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.

     2. What does the word Beltane mean?

        Dr. Proinsias MacCana  defines the word as follows:  "... the
     Irish name for May Day is Beltane, of which the second element, `tene', is
     the word for fire, and the first, `bel', probably means `shining or
     brilliant'."(1) The festival was known by other names in other Celtic
     countries.  Beltaine in Ireland, Bealtunn in Scotland, Shenn do Boaldyn
     on the Isle of Mann, and Galan Mae in Wales.(2)

     3. What was the significance of this holiday to the ancients?

        To the ancient Celts, it symbolized the coming of spring. It
     was the time of year when the crops began to sprout, the animals bore
     their young, and the people could begin to get out of the houses where they
     had been cooped up during the long dark cold winter months. Keep in mind
     that the people in those days had no electric lights or heat, and that
     the Celtic counties are at a much more northerly latitude than many of us
     are used to. At that latitude, spring comes much later, and winter lasts
     much longer than in most of the US. The coming of fair weather and longer
     daylight hours would be most welcome after a long cold and dark winter.

     4. How did the ancient Celts celebrate this festival?

        The most ancient way of observing  this day is with fire. Beltane,
     along with Samhain (Nov.  1), Imbolc (Feb. 1), and Lughnassadh  (Aug. 1),
     was one of the four great "fire festivals" which marked the turning
     points of the Celtic year.  The most ancient records tell us that the
     people  would extinguish  all the  hearth  fires in  the  country and  then
     relight  them from the "need fires" lit by the druids (who used friction as
     a means of  ignition). In many  areas, the cattle  were driven between  two
     great bonfires to protect them from disease during the coming year.   It is
     my personal belief, although I have no documentation to back up the
     assumption, that certain herbs would have been burnt in the fires, thus
     producing smoke which would help destroy parasites which might make cattle
     and other livestock ill.



                                                                             126
     


     5. In what other ways was this festival celebrated?

        One of the most beautiful customs associated with this festival was
     "bringing in the May." The young people of the villages and towns
     would go out into the fields and forests at Midnight on April 30th
     and gather flowers with which to bedeck themselves, their families, and
     their homes. They  would process back  into the villages, stopping  at each
     home to leave flowers, and to receive the best of food and drink that the
     home had to offer. This custom is somewhat similar to "trick or treat" at
     Samhain and was very significant to the ancients.  John Williamson, in his
     study, The Oak King, the Holly King, and the Unicorn, writes, "These
     revelers were messengers  of the  renewal of vegetation,  and they  assumed
     the right to punish the niggardly, because avarice (as opposed to
     generosity) was dangerous to the community's hope for the abundance of
     nature. At an important time like the coming of summer, food, the substance
     of  life must  be ritually  circulated generously  within the  community in
     order that the  cosmic circuit of  life's substance may  be kept in  motion
     (trees, flocks, harvests, etc.)."(3)  These revelers would bless the fields
     and flocks of those who were generous and wish ill harvests on those who
     withheld their bounty.


     6. What about maypoles?

        The maypole was an adjunct to the festival of bringing in the
     May. It is a phallic symbol, and as such represented fertility to the
     participants in the festival. In olden days, the revelers who went into
     the woods would cut a tree and bring it into town, decking it with
     flowers and greenery and dance around it, clockwise (also called deosil,
     meaning "sun-wise", the direction of the sun's apparent travel across
     the face  of the Earth) to bring fertility and good luck.  The ribbons
     which we associate with the maypole today were a later addition.

     7. Why was fertility important?

     The people who originated this custom lived in close connection with the
     land. If the flocks and fields were fertile, they were ableto eat; if
     there was famine or drought, they went hungry. It is hard for us today to
     relate to this concept, but to the ancients, it was literally a life and
     death matter. The Celts were a very close tribal people, and fertility of
     their women literally meant continuity of the tribe.

     8. How is the maypole connected with fertility?

     Many scholars see the maypole as a phallic symbol. In this aspect, it is
     a very powerful symbol of the fertility of nature and spring.



