Beltane, hooray! This is the big one. This is the holiday that say SPRING IS HERE!
The weather in Calgary has finally warmed up again – hopefully to stay this time. I have my seeds on the go. My little Scrapple tree is now 3 Scrapple trees – they will get divided up on Beltane. I have lavender and sage and green peas started. I have a few other flowers, herbs and veggies germinating, hopefully they will be sprouted and ready for the garden by the first.
I’m new to this area, so I’m not certain that we will be done with frost by Beltane. If not, I still have plenty of work ahead of me: tilling, weeding, organizing, etc. I haven’t had an ‘in the earth’ garden of my own since I left home many years ago, and I am very excited about it.
For the baby, I think we’ll go with bubbles and ribbons to celebrate the season (bubbles are fun and you can wish on them without filling your lawn up with dandelions). For me, my project will be making my own seed paper. If it turns out, I plan to make a few pages for my BOS, for planted wish spells* and for business/greeting cards.
For food I am really craving BBQ, but springtime fresh as well. Maybe a smoked/grilled fish (something local, I’m not sure what yet – I’m pretty fond of trout), grilled root veg & cauliflower, maybe some roasted tomatoes, caramelized onions and quinoa to round things out. And a shaved ice drink. Maybe strawberry lemonade? And perhaps for dessert, a gluten-free version of these hydrangea cupcakes. Sound good?
Decor this Sabbat is all about spring – wreaths of flowers, braided ribbons, bells, bright colours, love, vibrancy, sex! You can put together a mini Maypole (I’ll be adding photos of mine closer to the big day), make yourself a crown of flowers, weave a may basket and fill it with seasonal flowers (or paper flowers, or garden faery cookies). You could even make little fabric flower rings (or replace the fabric with hemp and make them birds nest rings).**
Fire is traditional for Beltane as it is one of the fire festivals, I think we’ll be making use of our backyard firepit again. The fire we had for Ostara/Earth Hour was so much fun. I think it was the first time L’il R had seen fire. We roasted bunny shaped marshmallow peeps while making silly sound effects and squealing things like, ‘I’m melting! Oh, what a world!’ and ‘Never again the Burning Times!’ – I couldn’t help myself. The baby probably thought we were crazy.
Sitting by an open fire was such a nostalgic experience for me. So much so that I’ve agreed to go for reals camping this year (those who know me know that while I did go camping a lot as a kid, my idea of camping now is a hotel room where you keep your shoes on because the carpet is crunchy).
If you’re not somewhere where you can have a big fire (I lived in an apartment for years, so I know the pain), then a candle will do the trick – a candle-lit bubble bath with no distractions is a wonderful way to honour the Goddess. Maybe give fire scrying a try.
If fire itself is a big no no, then get thyself out to watch the sunset. Maybe end your evening with a big cup of your favourite tea, and see what the leaves have to tell you. However you spend it, have a truly incredible Beltane, folks. Summer is just around the corner.
*planted wish spells are similar to the manifest desire spell that I wrote about in my Ostara post. See Mrs B’s Beltane page for more info.
**Check out Tip Junkie for more awesome Beltane/Mayday craft ideas
A Less Travelled Path 