'Beltane' or 'Bealtaine' (
Irish, pronounced
IPA //) is an ancient
Gaelic holiday celebrated around
May 1. Historically, this festival was celebrated in
Ireland,
Scotland and the
Isle of Man. There were similar festivals held at the same time in the other
Celtic countries of
Wales,
Brittany and
Cornwall. The festival survives in folkloric practices in the
Celtic Nations and the
diaspora, and has experienced a degree of revival in recent decades.
Overview
For the Celts, Beltane marked the beginning of the pastoral summer season when the herds of livestock were driven out to the summer pastures and mountain grazing lands. In modern
Irish, ''Mí na Bealtaine'' ('month of Bealtaine') is the name for the month of May. The name of the month is often abbreviated to ''Bealtaine'', with the festival day itself being known as ''Lá Bealtaine''. The lighting of bonfires on ''Oidhche Bhealtaine'' ('the eve of ''Bealtaine') on mountains and hills of ritual and political significance was one of the main activities of the festival.
[1][2] In modern
Scottish Gaelic, ''Là Buidhe Bealltaine'' ('the yellow day of Bealltain') is used to describe only the first of May.
In ancient Ireland the main Bealtaine fire was held on the central hill of
Uisneach 'the navel of Ireland', the ritual centre of the country, which is located in what is now
County Westmeath. In Ireland the lighting of bonfires on ''Oidhche Bhealtaine'' seems only to have survived to the present day in
County Limerick, especially in
Limerick itself, as their yearly bonfire night, though some cultural groups have expressed an interest in reviving the custom at Uisneach and perhaps at the
Hill of Tara.
[3] The lighting of a community Bealtaine fire from which individual hearth fires are then relit is also observed in modern times in some parts of the Celtic diaspora and by some
Neopagan groups, though in the majority of these cases this practice is a cultural revival rather than an unbroken survival of the ancient tradition.
[4][5][1][7]
Another common aspect of the festival which survived up until the early 20th century in Ireland was the hanging of May Boughs on the doors and windows of houses and of the erection of May Bushes in farmyards, which usually consisted either of a branch of
rowan (mountain ash) or
whitethorn (hawthorn) which is in bloom at the time and is commonly called the 'May Bush' in
Hiberno-English. The practice of decorating the May Bush with flowers, ribbons, garlands and colored egg shells has survived to some extent among the diaspora as well, most notably in Newfoundland, and in some
Easter traditions observed on the
East Coast of the United States.
Beltane is a
cross-quarter day, marking the midpoint in the
Sun's progress between the
vernal equinox and summer
solstice. Since the Celtic year was based on both lunar and solar cycles, it is possible that the holiday was celebrated on the full moon nearest the midpoint between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice. The
astronomical date for this midpoint is closer to
May 5 or
May 7, but this can vary from year to year.
[8]
Origins
In
Irish mythology, the beginning of the
summer season for the
Tuatha Dé Danann and the
Milesians started at Bealtaine. Great bonfires would mark a time of purification and transition, heralding in the season in the hope of a good harvest later in the year, and were accompanied with ritual acts to protect the people from any harm by
Otherworldly spirits, such as the
Sídhe. Like the festival of
Samhain, opposite Beltane on October 31st, Beltane was also a time when the Otherworld was seen as particularly close at hand. Early Gaelic sources from around the
10th century state that the
druids of the community would create a
need-fire on top of a hill on this day and drive the village's cattle through the fires to purify them and bring luck (''Eadar dà theine Bhealltainn'' in
Scottish Gaelic, 'Between two fires of Beltane'). In Scotland, boughs of
juniper were sometimes thrown on the fires to add an additional element of purification and blessing to the smoke. People would also pass between the two fires to purify themselves. This was echoed throughout history after
Christianization, with lay people instead of Druid priests creating the need-fire. The festival persisted widely up until the
1950s, and in some places the celebration of Beltane continues today. A revived
Beltane Fire Festival has been held every year since
1988 during the night of
30 April on
Calton Hill in
Edinburgh,
Scotland and attended by up to 15,000 people (except in
2003 when local council restrictions forced the organisers to hold a private event elsewhere).
