Also Called:Beltane or Beltaine - in American traditions; Bealtaine - Celtic traditions; Bealtinne - in Caledonii traditions; Rudemas - Mexican Craft traditions; Festival of Tana - Strega traditions; Walburga - Teutonic traditions.

Also known as Mayday, Bealtaine is the last of the 3 spring fertility holidays.
 While Mayday is traditionally celebrated on May 1st, where Bealtaine is
 celebrated any where between May 1st and May 5th.

• Symbolized in the May pole.

• This holiday represents the time when people, plants and animals prepare for the summer months. The time of love, and union. Specifically the union of the Lord and Lady, the male and female aspects of the divine God. It is a time of joining two halves to make a single whole, the 3rd entity. Could this be a sign of the spiritual trinity? The season is represented by bright blue, lavender, pink, yellow and white. Ribbons around a favorite tree in your yard, or a wreath for your door using flowers for the seasons colors and ribbons to show off their natural beauty is a great addition.

The ceremony for the day can begin at sunrise with freshly picked flowers. Drop a few in a large white bowl to float around a couple white floating candles. Decorate your mantle with greens and pedals. At the end of the day, take the pedals from the ceremonial decorations and place them around the house for protection.

Bealtaine is the third of the Spring holidays that ring in the festivals for fertility. Not just fertility of self and body as many non-believers believe. But fertility of the earth for an abundant crop, and garden, a fertile mind for imagining new ideas and concepts; perhaps for work or home. Depending on which sect of Wicca you chose to follow, Bealtaine can occur on May Day, May 1st, up to May 5th.

This is the festival of union. It is the time of love, when the God and the Maiden Goddess join together on a life of commitment. The perfect season for weddings and celebrations of handfasting.

It is the holiday of love and family.

This festival is most commonly celebrated through a ritual known as the Great Rite. It is ceremony that symbolizes the both the masculine and feminine essence of creation. The joining of the parts into the larger completeness of the "All-Power" of life. This is a day when couples can renew their commitments to each other. Those with children can include them in this special ceremony symbolizing the fertility of Divine union and spiritual growth. All the children to make their commitment of love to parents and family. Single parent homes are not left out of this festival either. A single parent plays both parts of father and mother, a commitment to self, balance and fairness can also be stated.

A single witch is not out of the ritual either. There may not be a partner to share your love and commitment to the union with, but you are part of the "All-Power" within yourself, within your home and within the universe as well. Thus your commitment to the balance of energies within and around you are equally important.

Sabbat Symbols:
Span the light shades of red to white for your decorations. A basket of red roses flowers and pink carnations is one of our favorites. Colored eggs can be added to the alter as magikally charged symbols of fertility. An athame and silver chalice are also added to the alter as symbols of the masculine and feminine energies respectively. You can use these later in your Great Rite ceremony.

Lastly, we make small pouches as gifts for anyone who joins our circle. Inside we give seeds for the coming planting season, such as lily of the valley (a common May flower), lettuce symbolizing the unfolding growth of the female spirit, and carrots or cucumbers for the representation of the male spirit.

Preparations:
Traditionally Sabbat festivals begin at sun set on the eve of the Holiday. You can use the daytime hours of this holiday eve to clean up your ritual area and set the alter. We like to use this day to bake cakes and prepare our ritual wines for the evening ceremonies. We like to symbolize the spirit of the festival in the offerings we prepare. On this holiday we make cucumber sandwiches, carrot cake and some type of salad, or slaw. As for the alter, choose a special white candle as your center piece to represent the purity of the Maiden Goddess. Along side chose a red candle to represent passion and love the God. Around the circle we like to place light pink candles to represent the compassion and love of the spring season, much like we did during Ostara.

You can place a mauve cloth covered with a vanilla colored lace over the dining table and/or alter. Some witches include crystals to enhance the energy of the season. Rose Quartz (a pink stone) can be used to enhance love, self love, positive outlook, joy and oneness. Garnet (a red stone) can be used to stimulate happiness, peace, balance, patience, and inspiration. Gold or brass serving trays and goblets for ritual offerings are also placed on or around the alter for easy access. Along with a bridal flower arrangement to further mark the occasion.

Dancing around the May Pole is another custom of Celtic rituals. Although ribbons today come in a variety of colors, the ancient custom was to use white , red, pink and perhaps a faint yellow. The ritual involves weaving the ribbons around the pole, to symbolize the union of the God and Goddess. By the way, this is a common custom on Mayday within and outside of Paganism. But the purpose of the game was still the same. The joining of the female and males aspects of God and the renewal of life.

Festival Ritual:
There are several ways of conducting a ritual. Each witch should learn many different methods and then construct your own within the boundaries of the festival.

