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Pagan May Day Festival - BeltaneCeltic and Wiccan Fire Festival Celebrating Spring Glory
This Greater Sabbat, sometimes mistakenly called Roodmas, a non-Pagan holiday, features flowers, the Maypole and its own special foods. Celebrate and enjoy the recipes.
Beltane, also called May Eve, begins on April 30th, according to some Pagan traditions, while others celebrate only on May 1st. It is a day of celebration, dancing around the Maypole and feasting. In Germany, this day is celebrated as Walpurgisnacht. Catholics commemorate the day as Roodmas. “Rood” is Middle English for cross. This is the feast day for finding the cross Jesus was crucified on. May Day celebrations were banned during the reign of the Puritans in England. They were revived when the Puritans lost power, but in a different way. It became a day of joy and making merry for children. Today, many elementary schools still have May Day celebrations, some featuring dancing around the Maypole. The Beltane CelebrationThe altar cloth and candles are dark green. Adorning the altar are a crown made of daisies, a potted azalea bush with beaded strings representing the Maypole, hydrangeas, gardenias, lilies-of-the-valley and garlands of carnations. Take a walk through nature and enjoy spring in full beauty. Make May Baskets filled with flowers and give them to friends, people in nursing homes or other facilities, shut-ins and loved ones. Dance and sing in celebration of the day. Place a lit candle on the floor and jump over it for good fortune. Bless your garden and houseplants. Feast Recipes for BeltaneTraditional foods are dairy, barley, oatmeal and the May Bowl punch.
Related articles: Beltane: Pagan Spring Celebration German Pagan Roots: May Day Trads Sources: Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft, Raymond Buckland, (Llewellyn Publications, 1990) The Celtic Druid's Year, John King, (Blandford, 1995) Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, ScottCunningham, (Llewellyn Publications, 1992)
The copyright of the article Pagan May Day Festival - Beltane in Paganism/Wicca is owned by Jill Stefko . Permission to republish Pagan May Day Festival - Beltane in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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