top of page
Search
Writer's pictureMichalea Moore
May 157 min read

Beltane Retrospective

As the Beltane festivities came to a close, reflections on the celebrations emerged. Wetherden ignited tradition with the revival of a well dressing, breathing new life into May Day rituals. Faun's timely release of a single adds a modern soundtrack to the ancient festival. Meanwhile, at the Lost Village of Dode, crowds revel in May Day merriment, though an unexpected turn of events leaves some puzzled. In another corner, the towering figure of a 40-foot wicker man blazed against the night sky, drawing crowds to witness the fiery spectacle. Amidst it all, Féile na Bealtaine ushered in the dawn with Morris Men and Pagans, marking the start of May with joyous ceremonies and ancient reverence.


Beltane Retrospective


Wetherden, between Stowmarket and Bury St Edmunds, included the old practice of “Dressing the Well” in its May Day Fayre.


Natural materials, flowers and living plants are set in a base of clay and used to decorate the well, a practice thought to be a pagan tradition to give thanks to fresh water springs originally in Derbyshire.


Pagan Folk veterans of Faun released a new single just in time for Beltane, titled Blót, with a music video produced and edited by Off Stage Productions. . .

The word Blót originates from ancient Norse, translating to “sacrifice.”




Celebrations to mark the beginning of May have taken place in Kent. Revellers have flocked to the lost village of Dode near Luddesdown, Gravesend where a celebration of Beltane, the traditional pagan festival that marks the end of winter, is taking place.


The Wheel has turned! 🔥Happy Beltane!🔥


Around May 1st, numerous major Spring/Summer festivals in modern Paganism (in the northern hemisphere) are celebrated. Beltane, Bealtaine, May Day, Floralia, Protomayia, and Walpurgis Night are among the prominent ones. These festivals signify the arrival of summer—a season of joy, festivity, and abundance—marking a liminal period where the boundaries between our world and the spirit worlds are believed to be especially thin.


(Andrew Matthews/PA) (PA Wire/PA Images - Andrew Matthews)

© Provided by Indy 100

Crowds gathered to mark the coming of summer with a traditional Celtic fire festival held at Butser Ancient Farm in Hampshire.


The experimental archaeology site in Waterlooville hosted the burning of a 40ft wicker man at dusk to mark the pagan quarter-day farming celebration of Beltane or Beltain, which has connections to later May Day celebrations.


Picture: Eoghan O'Sullivan

The sun shone on the Dingle peninsula for a mini-festival that included pounding dance beats and Cormac Begley's magic concertina

Féile na Bealtaine has been running in and around the Dingle peninsula every May bank holiday weekend since 1994. “Who leads it? Who’s it for? Who gains from it? Who suffers? We don’t know!” states the ‘about’ page on its website. It also says it remains “true to the festival’s deep roots in a rural community”.



The start of the month saw extraordinary displays up and down the country. May Day celebrations have seen a riot of ritual and festivities on display across the UK.

Morris men gathered in Leicester and Hampshire to welcome the start of the month with traditional dances. A green man takes part in Beltane celebrations at Glastonbury Chalice Well (Ben Birchall/PA)


Witches and Witchcraft

Walls of the 17th century cottage at Lower Black Moss near Pendle Hill


For something so synonymous with Pendle, so much of what led to the 1612 witch trials remains shrouded in mystery.


For years, doubts have been raised about precisely where the Pendle Witches are alleged to have cast their spells. But, perhaps, some of those questions could be at an end.


The remote island of Siquijor is unique – not only in the Philippines, but the whole of South East Asia, renowned since ancient times as a centre of witchcraft, magic and folk healing.


Siquijor, located in the Central Visayas region, lures many Filipino travellers, including those living abroad, who come to experience the island's therapies that blend Catholicism (introduced by the Spanish in the 16th Century) with shamanic practices such as potion-making, exorcism and herbal fumigation.

If you're like most Americans, you know a little about the Salem witch trials and you have a theory about why they happened. For the last 332 years, people have debated how and why the people of the Massachusetts Bay Colony could have embarked on a witch hunt in the spring of 1692. Nuanced, evidence-based theories abound—but so does misinformation.



More than 2,000 years ago, the city of Kelenderis was a thriving port on the southern coast of Turkey. . .

Archaeological excavations and explorations of the city were initiated more than 30 years ago, but experts are still uncovering new artifacts. Most recently, a team of experts from Batman University unearthed an ancient sculpture of the Greek goddess Hecate, the university said in an Aug. 18 news release.


Paganism


Raising my arms above my head, feeling the breeze flow through my fingers, I summoned the spirit of air.

“Sacred air, blessed by the Goddess and spirits of the East, join with me tonight, on this sacred day of equal day and equal night.



I first met Joshua Rood in the hallways of Oddi, the social science building at the University of Iceland where, like me and two other students, he was about to start an MA in Old Norse Religion. . . Here I was, recently uprooted to yet another country, to start advanced studies in a field I knew, all thing considered, very little about, and what was it that met me? A massive guy, all dressed in black, complete with heavy combat boots, a leather vest, tons of tattoos, and a mane of hair thick enough to rival a wild horse.


Tarot: The cards


The 78-card Cacio e Pepe Tarot deck features pancakes, a stiff cocktail, fondue, and paella.


“You know when it’s time to eat papaya? When it’s knocking at death’s door.” No, this isn’t the opener of an esoteric novel. It’s an excerpt from a booklet that explains why, of all the foods out there, the exotic fruit was chosen to symbolize the tarot card of Death. . . Cacio e Pepe Tarot is doing the seemingly impossible, yet necessary: connecting food and mysticism in a new tarot deck like no other.


© Provided by Astrology on Parade

You know times are seriously cha-cha-changing when once-demonized practices like astrology and Tarot have gone mainstream. Now more than ever, folks are opening up to the idea of consulting the cards basically everywhere! If the pool of mystical seekers grows, it only makes sense for the pool of readers to grow as well. If you’ve been considering ditching your nine-to-five to become a full-time Tarot reader, or are simply curious about experiencing the magic of Tarot firsthand, this article is for you!



It’s the first Sunday morning of spring in the Wilshire-Montana neighborhood of Santa Monica and local artist Kim Krans, 43, is making the 10-minute pilgrimage from her apartment to her new favorite place on Earth: the Gloveworx boxing gym at 14th Street and Wilshire Boulevard . . . . Beyond the boxing ring, Krans is better known as the creative powerhouse behind some of the most influential spiritual art of her generation: a series of tarot-style card decks, under the brand name the Wild Unknown (after the Bob Dylan lyric “wild unknown country”), that have sold more than 1.5 million copies in the U.S. over the last 12 years, according to her own records and those of her publishing company, HarperCollins. Those numbers don’t include all the decks that Harper allows overseas publishers to print and sell internationally in more than 50 countries — where Krans’ work has been translated into seven languages.


Tarot: The Movie

I think most reviewers agree that Tarot is a flawed film that lacks a little something. BUT, there are a few positive reviews among the snark.





2 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments

bottom of page