Wicc'ed
Ways~Fire Up the Old Traditions
By Kat Clark Art by Mickie Mueller
So, it's the Eve of May and you and your family and coven are outside at last, gathered around a long pole (possibly the trunk of your last Yule tree), bedecked with red and white ribbon streamers. Mom or Dad turns on the portable CD player and Jethro Tull’s “Cup of Wonder” booms out across the lawn. People grab a streamer and start to dance--red to the left, white to the right--weaving in and out of each other’s way until they wind up in a tight tangled web smack up against the pole. The ribbons are tied off, everyone steps back to admire the lopsided pattern snaking downward, and then you all head to the kitchen for some cake and mint tea.
Thus ends another Beltain rite for many folks in many traditions. My group and I have even done this at public rituals. However, the “maypole” that so many Wiccans dance around this night has little to do with the old Celtic celebration. I know for some of us, it has come to mean more than just a stick in the sand, or the flower garden, or the coven grounds, but it is a far cry from the actual observance of Beltain in Celtic countries.
Beltain comes from the Irish “Bel tene” or “Bel’s fire” (Bel being a form of the sun god), and fire figures strongly in the Celtic celebration of the day. This was the time when all the fires were quenched in village and home. The Druids (an ancient pagan order of priests) would light a “need” fire (a large bonfire composed of seven sacred woods including the oak so revered by the Druidic order) in a central place, and runners would carry torches from it to the community bonfires prepared in advance. It was from the community fire that individuals could take embers to re-light their own hearths. In this way, all fires were part of the main, sacred fire.
In many cases, when the community fire died down and the flames were low enough, people would leap over them in order to be purified of illness and negativity. Often there would be a second fire set nearby, and the cattle could be driven between the two in order to assure their summer health--this was the time where they would then be taken from the barns and holding pens and returned to the pastures. Their continued well-being had to be safe guarded. If there wasn’t a second fire, some of their blood or pieces of hair could be thrown on the flames of the community fire.
So, how do you take these ancient practices and make them part of your celebration? You should never light candles or fires without the permission and/or assistance of an adult. However, it's OK to use symbolic fire in your Beltain ritual. Many craft stores now sell battery operated “tea lights”. They last for hours, are inexpensive, and very available. The “flame” they produce looks amazingly like a small fire. If these are not available, look to your Yule/Christmas/Winter Solstice decorations in the attic. Maybe your folks use electric or battery operated candlesticks for their windows. Two of these would work just fine. If all else fails, create your own flames by cutting them from yellow, red and orange construction paper or cellophane, and place them in vases or flower pots.
When you're ready, sit between your two ‘fires” and close your eyes. Breathe deeply and try to image the warmth that would come from genuine fires bathing your skin and seeping deep within you. Take your time and try to picture the flames as they dance and bend in the evening breeze. Then, imagine the fires dying down to ember, taking with them any illness, discomfort or upsetting thoughts you may have. Once you feel the coolness return to your skin, open your eyes. You can even “bless” your pets by carrying them between the “fires” while wishing them long and healthy lives. If they can walk between the “fires” on their own, all the better! (This would not work, however, with either tropical fish or many, many cats!)
At this point you may be asking yourself “so our maypole isn’t a part of Beltain?” Well, not by tradition, no. It does have roots in Germanic paganism, and it is a fertility symbol. There are various forms in England, Germany, Austria, Sweden and the like, and there are a variety of dances performed near and around it, depending where you are. But as a focus of May Day celebrations in the Craft and in Pagan ritual, it is rather a newcomer. However, the one thing that is constant about the Old Ways is that they evolve. If the maypole is a welcomed part of your family’s or coven’s ritual, enjoy it and dance your heart out! When the dancing is done, however, give a thought to the “fires” of Beltain.