beltane season: come out of your darkness

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For me, 2021 started in a way that some could relate to. I was hopeful for a fresh start, but I knew that a global pandemic wouldn’t turn on its heel and depart without a trace once we flipped the calendar page. Each of us would be forever changed from our individual experience of 2020—and I, like so many caregivers, had the personal heartache of losing a loved one during a time when we were unable to gather to mourn … in fact, my mom passed on January 1.

So I’ve been searching for a way to brand this time as special—clearing, healing and new. Enter the Gaelic festival of Beltane.

Here in the Northern Hemisphere, May 1 marks the beginning of Beltane season, about halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. It falls opposite the festival of Samhain (most familiar to us in the U.S. as Halloween), and at both times the veil between the worlds is thought to be at its thinnest. So we look to the wisdom of those who have passed before us to begin anew and mark the turning of the wheel of time.

Here are some ways to celebrate this season—consider adding your own unique touches to make them special to you:

  • Beltane is a fire festival, so whether you have a bonfire in the backyard with friends or turn on a battery-operated candle in your bedroom, take a moment to appreciate the purifying power of the light and heat, which can serve as a symbol of transformation.

  • Create a small space for yourself outdoors, with a potted plant or two, decorative stones and other objects that you love. Then take the opportunity each day to spend time there, noting changes in growth, evidence of visiting fauna and variations from weather.

  • Because Beltane is a time of love, passion and sexuality (think birds and bees), play with flowery essential oils ilke geranium, lavender and ylang-ylang. EOs like rose, jasmine can be expensive, so think about making your own infused oil if you’re lucky enough to grow these plants yourself.

  • If you enjoy writing, set your space with one or more of the above suggestions, then allow pen to travel across paper as you remember those who have passed before you. Personally, I have a cadre—mostly women, now led by my mom—who I look to not just on remarkable occasions, but also when I’m enjoying one of those simple, bright spring days.

As I’m writing this post the wind is once again rattling the storm windows. I had to don a winter jacket and knit hat and fight the gusts as I hung laundry on the clothesline—I had no idea it was in the 30s today! So many of us have been remarking about the windy weather lately in the Northeast. It turns out it’s not so unusual after all. It’s just that so many of us are home, still dealing with interrupted routines of living, that we’re noticing the weather much more than we used to.

Really, it’s always windy in springtime. And winds have always ushered in change. So whether your Beltane hope springs from a vaccine that will allow you to once again gather with friends and family, or warming temperatures and all that comes with them, note it in a way that’s meaningful to you.

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