Beltane: Celebrating Sexuality

There are two high sabbats within the annual cycle of Witch's celebrations. The first is Samhain, on October 31, marked by somber rites of death and return. Then, directly across the Wheel of the Year is Beltane, on May 1.

Beltane is the sweet yang to Hallows' dark yin—a joyous celebration of life and sexuality. Lots of lovers and weddings. I even find the butterflies flitting our backyard garden, locked in coitus. Mother Nature is regenerating her children, and everything is horny.

The followers of the Old Religion met on mountaintops and danced the spiral dance on the night before, called Walpurgis Night. The ancients believed that the earth appreciated the sexual energy expended in her open fields, that it stimulated the fertility of the crops and animals. Babies that resulted from these parties were called sons and daughters of Pan, or Cernunnos, since all men represented him.

I wish we were going to Scotland a month sooner, so we could attend the annual Beltane Fire Festival on Carlton Hill in Edinburgh (shown here). It claims to be the biggest Beltane festival in the world.

Here at home, we make flower caplets for our heads and dance around the Maypole. One year I hosted a back-yard concert for my friend Wendy Rule, and she and her husband Tim danced with us.

If you want to attract Beltane love into your life, here's an attracting oil recipe.
Love Oil
Mix one ounce Almond oil or vegetable glycerin with the following essential oils:

• 4 drops rose
• 3 drops apple
• 2 drops jasmine
• 1 drop lavender
  Apply the finished blend to your heart chakra and to the chakra area just above the genitals to attract love.
   
  

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