Beltaine Ritual

Ritual Preparation

• Gather the necessary tools

• Select two candles for your alter, one white & the other red.

• Select four additional candles for the elemental quarters. You can maintain the color scheme if you wish, or select a color that represents the energy of that quarter. For instance, you might chose a light shade of blue to represent the Water essence of the West quarter and a fiery red to represent the Fire essence of the South quarter. Or maintain the "love" theme and chose 4 pink candles, or any varying shade of red and white. Spring's mauve candles are a good example.

• Choose your favorite ceremonial broom. You can often find a straw ornamental broom at local craft shows/stores.

• Choose your favorite serving trays or dishes. You can find some inexpensive brass or silver serving trays and goblets at a variety of gift stores.

• Set aside your ceremonial cakes (for this holiday we bake carrot cup cakes to represent the God, topped with white icing for the sweetness of the Maiden Goddess) and wine on the serving trays. A special decanter to hold the wine. If you don't partake of wine, use your favorite grape juice or cider.

• Select a bell, you might want to add a decorative ribbon or wrap a vine of silk and colored flowers from your local craft store around the handle to coincide with the colors of the spring festival.

• Choose a gift for honoring the God/Goddess on this festival day. One of our favorite methods of gift giving on this Spring festival is to burn lavender incense. We select a few stalks of the herbs we collected from the Lughnasadh harvest, and wrap them into a special smudge stick.

• A decorative pillow or rug to lie or sit on for your meditation.

Prepare ritual space
Clean the area, not just energy wise but dust and vacuum your space. If your space is outside, you might clean any fallen branches, weeds or even clear any animal indications that may have been deposited in the area. The most important part is to clear and cleanse the space.

Prepare body
It's just as important to prepare yourself as it is your space. On the day of your ceremony take a shower or bubble bath. Make sure your ritual cloths (whether a robe or just jeans and a t-shirt) are clean. Take time to have a meditation to align your energies, prepare your energies for the spiritual work ahead and open your chakra centers.

Open Circle
Finding the compass points, directing the ritual and speaking the blessings is usually performed by a High Priest or Priestess within a coven. If you are a solitary witch, then YOU are the High Priest or Priestess. For our example we will simply refer to the director of ceremonies as the Priestess.

The Priestess should find compass North, where the ritual will begin with calling in the quarters starting with the North. Set your circle according to the directions. If you are conducting the ceremony alone, you might chose to use a rope of natural fibers to outline your ceremonial circle. If you're performing the ceremony in a coven, mark the location of the quarters so everyone will know where to stand when the circle is drawn. The Priestess should guide everyone through the steps for setting up a Door Between the Worlds by raising the vibration of the group and/or area.

Close your eyes and imagine a divine white light emerging from the solar plexus of each person and then raising up toward a center point over the circle. Many call this establishing a "cone of power". Imagine this light spinning clockwise rising your energies and awareness. If your a solitary witch, you will imagine the light beginning at your solar plexus and then moving out to fully encompass your ritual space. Each Quarter Master will then be directed to call the Watchtowers or Elemental Quarters it's usually the choice of the Priestess, but each person should call upon the same force. Some witches call Angels, Spirit Guides, or just the elements. It's up to you or your coven. Just as which direction to start with is up the individuals. Many witches begin with the North, where others begin with the east.

Your prayer to summon the directions can be stated in a variety of ways. From old English to a modern statement. Here's an example:

Facing North the 1st QuarterMaster states:

"To the Maiden Goddess of the Spring, the Watchtowers of the North and the elements of Earth, we call upon your wisdom, summon your energy and love to participate in this celebration of divine union and renewal of life."

• Light the Northern candle and ring the bell once.

If you are a solitary, turn to the East, or if in a coven the
2nd Quarter Master faces East and states:

"To the Mother Goddess, the Watchtowers of the East and the elements of Air, we call upon your wisdom and summon your energy to witness this rebirth of spirit and commitment to God and Goddess."

• Light the Eastern candle and ring the bell once.

Turn to the South and state:

"To the God of the Spring, the Watchtowers of the South and the elements of Fire, we call upon your wisdom and summon your energy for accepting the balance of life, the love of union and the commitment to the divine whole of all."

• Light the Southern candle and ring the bell once.

Turn to the West and state:

"To the wise Crone Goddess, the Watchtowers of the West and the elements of Water, we call upon your wisdom and energy to witness this divine union and symbol of balance. We ask for your guidance and direction as we move forward on our journey of devotion."

• Light the Western candle and ring the bell once.

Invocation to Spirit
The Priestess should guide everyone through the steps to:

Call your personal Spirit Guide and solicit their assistance during the ritual. Your personal guide can assist you to maintain focus and concentration during the ritual as well as, aid in your tasks within the circle.

