Beltane - The Great Feast
Beltane, Beltain, Beltaine or Bealtuinnis is a fertility festival that is part of the culture of the Celts in Ireland and Scotland. It begins on the eve of May 1, in honor of the god of life and death, Bel of Belonus. In some cultures, this is also called the Walpurgis Night. Especially in the northern traditions, this party is still popular in honor of the goddess Freya and her magical aspects. Today, it is also celebrated by neo-pagan Wiccans and followers of Celtic Spirituality, who have added elements of the Germanic May celebration.
May 1 is still called Latha Buidhe Bealltainn in Scottish Gaelic, and May is called Bealtaine in Irish Gaelic. Beltain is the equivalent of Samhain, when the winter starts and stands for death and darkness. So Beltain stands for light and life. The Celtic festival of May is dedicated to flowering and fertilization.
Historical form
It is a quarter of a day, which marks the middle ground between winter solstice (Yule) and summer solstice (Litha). Originally, the party was apparently a cleansing ritual where people and livestock were symbolically led between fires (beltine is “fierce fire” in Old Irish) so that their iniquities would disappear and the new growth could have a clean beginning, free from sin and disease. In that form, it has continued to exist into Christian times. The Celtic druids built those two big emergency fires on the hills in honor of the sun god who fertilizes mother Earth. It first hunted the livestock for purification and the human animals then also walked in between. Beltain is originally and primarily a fertility festival.
