🧚‍♀️🌹Activities to Welcome Beltane! 🧚‍♀️🌹 (Patreon)

Let's talk about activities you can do to welcome the energy of Beltane! This sabbat is on May 1st, sometimes celebrated April 30th to May 1st. It focuses on themes of passion, romance, beauty, sexuality, fertility and abundance. There are ritual options for solitary witches or rituals with groups. The flowers are blooming and plants are growing during this time of love and celebration. Here are some resources with an abundance of Beltane correspondences and activities to celebrate!

Beltane Correspondences (from Flying the Hedge & Strigascattus)

When: April 30 or May 1

Themes: passion, mischief, sensuality, sexuality, beauty, romance, fertility, vitality, abundance

Also known as: May Day, Walpurgisnacht, Floralia, Calan Mai, Beltaine, Beltain

Incense: Lilac, Frankincense

Colors: Green, red, white, brown, pink, blue, yellow, pastels

Symbolism: Life, fire, fertility, marriage, sex, love, lust

Symbols & Altar Decor Ideas: Maypole, flower crowns, ribbons, spring flowers, bonfires, cauldrons, baskets, eggs, broom, dried herbs, candles, faeries, green cloth, chalice, Green Man

Incense: Rose, lilac, ylang ylang, mint, jasmine, floral scents, thyme

Food and Drink: Dairy, bread, honey, oatmeal, cakes, strawberries, wine, green salads, cherries, lemonade, eggs, seafood, iced tea, edible flowers, candied flowers, baked goods with flowers, asparagus

Herbs & Flowers: Almond, ash, clover, cinquefoil, lily of the valley, meadowsweet, mint, mugwort, foxglove, honeysuckle, elder, ivy, lilac, rose, yarrow, bluebells, marigold, thyme, Angelica, St. John’s Wort, yarrow, daisies, Hawthorne, Dittany of Crete, elder, rowan, sorrel, woodruff, frankincense, patchouli, lemon balm, lemon, dandelions and other flowering plants

Deities: Aphrodite, Artemis, Bast, Diana, Pan, Faunus, Flora, Maia, the Horned God, Venus, Maiden, Mother, and other gods/goddesses of love/fertility.

Crystals and Gemstones: Emerald, malachite, bloodstone, amber, carnelian, rose quartz, citrine, agate, moonstone, ruby, sapphire, sunstone, orange calcite

Animals: Bees, cow, rabbit, frog, swallow, dove, swan, cats, lynx, leopard

Magic: Fertility spells, love magic, sex magic, marriage, vow renewal, planting your garden and your goals, maypole dancing, fire magic, nurturing your manifestations

Spell Work: Abundance, connection, protection, fertility, sensuality, charms, growth, passion, purification, cooperation, new ideas, manifestation, love, sex, creativity

Activities and Rituals: Fertilize, nurture and boost existing goals, games, activities of pleasure, leaping bonfires, making garlands, May Pole dance, planting seeds, walking one’s property, feasting

Tools: Broom, May Pole, cauldron

Ways to Celebrate (from Octavia's Quill & Moody Moons)

- Play music that gets you feeling happy and excited. Beltane is a celebration of abundance and high energy, so play music that raises your energy

- Prepare something in the kitchen. Make a food that reminds you of the coming summer months, share it with whoever you live with if you can/want to

- Get crafty! You could draw, paint, write or even just work on a project for yourself. It could really be anything, as long as you’re creating it.

- Light some candles or incense! Lighting fires on Beltane is tradition. So however you can safely have a fire lit nearby, have it burning while you do any of the other activities listed above.

- Flower gathering

- Nature walks

- Walk the perimeter of your property to check that everything is in good order. Bring trash bags and do a general clean up of anything that is not where it should be.

- Make a miniature maypole for your altar if you can not make a full size version

- Get a new mirror, or use one you have already, and decorate it with ribbons and flowers for your bedroom

- Fill a cauldron or a large bowl with fresh flowers (wildflowers are best)

- Braid bracelets out of white ribbons and give them as gifts to friends or family

- Make a dish of fruits, berries, nuts and leave in the wood for the animals and fae folk to enjoy

- Cut branches of fresh green from budding trees, or make garlands of flowers to decorate the home for this celebration. Hang them on the doors and windows early, so the may sunrise finds them there!

- Create a special wreath for the top of the May Pole

- Make “May Day” baskets of flowers and leave on friends and family’s doorsteps as a surprise gift. Maybe they’ll think a faerie did it!

- Create hair pieces and garlands for decorating your head or around your neck from flowers that are in bloom

- Tie ribbons to trees to celebrate the coming of spring. Make a wish each time you tie a ribbon as it’s good luck to wish for things on this day!

