By Maja Gojkovic

 

Paganism describes a group of contemporary religions that are based on a reverence to nature. The faiths focus on the traditional religions of indigenous people throughout the world. Paganism is made up of a diverse community of different types of pagans including Wiccans, Druids, Shamans, Sacred Ecologists, Odinists and Heathens.

Some pagan groups concentrate more on specific traditions or practices such as ecology, witchcraft, Celtic traditions or certain gods.

Most Pagans share an ecological vision that derives from the Pagan belief in the organic vitality and spirituality of the natural world.

Pagans have been subjected too much persecution and misrepresentation. Pagans are not sexual deviants, do not worship the devil, are not evil, do not practice ‘black magic’ and their practices do not involve harming people or animals although many people think that this is what Pagans believe in.

 Beltane is a Celtic word which means ‘fires of Bel’ (Bel was a Celtic deity). It is also the fire festival that celebrates of the coming of summer and the fertility of the coming year and celebrated by Pagans.

In the past Celtic festivals often tied in with the needs of the community so in spring time at the beginning of May and at the beginning of the farming calendar, everybody would be hoping for a fruitful year for their families and fields.

The Beltane rituals would often include courting where young men and women would go collecting blossoms in the woods and lighting fires in the evening. These rituals would often result in matches being found and marriages, either immediately in the coming summer or autumn.

Other festivities during Beltane involved fire. Pagans believe fire is thought to cleanse, purify and increase fertility. Cattle were often passed between two fires and the properties of the flame and the smoke were seen to ensure the fertility of the herd.

Today’s Pagans believe that at Beltane the God (to whom the Goddess gave birth at the Winter Solstice) achieves the strength and maturity to court and become lover to the Goddess. Although a past tradition such as picking blossoms in the fields has lost its significance for most Pagans today, the creation of fertility is still an important issue.

Fire is still used the most important symbol for most Beltane celebrations with a variety of traditions still associated with it. It is seen to have purifying qualities which cleanse and revitalise. People leap over the Beltane fire to bring good fortune, fertility of mind, body and spirit and happiness through the coming year.

Although Beltane is the most overtly sexual festival celebrated by Pagans, Pagans rarely use sex in their rituals although rituals often imply sex and fertility. The tradition of dancing round the maypole contains sexual imagery and is still very popular with modern Pagans.

The largest Beltane celebrations in the UK are held in Edinburgh. Fires are lit in the evening and festivities carry on until dawn. All around the UK fires are lit and private celebrations are held amongst covens and groves (groups of Pagans) to mark the start of the summer.

These Pagan festivities still continue today, for example on Carlton Hill in Edinburgh on April 30^th. Thousands of people join together for a huge celebration to mark the coming of summer. The festivities include a procession to the top of the hill led by people dressed as the May Queen and the Green Man (ancient God and Goddess figures representing fertility and growth).

The May Queen crowns the Green Man, in a ritual similar to that carried out by Wiccan Pagans (who follow a structured set of rituals). The winter ends when the Green Man’s winter costume is taken from him and he is revealed in his spring costume. A wild dance takes place and the Green Man and the May Queen are married.

The main element of any Beltane celebration is fire. On Carlton Hill torchbearers carry purifying flames and fire arches are used to represent the gateways between the earthly world and the spirit world.

Tags: Beltane, Pagan Traditions

This entry was posted on Friday, May 2nd, 2008 at 4:13 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.