Ever seen the film ‘The Wicker Man’? If not, then don’t give it eyes before attending a Beltane Festival! Beltane day is 1st May, or traditionally, when the Hawthornes first blossom. It marks the coming of warmer weather, an opportunity to give thanks for the fruitful harvest to come in the later summer. Beltane is the FIRE festival and deals with all things FERTILITY.
So what can you expect from a Beltane festival? Beltane’s eve is the biggest bash. Usual entertainments are the pagan blessings, fancy dress, mucho mead and mirth, folk singers and possibly pyrotechnics….it is traditional to jump over fire.
And now it is also tradition, having engorged in much excess, to cleanse oneself with a whole lunar cycle of nowt much more than vegetables to scoff and quiet contemplation amidst forests or deserted seashores….idyllic.
The term ‘Bacchanalian’ references the god Bacchus who alongside Dionysus were the gods of agriculture, wine and pleasure. The Romans honoured these gods with orgiastic revelry that lasted for days and/or weeks and then abstained from fodder, booze and sex to cleanse their bodies, post piss up. In 186BCE the Roman governors tried to abolish the festival viewing it as a threat to family. Despite the ban the feasts continued until they were eventually adopted into Christianity as the forty days of lent after one single day of partying – hardly the heart of the Festival of Bacchus which is carelessness, ecstasy and unbridled happiness.
Christians try to spoil all the best fun!