Celebrating Beltane: Ancient Rituals in Modern Times

I got up early to celebrate Beltane, an ancient Celtic festival marking the start of summer that survived Roman invasion and is widely celebrated in my town.  The ancient rhythms of Beltane pulse through my town as dawn breaks on this first day of May. Rising before sunrise, I witness the gathering crowds, distant music, and even a magnificent dragon air balloon soaring overhead as celebrants honor this Celtic festival that marks the symbolic start of summer.

Beltane isn't some New Age invention but a deep-rooted tradition that survived Roman occupation and continues to thrive today. The rituals unfold with women digging holes for the maypole, which men erect before community dances weave ribbons in celebration of life and fertility. Throughout town, faces painted green and adorned with elaborate masks embody the Green Man, while dragon celebrations add mythical dimensions to the festivities that will continue all weekend.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So good morning everyone.
I got up extra early today tocelebrate the festival of
Beltane, which was here longbefore the Roman.
It's not New Age.
It was how people used to saythanks to nature, to life, etc.
Before the Romans invaded andyou would have thought it would

(00:22):
have been wiped out, but it'sstill got some very strong
footholds and it is celebratedgreatly in this town.
The amount of people that weregoing up to the tour and I
captured on the tour I evenmanaged to capture this amazing
air balloon, which was a dragoncome over the top.
I was recording from a greatdistance, about 20 minutes walk

(00:48):
from the um where everyone wascelebrating, but I did manage to
catch a little bit of it.
I'll put it in now.

Speaker 2 (01:05):
So there's a lot of happening.
Now I'm building.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
Even though it's a 20 minute walk, you can hear it
from here, so what BELLSCHIRPING?

(02:26):
and Beltane.
So the first of May, and may Isay what an amazing, beautiful
May day it is.
Here it has been hot all week,the sun is shining and, as you
know, british are completelyobsessed with the weather.
So I know I have aninternational audience and I

(02:47):
thank you for letting me talkabout the weather as often as I
do at the start of each podcast.
But Beltane marks it's asymbolic mark to the start of
summer in the northernhemisphere.

(03:07):
Yesterday on the hill, theladies of the town were digging
a hole and then the male maypole, um, is going to be put up
today and by the men andeveryone's going to dance around
it and looping around with themale maypole and please forgive

(03:28):
me, I've been up very early soI'm getting my words a bit mixed
up.
It's because of that, but it'sum, it is worshipped by um, all
different Celtic rituals andeven before that, even before

(03:48):
that, and it is said, and I havea deep connection with this is
when it's supposed to be a thinveil between the nature spirits
and the fairies and and, andit's good time to leave some
sort of offering.
But I, regardless, if you think, regardless, if you think, oh,
yes, I agree with that.
Oh oh, that's just a little bittoo off the wall for me.
Take today to say thank you tonature in some kind of way, like

(04:14):
after, um, I finished recordingthis bite-sized but celebratory
podcast, I'm going to go outand give some food to the birds.
I had a really beautifulsymbolic symbol um, as I was
sitting there in the garden inthe dark um alone.

(04:34):
My partner's back later, so Iwas like on my own in the dark
garden, which, yeah, in the pastyou wouldn't have got me sat
out there.
But, um, there's all kinds ofthings live in my garden, like
animals, that is, um, but I wasso happy to see two beautiful
bats flying above to the leftand they were like lapping over

(04:57):
each other in joy and I justthought that was such a symbol
of joy.
And then the birds, and thenall the people when this, when
the sunrise came up, cheering onthe tour and playing
instruments, and there's goingto be massive celebrations today
and the whole weekend.
Today I've got a very workheavy day, in a sense that, um,

(05:20):
I must be the only person in thewhole town working today.
However, however, I really likemy work and also I kind of
forgot that it was May Day.
I could have arranged thingsdifferently, but you know, that
is my gift to the world today.
And yeah, there's going to bemassive celebrations.
There's going to be dragoncelebrations, all these

(05:41):
beautiful celebrations.
There's going to be acelebrations, all these
beautiful celebrations.
There's going to be a bigparade in the town, people
dressed up as the green man, sothey're painting their faces
green and they wear like thesebeautiful masks.
It's so amazing the energy here.
I just feel so uplifted and thegrace of sharing this with you

(06:04):
today.
I normally put my podcast outevery Wednesday.
I was dealing with a familything the last couple of
Wednesdays, so that's why Ihaven't put one out till today.
And for your meditation, today,I want you to go for a short
walk in nature and take everyaspect of that in, in a sense

(06:27):
that you, you feel the groundbeneath your feet, you feel the
touch of the ground, you feelthe aromas of nature, the sight
of nature and only if you knowit's safe to do so like just
stick your tongue out into theair and just see if you can kind
of taste the air as well.

(06:48):
So, as always, it is my graceto to share this with you, but I
hope you enjoyed thisbite-sized podcast and I'll
speak to you very soon.
But your meditation today is togo out in nature.
Don't skip that.
Give thanks to this gloriousday.
Thank you, and happy Beltane.

(07:09):
Thank you.