[4][10][11]
Beltane as described in this article is a specifically
Gaelic holiday. Other Celtic cultures, such as the
Welsh,
Bretons, and
Cornish, do not celebrate Beltane, per se. However they celebrated or celebrate festivals similar to it at the same time of year. In
Wales, the day is known as ''
Calan Mai'', and the
Gaulish name for the day is ''Belotenia''.
[12]
Dwelly wrote:
Etymology
''Beltane'' has a complex etymology and a resultant variety of different spellings.
The word ''Beltane'' derives directly from the
Old Irish ''Beltain'', which later evolved into the
Modern Irish ''Bealtaine''. In
Scottish Gaelic it is spelled ''Bealltainn''.
[13] Both are from
Old Irish ''Beltene'' ('bright fire') from ''belo-te(p)niâ''. Beltane was formerly spelled 'Bealtuinn' in Scottish Gaelic; in Manx it is spelt 'Boaltinn' or 'Boaldyn'.
In Modern Irish, ''Oíche Bealtaine'' is May Eve, and ''Lá Bealtaine'' is May Day. ''Mí na Bealtaine'', or simply ''Bealtaine'' is the name of the month of May.
In the word ''belo-te(p)niâ'') the element ''belo-'' is cognate with the English word ''bale'' (as in 'bale-fire'), the
Anglo-Saxon ''bael'', and also the
Lithuanian ''baltas'', meaning 'white' or 'shining' and from which the
Baltic Sea takes its name.
In
Gaelic the terminal vowel ''-o'' (from ''Belo'') was dropped, as shown by numerous other transformations from early or Proto-Celtic to
Early Irish, thus the Gaulish deity names
Belenos ('bright one') and
Belisama.
From the same
Proto-Celtic roots we get a wide range of other words: the verb ''beothaich'', from Early Celtic ''belo-thaich'' ('to kindle, light, revive, or re-animate'); ''baos'', from ''baelos'' ('shining'); ''beòlach'' ('ashes with hot embers') from ''beò''/''belo'' + ''luathach'', ('shiny-ashes' or 'live-ashes'). Similarly ''boil''/''boile'' ('fiery madness'), through Irish ''buile'' and Early Irish ''baile''/''boillsg'' ('gleam'), and ''bolg-s-cio-'', related to
Latin ''fulgeo'' ('shine'), and English 'effulgent'.
Neopaganism
Beltane is observed by
Neopagans in various forms, and by a variety of names. As forms of Neopaganism can be quite different and have very different origins, these representations can vary considerably despite the shared name. Some celebrate in a manner as close as possible to how the Ancient Celts and Living Celtic cultures have maintained the traditions, while others observe the holiday with rituals culled from numerous other unrelated sources, Celtic culture being only one of the sources used.
[14][15]
Celtic Reconstructionist
Like other
Reconstructionist traditions,
Celtic Reconstructionist Pagans place emphasis on historical accuracy. They base their celebrations and rituals on traditional lore from the living Celtic cultures, as well as research into the older beliefs of the
polytheistic Celts.
[16]
Celtic Reconstructionists usually celebrate ''Lá Bealtaine'' when the local
hawthorn trees are in bloom, or on the full moon that falls closest to this event. Many observe the traditional bonfire rites, to whatever extent this is feasible where they live, including the dousing of the household hearth flame and relighting of it from the community festival fire. Some decorate May Bushes and prepare traditional festival foods. Pilgrimages to
holy wells are traditional at this time, and offerings and prayers to the spirits or deities of the wells are usually part of this practice. Crafts such as the making of equal-armed
rowan crosses are common, and often part of rituals performed for the blessing and protection of the household and land.
Wicca
Wiccans and Wiccan-inspired Neopagans celebrate a variation of Beltane as a
sabbat, one of the eight solar holidays. Although the holiday may use features of the Gaelic Bealtaine, such as the
bonfire, it bears more relation to the Germanic
May Day festival, both in its significance (focusing on fertility) and its rituals (such as
maypole dancing). Some Wiccans celebrate 'High Beltaine' by enacting a ritual union of the
May Lord and
Lady.
[19]
Among the Wiccan sabbats, Beltane is a
cross-quarter day; it is celebrated in the northern hemisphere on
May 1 and in the southern hemisphere on
November 1. Beltane follows
Ostara and precedes
Midsummer (see the
Wheel of the Year).