You might call upon them like this:

"(State your guides' name), I call upon your guidance and love to assist me during this spiritual celebration. To help me maintain my focus, energy and alignment for divine purpose and work."

• Light a candle for your guide and ring the bell twice.

• Call your deity and solicit their assistance aligning yourself with the deity. In most covens the High Priest/Priestess will summon the deity. In other covens each person will call upon their chosen deity and align their energies (this is the method we prefer most. It empowers each individual instead of setting one person above the rest). Which ever you prefer light a candle for each deity you summon upon the alter and ring the bell three times for each deity.
  
  "I believe in the spiritual existence of myself as a perfect image of (deitys' name). In this reflection that is my physical embodiment, I align myself and my faith in the supreme guidance of my soul with the ancient powers and wisdom of (state the deitys' name once more)."

State Your Purpose
The Priestess should state the intent of the gathering. For a Sabbat you'll state your purpose of honoring, as well as, the God and Goddess of the season. You'll continue by blessing the cakes and wine for the ceremony.

For Beltaine you might say something like:

"I/we have come to honor the nature kingdom, the balance of spirit and the union of God and Goddess. We/I honor the God who brings strength and wisdom, as he joins with the Maiden Goddess who brings compassion and knowledge."

In most of our Sabbats this would be all we'd say, but Bealtaine is special to us and we add a few more flowery words and add to the ritual. Here is where we add the 'Great Rite' to our ceremony.

• We hold up the athame and chalice to symbolize the union of the God and Goddess. The Priest raises the athame, the Priestess raises the chalice. If you are a solitary witch, use your right hand to raise the athame and your left for the chalice. Then say:
  
  "We give thanks to this strength of the Father God, tempered with compassion of the Maiden. We give thanks to the knowledge of the Maiden, expanded with the wisdom of the Father God. We honor the balance of spirit, body and mind, as we travel side by side along this path of enlightenment and growth."

• The priest then places the athame into the goblet, symbolizing the union of the masculine energies (the athame) with the female energies (the goblet, a symbolic cosmic womb).

Honor The God/Goddess
The Priestess should preside over the steps to honor and dedicate the items for the festival.

Perform manual and visionary tasks by pulling in the aspects of this ritual. You should state your honor and gratitude as well, something like this:

"We send thanks and gratitude to each of you for this spring season. We honor you all as the world renews it flowering beauty once more. We share our love in joy and happiness with all those who have come in body and in spirit."

• Light the candle you chose to represent the Beltaine festival and ring the bell seven times.

Dedicate offerings.
Whether you're conducting a ritual of honor or for work, you should present an offering that is commiserate with the event. We like to make an offering of energy through a fragrant bouquet. We light the smudge stick we prepared and allow the lavender herbs to blaze for a few moments. We say part of our prayer, then blow out the flames and allow the incense to continue to smolder. Then we complete the prayer and place the incense in a special holder, we like to use a brass bowl shaped in the fashion of a miniature cauldron.

Finally, because this festival is the last of springs new beginnings, we like to add a bowl or several bowls of seeds that we will use to plant through out the season. We've done this in many of the harvest festivals, and with each blessing we add new seed to the alter. Keeping these special ceremonial seeds separate from the rest. By the time we're ready to plant our garden, all the seed we harvested, will have been blessed within the ritual of a Sabbat.

For the prayer itself, we say something like this:

• Hold the smudge stick in your left hand and light it with the right. Then hold up the burning stick to the God with both hands.
  
  "We offer this gift as a symbol of our love and thanks to the Father; We honor each aspect of the God, within ourselves, within the world and within the divine universe."

• Lower the smudge and blow out the flames, allow the stick to smolder. Again with both hands hold the stick up to the Goddess
  
  "We share the fragrance of this offering with the Maiden Goddess, as we pray for a fertile year and blessed union of our physical lives with our spiritual desires."

• Set the smudge in the bowl and retrieve a bowl of seed, holding it up to the God and Goddess;
  
  "We give thanks the Maiden Goddess for the compassion and patience with ourselves and with those in our lives as we all move forward to enlightenment. We give great homage the courtship of the God and Goddess. We honor the spirits of love and the balance of all things within our daily lives as well as our spiritual journey."

• Ring the bell nine times, in groups of three to honor the God, the Goddess and lastly their union.

For Honoring
Partake of cakes and wine that you have set upon a platter.
Some covens like to serve the cakes upon small dishes, while others prefer to hold the cakes in their hand. Which ever you chose, the cakes should start on a platter for the dedication. The wine starts in a special decanter and is poured into ceremonial goblets. Once again different covens have different rituals. Some provide individual cups, much like silver shot glasses, while others insist each witch bring their own goblet.