- Bathe your face in the morning dew to retain youth. The fair maid who, the first of May Goes to the fields at break of day And washes in dew from the hawthorn tree Will ever after handsome be. Other sources suggest using the dew found under oaks or on ivy leaves. Make a special wish as you wash your face in it or as you drink from a well before sunrise.

- Dance the May Pole

During the Maypole dance, think about what you wish to weave into, or out of, your spirit. The Maypole is an ancient symbol of the male aspect of the Divine, while the ribbons are strands of life. Have small baskets of goodies around the room to symbolize the coming abundance and to enjoy after the Circle. Magic is hungry work. (from Trish Telesco’s Victorian Grimoire)

- Making Beltane bread

- Make flower crowns. A lovely Beltane activity for a coven or if you have little girls in the family. Everyone can pick their own wildflowers. Or, make an afternoon of it and take a trip to the flower farm. Here is a basic tutorial on how to make flower crowns.

- Make Mini Maypoles! Certainly, if you have the time and space to create an epic maypole in your backyard, complete with streamers and wildflowers and the whole deal, go for it. But if that’s not in your budget or doesn’t fit within your time constraints, try this adorable tutorial for making mini maypoles. Make them with the kids and let them pick the ribbon colors, or design your own and give them away at your Beltane ritual.

- Whip up some fairy cakes! Honor the fairies or woodland spirits during the time between Beltane and Litha, when the forest comes alive with the spirit of spring and summer. Make Beltane cakes from candied wildflowers and give them away, or leave one as an offering along your favorite woodland walking path.

- Get busy! ;) If you happen to be in a relationship right now, Beltane is a traditional time to . . . reconnect with your partner.. or yourself, if you know what I mean ;)

- Be creative and adventurous. A lot of people enjoy the outdoor setting. I recommend a secluded area. There’s no need to get arrested. But you wouldn’t be the first couple, so whatever moves your groove.

- Have a red and white themed potluck. The colors red and white have strong association with Beltane. Why not throw a pot luck where all the guests bring something edible that is either red or white? Let everyone get creative to come up with different ideas.

- Get stupid drunk on a spring wine of your choice. Rieslings, dandelion wines and floral blends are all popular choices. Go ahead. Kill the bottle. Kill two. I think we’ve established this is a day of indulgence.

- Build an enormous fire. Beltane is a fire festival, and jumping over the Beltane fire is supposed to heal old wounds and bring good luck. Whether or not you actually jump over it ought to depend on how much dandelion wine you’ve had. The wrong ratios here can go very wrong.

- Experiment with wildflowers in your spell craft. Take advantage of all those wildflowers. They’re free, abundant, beautiful and totally usable in spell craft.

- Cast a fertility Spell! Both Ostara and Beltane are nice timing for fertility rites if you’re planning on conceiving soon. Harness the fertility of the natural world with a fertility ritual. Or, if you’re struggling, take the time to honor your struggle with fertility and acknowledge all the feelings that come with that.

- Cast a love spell. There is no better time of year for pushing your romantic situation in a better direction. Get started by trying your hand at a love spell.

- Decorate your altar in honor of a love goddess. Aphrodite is my go-to choice, but there are lots of them. Here’s an example love and passion altar to get you inspired.

- Indulge in a ritual bath for beauty. If you’re a solitary, a ritual bath nice way to celebrate Beltane in a private way. Fill the tub with flowers, herbs and skin-nourishing oils. In particular, Beltane is ideal for beauty spells, so create a bath with that theme in mind, with gorgeous spring flowers, rose oil and images of beauty.

5 Self-Reflections& Journal Prompts for Beltane (from The Seasonal Soul)

Grab your journal & spend some time in self-reflection at this powerful seasonal time.

Here’s some wonderful questions to ask yourself at this time of year …

1. What is bringing you great joy right now?

2. What currently lights your spirit up? What do you feel inspired to devote your spring energy toward?

3. Do you feel connected with your sexual energy? Do you connect with that side of your self? How can you connect more deeply with that part of you?

4. What parts of yourself do you feel most confident about? Where do you need to boost your self-confidence?

5. What intentions do you want to plant for the coming weeks & months? What do you hope to grow in your life? What do you want to harvest in the fall?

Sources:

https://octaviasquill.tumblr.com/post/159794587118/beltane-activities-and-ideas

https://www.moodymoons.com/2020/04/28/10-ways-to-celebrate-beltane/

https://strigascattus.tumblr.com/post/616329688220073984/beltane/amp

https://www.google.com/amp/s/octaviasquill.tumblr.com/post/159794582160/beltane-correspondences/amp

https://www.flyingthehedge.com/2019/04/beltane-correspondences.html?m=1

https://www.theseasonalsoul.com/what-is-beltane/

https://pixabay.com/photos/accessory-close-up-decoration-1867818/