See also
;Calendars
★
Celtic calendar
★
Coligny calendar
★
Irish calendar
★
Wheel of the year
;Holidays
★
Lughnasadh
★
Samhain
★
Imbolc
;Other
★
Beltane Fire Festival
References
1. Danaher, Kevin (1972) ''The Year in Ireland: Irish Calendar Customs'' Dublin, Mercier. ISBN 1-85635-093-2 pp.86-127
2. Chadwick, Nora (1970) ''The Celts'' London, Penguin. ISBN 0-14-021211-6 p. 181
3. Aideen O'Leary reports ("An Irish Apocryphal Apostle: Muirchú's Portrayal of Saint Patrick" ''The Harvard Theological Review'' '89'.3 [July 1996:287-301] p. 289) that, for didactic and dramatic purposes, the festival of Beltane, as presided over by Patrick's opponent King Lóegaire mac Néill, was moved to the eve of Easter and from Uisneach to Tara by Muirchú (late seventh century) in his ''Vita sancti Patricii''; he describes the festival as ''in Temora, istorium Babylone'' "at Tara, their Babylon." There is no authentic connection of Tara with Babylon, nor with Beltane.
4. MacKillop, James (1998) ''A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology''. Oxford, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280120-1 pp.39, 400-402, 421
5. Dames, Michael (1992) ''Mythic Ireland''. London, Thames & Hudson ISBN 0-500-27872-5. p.206-10
6. Danaher, Kevin (1972) ''The Year in Ireland: Irish Calendar Customs'' Dublin, Mercier. ISBN 1-85635-093-2 pp.86-127
7. McNeill, F. Marian (1959) ''The Silver Bough'', Vol. 2. William MacLellan, Glasgow ISBN 0-85335-162-7 p.56
8. Dames (1992) p.214
9. MacKillop, James (1998) ''A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology''. Oxford, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280120-1 pp.39, 400-402, 421
10. [McNeill (1959) Vol. 2. p.63]
11. Campbell, John Gregorson (1900, 1902, 2005) ''The Gaelic Otherworld''. Edited by Ronald Black. Edinburgh, Birlinn Ltd. ISBN 1-84158-207-7 p.552-4
12. MacKillop (1998) p.39
13. ''Stòr-dàta Briathrachais Gàidhlig - Rùachadh''. Sabhal Mòr Ostaig - Colaiste Ghàidhlig na h-Alba
14. Adler, Margot (1979) ''Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today''. Boston, Beacon Press ISBN 0-8070-3237-9. p.3
15. McColman, Carl (2003) ''Complete Idiot's Guide to Celtic Wisdom''. Alpha Press ISBN 0-02-864417-4. p.51
16. McColman (2003) pp.12, 51
17. Bonewits, Isaac (2006) ''Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism''. New York, Kensington Publishing Group ISBN 0-8065-2710-2. p.130-7
18. Healy, Elizabeth (2001) ''In Search of Ireland's Holy Wells''. Dublin, Wolfhound Press ISBN 0-86327-865-5 p.27
19. Starhawk (1979, 1989) ''The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess''. New York, Harper and Row ISBN 0-06-250814-8 pp.181-196 (revised edition)
Further reading
★ Carmichael, Alexander (1992). ''
Carmina Gadelica''. Lindisfarne Press. ISBN 0-940262-50-9
★ Chadwick, Nora (1970) ''The Celts''. London, Penguin ISBN 0-14-021211-6
★
Danaher, Kevin (1972) ''The Year in Ireland''. Dublin, Mercier ISBN 1-85635-093-2
★
Evans-Wentz, W. Y. (1966, 1990) ''The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries''. New York, Citadel ISBN 0-8065-1160-5
★ MacKillop, James (1998). ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology''. Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-280120-1
★
McNeill, F. Marian (1959) ''The Silver Bough'', Vol. 1-4. William MacLellan, Glasgow
External links
★
Edinburgh's Beltane Fire Society
★
Extract on The Beltane Fires from Sir James George Frazer's book The Golden Bough - 1922
★
Irish Fire Festivals: Beltaine
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