Beltane-The Final Spring Festival

Beltane-The Final Spring Festival
By
Theresa Chaze


Beltane is the final spring festival. It not only is the time of planting, but a time to celebrate youth, passion and marriage. Beltane is the bonding day between the Goddess and the God as they bring their energy together to create fertility in the land and in living beings. It is also the time of pasturing animals they are driven out to the fields and mountain grazing lands so they may grow strong and healthy. Although it is a time to celebrate the union between the Goddess and the God, it is said to be very bad luck to marry on this day. On a spiritual level, what is set in motion on this day is what will be harvested in the fall.
Also called May Day, it is a time to celebrate vitality, youth and rebirth. Traditionally, youths hung garlands of greens and flowers on the windows and doors of their prospective mate before the fires are lit Beltane night. Although there many variations, the jumping of the Beltane fire together generally symbolized a romantic or love connection. It is also a time to allow our passion free reign so it may find or create new possibilities; thinking outside the box is easier as old restrictive limits are swept away by the energy created by the intense passions and spiritual evolution.
Spiritually Beltane represents the integration of the male and female aspects of the self. By combining both aspects, a person becomes one with both their halves and achieves a closer connection to their own soul. This union if maintained not only creates a more balanced individual, but help in the ascension process.