Forums > Social Chat > Beltane

Posted: 12th Mar 2001
i'm a witch, so i'll be celebrating beltane, and prolly will incorporate fire and water. we do the whole maypole thing during the day, and i'm sort of thinking of spinning in the river at night: beltane (for witches) is the whole concept of the joining of the masculine to the feminine - fire and water respectively, and a host of other things - which you can see is tied to the whole growing season and then to the harvest later on... i checked out their website; i think their idea is pretty cool. incidentally, beltane itself is a mobile holiday (like most pagan holidays) and it's different in different parts of the country. up here, we're celebrating it on may 12, the day after the last (forcasted) hard frost.

Posted: 12th Mar 2001
And down here we celebrate it on May first.We hike way deep into the woods on the property of a friend of ours. We set up a huge bonfire near the river...stick up the maypole near that and party all day. Two years ago we had a heat wave that day (as usually is more spring like weather) and we all were burnt to a crisp. At any rate, I stand on this old wooden bridge and spin the sunset on down...it is really amazing with all of the woodland noises and such. Personally, for me it's a fire festival and a planting holiday...a reason to party! Bright Blessings.------------------Pele Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir...

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK

Posted: 13th Mar 2001
Just had my first meeting with fire point and it was amazing! As well as being a great way of meeting people and learning new moves events like this always have a spiritual significance. Whether you truly believe in it or not to take part in a ritual performance is something very sacred and it gives you a chance to find your true self.I started performing at Imbolc after seeing and photographing a few previous festivals. For me it was an event where you lose sight of the audience and totally feel at one with yourself and the world. It's an amazing feeling, something which I normally only touch on when playing with fire.

Posted: 15th Mar 2001
in the southern hemisph its traditional to celebrate halloween on mayday and we do beltane on october 31, because we have opposite weather. haven't told the rest of the crew but we Are performing at the PASA (Pagan Assoc of South Africa) halloween event in blairgowrie. heehee. there's a sexiest witch competition on l8ro-o

AnonymousPLATINUM Member

Posted: 15th Mar 2001
I'm sorry if such a base a question as follows offends any or all, but does the meeting of Masculine and Feminine, as embodied with fire and water and other typical relationships also have anything to do with hetero sexual rites / sharing etc?dunno - it all sounds very erotic.but I guess thats also cuz I dont know anything about it, and I guess its all a bit underground...Josh

Posted: 15th Mar 2001
Yes, Josh it can, depending on the tradition you follow. It is very sexual and erotic sometimes as pagans tend to celebrate the body as one of the many life bringers.At least that's how it is in these parts!Bright Blessings.------------------Pele Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir..."I prefer not to go where there is a path but to blaze a new one!"

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK

AnonymousPLATINUM Member

Posted: 15th Mar 2001
cool got any links so I can research Paganism?I really like religions that embrace sexuality, as I feel its a perfectly natural and decent urge Josh

Posted: 15th Mar 2001
There are literally thousands Josh. Try Witchvox. They are a pretty good link/forum.I couldn't agree more with you!!!! ------------------Pele Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir..."I prefer not to go where there is a path but to blaze a new one!"

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK

Posted: 16th Mar 2001
~*Witches Unite!!*~ Yippee!Interesting observation about the water/fire union symbolizing coming together of masculine and feminine elements... in the pagan tradition I follow, that's very much the case.Air (incense smoke being one example of how it's represented in ritual) is also considered a masculine element in the tradition I practice... and Earth feminine.So it all balances out...I've been thinking lately about how fire is generally seen as a masculine element in most pagan traditions, and have been exploring ways to experience it as more of a feminine element. I think a lot of the really graceful, enchanting fire dancers (men or women!) are helping to bring fire into a more feminine realm... not to mention bellydancers dancing with candles... yummy!Also, the Hindu goddess Kali is associated with the element of fire for some people, as she is creatrix and destroyer... so there's another instance of feminine fire. ~*Burn on, Goddesses!*~------------------www.cabiri.org

Posted: 16th Mar 2001
tee hee, pele...as i was catching up and reading his post, i was like, "oh, i should post for him to check out witchvox..."

Posted: 16th Mar 2001
You know what they say yKaterina, great minds think alike!!!

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK

Posted: 17th Mar 2001
Yay!! More Witches!!!I'm a witch too. For Beltane every year we have a party called Flesh Fest and hope that the weather agrees with us. Flesh Fest is a party to celebrate the idea that soon we will be wearing less clothing and firing up the Barb-que on a regular basis and of course the sacred union of the god and goddess and we always have lots of fire and a maypole.The part of the celebration that I really love is we all get in a cirle and a woman who represents the Goddess goes around the circle to size everyone up to see who she is going to pick as her god mate and it can be either a man or a woman. She walks around the circle and looks at everyone seductively and we lok back at her flirtatiously and then.... she picks her mate and they chase eachother around the cirle and when the chosen mate finally cathces her they rituallistically mate by taking an anthame (double edged dagger representational of the god) and placing the tip in a chalice ( a beautiful cup representational of the goddess) and then everyone presents the couple with a flower that represents a fertility wish for the coming year.The witchy community I hang out with sees Beltane as a huge fertility festival. Since most of us are not ready to give birth to children we celebrate the fertility of or creativity. I love Beltane. Everyone dresses up like fairies and dances around and celebrates... And then we throw a couple of big slabs of meat on the grill, get partially nude, twirl fire, get pierced, tattoed, drunk and if we are lucky a good piece of @$$.!!! Donia"Where there is sorrow, I seek the Flame."Rumi

Donia Love
Ignis Devoco Industrial Fire Circus

Where there is sorrow, I seek the flame.
Rumi