Celebrating Beltane
Seasonal celebrations at home and in nature 🌿
This Wednesday, 1st May, is Beltane, the mid-point between the Spring Equinox (Ostara) and Summer Solstice (Litha) here in the Northern Hemisphere. The ancient festival has been celebrated for thousands of years - as far back as the Iron Age - and marks the official start of Summer in the Celtic Wheel of the Year. Beltane is a symbolic letting go of the darkness and, like many of the festivals in the Celtic Wheel, celebrates light and fire. The festival of Beltane has been an important part of the farming calendar in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man celebrated in different guises over the years, but in common is the honouring of growth and goodness to come. At this time livestock would have been put out to pasture to graze, and in Scotland greenery was gathered to display and Beltane “bannocks” were baked. Of course, there are many other traditions that celebrate the start of May and it’s clear to see why: with so much abundant seasonal beauty, this moment invites us to pause and take stock, to notice nature around us and celebrate the turn of the year. Here are some things I’ll be making and doing to mark Beltane.
Celebrating Light
In the past, the ritual lighting of the Beltane bonfire after the extinguishing of the hearth fire was an important part of this day: a new, communal fire would be lit and used to light each of the community hearths. This represented both community connection and the growing power of the sun and regeneration following the period of darkness spent indoors - an important moment to reflect. Families would circle and even jump over the flames, and animals were “purified” being led around and over the fire before heading to the fields newly protected. Couples would court and many hand-fasting ceremonies took place. Creativity and abundance were also celebrated. Today, I’ll be evoking past traditions by firing up our wood burner (it’s definitely still stove season!) and lighting some beeswax candles as a symbolic nod to the day. As I do so, I’ll take time to reflect on the things I’m thankful for and to make some gentle plans for the next six weeks of the year, a time of growth in the lead-up to Litha.
Heading to the Hills
The community ritual of marking Beltane in a mass, communal way went on hiatus during the Victorian times but since the late 1980s the Beltane Fire Festival by the School of Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh has resurrected many of the ancient traditions, attracting hundreds of visitors to Calton Hill every year. The talented Hester Aspland made the beautiful poster for this year’s event pictured below. I love the spirit of these celebrations but I’m also a massive introvert (and heavily pregnant), so will likely head to the hills and celebrate in nature in a quieter way, perhaps taking my flask to the Bluebell Woods or on a walk round Holyrood Park to take in the views of Arthur’s Seat - the site of traditional Beltane celebrations in the capital. One thing’s for sure, Beltane is just meant to be celebrated in nature.
Celebrating with Flowers
Speaking of which, Beltane also marks the beginning of abundance in the floral world and a great time to bring nature indoors. The arrival of so many beautiful late Spring and early Summer blooms fills me with such happiness. A couple of weeks ago Toast Edinburgh invited me to run a Spring Table Setting and Posy workshop in their store, and the lovely Ochre Botanical Studios provided the most beautiful coral-centred narcissi, buttery tulips, abundant blossoms and more. It was balm for the soul to teach a group of lovely creative women how to make posies and to spend the time getting into creative flow and really taking in the floral beauty. I wrote more about the day here and the step by step instructions for both the Spring Tablescape and the Beltane posy can be found in my book, Slow Seasons. I hope you can get your hands on some locally grown flowers yourself this week to celebrate Beltane and maybe even make a posy or two to pop on neighbours’ or friends’ doors, or to enjoy yourself!
Sowing for Summer
Spring has felt later this year, and there’s still a distinctive chill in the air here in Edinburgh, but sowing your Summer blooms or planting out seedlings is a wonderful mindful activity at this time of year. Getting my hands in the earth is always grounding to me, while the anticipation of Summer flowers and the patience nature teaches us is such a vital reminder. Once again this Summer I’ll be tending my small collection of pots in our small communal garden, as well as sowing pea shoots and herbs indoors. Generous shoots appear after just a couple of weeks that you can cut for salad and they will come again. There are detailed step by step instructions for how to do this in Slow Seasons and I’m going to experiment with micro herbs too!
Preserving Spring
I often associate preserving with the Summer and Autumn months, something to harvest and hold the seasons’ abundant gluts and see us through the Winter. However, there is so much Spring goodness that I’d like to bottle and save for another day - especially as Spring seems to pass the fastest of all the seasons. I share the recipes for gorse petal tea and cherry blossom (or any edible flower) syrup in my book - two ways to capture the essence of the ephemeral flowers. The syrup tastes subtly floral and almost almond-like. Do you have any recipes that you’d recommend? In crafting terms, I love pressing flowers at this time of year to preserve their fleeting beauty: delicate forget-me-nots and bluebells have such vivid shades that fade beautifully, and easily recognisable shapes that become even more graphic after pressing them.
How are you celebrating Beltane? My free newsletter goes out on the last Sunday of every month, so I’ll see you again at the end of May!
If you enjoy my seasonal newsletters, do consider joining us in my paid subscriber community for more regular posts. Together in this wee corner of the Internet we are creating a beautiful community of like-minded old souls who want to slow down, simplify and connect with the seasons. Here’s a flavour of what I’ve been posting over there this last month:
Celebrating Spring with Toast Edinburgh
Behind the Scenes of ‘Slow Seasons’: Design and Illustration
Sow, Grow, Harvest, Rest Book Group: April
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Thanks so much for reading, and see you next month xxx
p.s. Slow Seasons is filled with seasonal crafts, recipes, nature notes and celebrations inspired by my Scottish heritage and if you enjoy this newsletter I think you’ll love it! I follow the progress of the year through each mini season, from Imbolc at the start of the year to Yule at the end and the book is beautifully illustrated by Holly Ovenden throughout. You can read more about it in this post and order ‘Slow Seasons’ here.