Today is the first day of summer according to the Celtic calendar. I’m not sure you could call this a religious holiday in the Christian sense of the word. It’s more like reconnecting our modern life with the natural order of the world, acknowledging the change in the seasons and the life of the earth to ourselves.
The Beltane Fire Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland attempts to recreate the celebrations of fertility and nature that out ancestors participated in for millennia, even after the introduction of Christianity. It’s bright and colorful yet slightly dark and mysterious. Such is nature in all its forms.
This video is from a previous fire festival and follows the procession of the May Queen to meet her consort, the Green Man. Together, they light the purifying bonfire and revel in the wonders and delights of the season.
Be back later, talk amongst yourselves.
Filed under: General | Tagged: Beltane, celtic, green man, may queen, Nature, summer |
The Confluence 
The music of the extraordinary Loreena McKennitt would be particularly fitting as well. I am not good at linking, but one might try “The Mystic’s Dream,” or “All Souls Night.”
Or the Mummer’s song, I forgot what it’s called.
Gotta get some wood for my firepit.
Thank you for this. Awesome.