To dedicate your cakes and wine, you might say something like:

• Hold the plate of cakes up using both hands and say:
  
  "On this eve of Bealtaine we come to honor the Father God and share in the fertility and rebirth of the divine universe. We offer these cakes {or whatever} and this wine made of grapes {again whatever wine you've chosen} as our thank you for all you have given and all you are about to provide."

• Ring the festival bell three times, then walk up to each person in the circle and allow them to take a cake from the tray with the right hand. Make sure there's one or two cakes left for the God and Goddess. When everyone has received a cake, hold it in both hands and raise it up to the Goddesses; then say:
  
  "With the partaking of this cake I take into my body the essence of Bealtaine, the Goddess of renewal. I align my spirit and soul with the physical well being of my body and mind."

• With your right hand grasp the neck of the decanter. With your left hand hold your chalice and pour the wine. When everyone has their share of wine, each person raises their goblet to the God and says:
  
  "With the partaking of this wine I take into my body the essence of the God, I align my soul with the balance and rebirth of our spiritual family."

• Each person drinks half their wine, then holds the goblet up again.
  
  "We ask the Goddess of light to accept this wine as our offering of honor and thanksgiving on this the festival of Bealtaine. We take into ourselves the union of spirit and the commitment of the divine."

Some people like to pour the remaining wine from the goblets into a large cauldron. As a symbolistic gesture that we are all one and all part of the divine. Some covens go a step farther and light the wine allowing it evaporate into the ethers through the flames. And others add to the ceremony and pour the wine onto the ground, making a circle and pentagram with the liquid.

Meditation
The Priestess should guide everyone through a brief meditation. No matter what your ceremony is for, we believe you should add a moment of meditation to the event. In this altered state a witch can contact the God/Goddess and engage them in a private ritual.

You can use this time to thank them for the knowledge and wisdom they brought you last year and how you might use that this year. Whether it be in planting your garden, creating a financial plan or starting a family. In our view, the Sabbat ceremonies are not the time to ask for something for yourself. This is a time of honoring what the God/Goddess has already given you. You might ask for clarity of vision or better understanding of the messages they provided you with the growth and the tasks you were given to move forward this year.

Conclude your meditation by closing your chakra centers.

Thank the Deities and Spirits
The Priestess should guide everyone through a statement of thanks.
This is one of the more important steps to any ritual. You spent a good deal of time asking for their assistance, calling the quarters, your personal spirit guide and the deities, so be polite and spend time thanking them as well. Here's a simple example:

• Stand facing the alter, hold your hands together as if you are praying, only open the top slightly at the thumbs as if you're making a bowl with your hands. Then state:
  
  "I, (state your magik name), thank the Father God and the Maiden Goddesses, Divine Spirits and the WatchTowers of the Four Corners for watching over this ceremony of Bealtaine. By the light and love of All that Is, we honor the blessings we have received on this day. We thank you for your guidance, your wisdom and your strength as we embark on this new year. We send many blessings to each and all as we walk along the path of enlighentment forever."

Close the Circle
The Priestess should guide everyone through a process of closing the circle.
Mentally and verbally close the circle. You don't want to leave the gateway between worlds open for several reasons. You could be inviting forces you don't necessarily want around you. You can also be maintaining a state of heightened perception. While this is great for ceremonies and ritual work, it isn't necessarily good for daily activities. If you find yourself saying "I feel out of it today", then you need to close your senses and get grounded. This is another reason for closing the circle.

• Imagine the "cone of power" you established at the beginning of the ritual, slowly coming down and dissipating back within the solar plexus of each person. Move to the center of the circle, holding a ceremonial sword or knife. Starting in the North, turn counter-clockwise and state:
  
  "We give thanks to the God and Goddesses once more. We honor each other in this state of divine experience. And we close this circle that binds us to spirit, and can never be broken.

• Snuff out the candles (don't blow them out). (Some people like to leave the two ritual candles burning during the night until they burn out by themselves. Then, if they last, you use these two on the next day of the festival as you continue our honor of Beltaine.)

We prepare a special meal and invite family or friends to join us. These two candles are placed as the center-piece of the table. If the original candles have extinguished before the meal, we will light another candle from the flame of the original; allowing all candles to burn as long as they can.

Physically close the circle by exiting over the broom. Pick up the broom and sweep away any energy that may have been left over.

Clean your working area and prepare your offerings, gifts and candles for burial. If there are any cakes left over from the ritual, set them outside for the animals and spirit folk. Pour out any left over wine on the ground. Once again some people like to pour out the drink in the shape of a pentacle. Wash all dishes and clean all tools.

Ritual Is Concluded
Finally, some people like to share their experiences during the ritual. Some even carry the festival on and hold a party to share in some of the fruits, vegetables and breads they labored over. For the solitary, now is a good time to record the events and make notes about what you felt, what you did and didn't do that you might like to do next time.

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