nectarine soup

"Beltane is one of the oldest known holidays, mostly associated with maypole dancing and love magic. It’s also known as May Day, Bealteinne, Beltaine, Calin Mai, Roodmas, Valpurga, Mean Earraigh. The word itself means “bright fire” or “lucky fire” which makes it one of the two great fire festivals (another is Samhain). It is believed that on these two days the veil between the worlds is thin.

Beltane’s planetary ruler is Venus and it is celebrated on May the 1^st or when the sun is at the 15 degrees Taurus. The date marks the midpoint between spring equinox and summer solstice.

It is the time of great fertility for all – earth, animals and people. Through time it was celebrated in a variety of ways but almost all are connected to the principle of fertility and celebration of gods of forest, goddesses of passion and motherhood and agricultural deities. Great Mother is about to reunite with her young Horned God. This Great Rite symbolizes their sexual union and sacred marriage. In old times, villagers would go into the woods and engage in sexual magic between themselves believing that would have a positive effect on land (for crop-fertility), animals and themselves.

But it’s not just fertility, it’s new beginnings and vitality, too. The winter has passed and nature is awakening – everything blossoms, the buds and flowers of early May remind us of the endless cycle of birth, growth, death and rebirth that we see in the earth. Faeries are afoot and spirits of earth, animals and people are at their peek."