip it in the water, then touch the wet leaf to your third eye. Pass the bowl on to the next person. When the bowl has made its way back to the ritual leader, sing and dance in celebration of spring. Everyone should get in a line and hold hands and dance around

   the circle like a plant moving and growing, flowering, and fruiting. When the four speakers feel that the energy has reached a climax, each one should clap and say in turn:

And now it is done; now it is spring! 

Then open the circle by saying together:

It is spring in the East, it is spring in the South, it is spring in the West, and it is spring in the North!