                                                                             127
     


     9. How did these ancient customs come down to us ?

     When Christianity came to the British Isles, many of the ancient holy
     sites were taken over by the new religion and converted to Christian sites.
     Many of the old Gods and Goddesses became Christian saints, and many of the
     customs were appropriated. Charles Squire says," An ingenious theory was
     invented after the introduction of Christianity, with the purpose of
     allowing such ancient rites to continue with a changed meaning. The
     passing of persons and cattle through flame or smoke was explained as
     a practice which interposed a magic protection between them and the powers
     of evil." (4) This is precisely what the original festival was intended to
     do; only the definition of "evil" had  changed. These old customs
     continued to  be practiced  in many areas  for centuries.  "In Scotland  in
     1282, John, the priest in Iverkething, led the young girls of his parish in
     a  phallic dance  of decidedly  obscene character  during Easter  week. For
     this, penance was laid upon him, but his punishment  was not severe, and he
     was allowed to retain his benefice."(5)

     10. Were sacrifices practiced during this festival?

     Scholars are divided in their opinions of this. There is no
     surviving account of  sacrifices in  the legends and  mythology which  have
     come down to us.  As these were originally set down on paper by Christian
     monks, one would think that if such a thing had been regularly practiced,
     the good brothers would most certainly have recorded it, if for no other
     reason than to make the pagans look more depraved. There are, however, some
     surviving folk customs  which point to a person representing  the gloom and
     ill fortune of winter being ostracized and forced to jump through  the
     fires.  Some scholars see this as a survival of ancient human sacrificial
     practices. The notion that animals were sacrificed during this time doesn't
     make sense from a practical standpoint. The animals which had been retained
     a breeding stock through the winter would either be lean and hungry from
     winter feed, or would be mothers nursing young, which could not be spared.

     11. How do modern day pagans observe this day?

        Modern day pagan observances of Beltane include the maypole
     dances, bringing in the May, and jumping the cauldron for fertility. Many
     couples wishing to conceive children will jump the cauldron together at
     this time. Fertility of imagination and other varieties of fertility are
     invoked along with sexual fertility. In Wiccan and other Pagan circles,
     this is a joyous day, full of laughter and good times.

     12. What about Walpurgisnacht? Is this the same thing as Beltane?


     Walpurgisnacht comes from an Eastern European background, and
     has little in common with the Celtic practices. I have not studied the
     folklore from  that region and  do not  consider myself qualified  to write
     about
     it. As the vast majority of Wiccan traditions today stem from Celtic roots,
     I have confined myself to research in those areas.



                                                                             128
     


     FOOTNOTES
     (1)  MacCana, Proinsias, Celtic  Mythology, The Hamlyn
     Publishing Group Limited, London, 1970, p.32.

     (2) Squire, Charles, Celtic Myth and Legend, Poetry and Romance,
     Newcastle Publishing Co., Van Nuys, CA, 1975, p.408.

     (3) Williamson, John, The Oak King, the Holly King, and the
     Unicorn, Harper & Row, NY, 1986, p.126.

     (4) Squire, p.411.

     (5) Hole,  Christina, Witchcraft In England,  Rowman & Littlefield,
     Totowa, NJ, 1977, p.36.


     BIBLIOGRAPHY Bord, Janet & Colin,  Earth Rites, Fertility Practices
     in Pre-Industrial Britain, Granada, London, 1982.

     Danaher, Kevin, The Year in Ireland, The Mercier Press, Cork, 1972.

     Hole, Christina, Witchcraft in England, Rowman & Littlefield,
     Totowa NJ,1977.

     MacCana, Proinsias, Celtic Mythology, The Hamlyn Publishing
     Group, Ltd., London, 1970.

     MacCulloch, J.A. Religion of the Ancient Celts, Folcroft Library
     Editions, London, 1977.

     Powell, T.G.E. The Celts, Thames & Hudson, New York, 1980.

     Sharkey, John, Celtic Mysteries, the Ancient Religion, Thames &
     Hudson, New York, 1979.

     Squire, Charles, Celtic Myth, Legend, Poetry, and Romance,
     Newcastle Publishing Co., Van Nuys, CA, 1975.

     Williamson, John, The  Oak King, The Holly King, and the Unicorn,
     Harper & Row, New York, 1986.

     Wood-Martin, W.G., Traces  of the Elder Faiths of Ireland,
     Kennikat Press, Port Washington, NY, 1902.



                                                                             129