Beltaine Reprise
May. 5th, 2004 11:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenite0I was pretty disappointed that ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
celticdragonfly couldn't make the CUUPS Beltaine ritual. OTOH they didn't have a Maypole (rained out) and it was a pretty generic ritual, so she may not have been satisfied with it anyway. As it is she's been run ragged, fighting a cold I gave her and having the kids climbing all over her.
One thing I noticed when researching my Beltaine story was that the actual crossquarter occurs on May 5th or 6th, between the equinox and solstice. I told Laura we could do a ritual then but she was too tired to plan anything. So I dropped the subject.
I brought dinner home tonight. Afterwards Laura wanted to go upstairs to the nook to have some kid-free time. So I told her go for it, I'll let her know if I need help. Then I kept an ear out for Jamie as I gathered up a few items from the house and took them to the back yard, then went to the car and got the bags from I-forgot-to-mention-I-went-to the grocery store. This was interrupted by a diaper change and some entertaining of the kids.
Finally I was ready, asked Laura to come downstairs, and dragged her outside. Where she saw all the gear for a ritual set up including bright ribbons streaming from our tree.
We did an Ancient Keltic Church-style ritual, invoking the celtic deities. We lit a Bel-fire of hickory wood (closest I could come to the nine sacred woods) and leapt over it. Then we wove the ribbons around the trunk of our May-pole (not a maple, an oak). Finally we shared cakes and ale and bid farewell to the gods and goddesses. This was the first ritual we'd done in our own tradition since we left California. I'm glad we finally did it--I've missed the presence of the smith god.
We stayed out until the stars came out. The Bel-fire is slowly burning down outside.
So--there's two of us, so we can't be solitary pagans. Are we a binary then?
celticdragonfly couldn't make the CUUPS Beltaine ritual. OTOH they didn't have a Maypole (rained out) and it was a pretty generic ritual, so she may not have been satisfied with it anyway. As it is she's been run ragged, fighting a cold I gave her and having the kids climbing all over her.One thing I noticed when researching my Beltaine story was that the actual crossquarter occurs on May 5th or 6th, between the equinox and solstice. I told Laura we could do a ritual then but she was too tired to plan anything. So I dropped the subject.
I brought dinner home tonight. Afterwards Laura wanted to go upstairs to the nook to have some kid-free time. So I told her go for it, I'll let her know if I need help. Then I kept an ear out for Jamie as I gathered up a few items from the house and took them to the back yard, then went to the car and got the bags from I-forgot-to-mention-I-went-to the grocery store. This was interrupted by a diaper change and some entertaining of the kids.
Finally I was ready, asked Laura to come downstairs, and dragged her outside. Where she saw all the gear for a ritual set up including bright ribbons streaming from our tree.
We did an Ancient Keltic Church-style ritual, invoking the celtic deities. We lit a Bel-fire of hickory wood (closest I could come to the nine sacred woods) and leapt over it. Then we wove the ribbons around the trunk of our May-pole (not a maple, an oak). Finally we shared cakes and ale and bid farewell to the gods and goddesses. This was the first ritual we'd done in our own tradition since we left California. I'm glad we finally did it--I've missed the presence of the smith god.
We stayed out until the stars came out. The Bel-fire is slowly burning down outside.
So--there's two of us, so we can't be solitary pagans. Are we a binary then?
no subject
Date: 2004-05-10 09:54 am (UTC)Since you swing both smith-ward & celtic, have you ever heard of a Canadian band called Bottine Souriante? One of their more famous pieces is "Reel du forgeron", "Blacksmith's reel". You guys might like their music. Just a thought.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-10 10:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-10 10:33 am (UTC)