Beltane 2023

 

Beltane is the anglicised name of the Gaelic May Day festival.  May Day is on 1 May and is held on or near the halfway mark between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. It is one of the oldest and most ancient festival days. It is widely observed in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man, and in modern times has spread to the Diaspora.  

In Irish Gaelic it is called Lá Bealtaine, in Scottish Gaelic, Là Bealltainn, an in Manx Gaelic Laa Boaltinn.  Beltane is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Samhain, Imbolc, and Lughnasa.  There are several theories on the etymology of Beltane; the most accepted one is that it is from the common Celtic Belo-tenia, meaning 'bright or shinning fire,' which in turn goes back to the Indo-European 'Bhel (to shine) tepnos (warm).

It is not a 'fire festival,' but fire is a integral part of the festivities.  Prior to modern times it was a festival to mark and celebrate the moving of livestock to summer pastures and to honour the old gods and evoke the blessings of fertility of the tribe and the life giving cattle.  

Beltane is mentioned in the earliest written Gaelic literature when Christian monks began to write down Gaelic lore and myths in early medieval times.  The medieval accounts were ancient even then and date back before Christianity was introduced to the Gaelic homelands. 

On the Beltane Eve the festival began.  The people gathered to feast, have drink, and make offerings to the Aos Sí, who are the old gods of the Gaels.  Byres, the windows and doors of homes, etc., were decorated with flowers.  It was a joyous festival ushering in the bountiful time when the days grew longer, the sun shined more, and the weather grew warmer.

Beltane survived the coming of Christianity and continued on for centuries, despite the attempts of overly zealous Christian officials who wanted to stop the practice, as they were fully aware of the pagan origins of Beltane.  By the 20th century the festival had almost died out and was only celebrated and practiced in certain areas in Ireland, Scotland, and Man.  In the late 20th century there was a revival of Beltane festivities.  The focus of Beltane changed some in these modern times, but the main core beliefs did remain.  The concept of the season change, the coming of the sun, and the start of the season of growth and plenty, etc., remain.

Dagda

Fire was and is an integral part of Beltane.  All fires were put out on Beltane Eve and then rekindled starting with the lighting of the bonfire.  It was this holy flame from which the 'new' flames of the the folk began.  It was the 'force fire' and sacred.   Many will recognise the fire ritual as the same ritual used in the Catholic Church and several other Christian denominations in the Easter lighting of the Paschal candle.  There are too many Beltane nuances and rituals to describe here, but there is one core aspect of the ritual.  This is a Deiseal procession around the sacred fire.  Deiseal means 'right-hand direction' or Sunwise (clockwise).   The Deiseal procession around the sacred fire was a Blessing of the Cosmos upon all. 

Beltane is still celebrated and the practice is growing.  It is now held not only in the Gaelic homeland, but in the Diaspora, and has been incorporated into similar May Eve and May Day celebrations in Europe.  While many see Beltane as just a good time with a bonfire, there is also a growing interest in the spiritual aspects of the festival.  The concepts of the a new growing season, the connection to the Old Ways of ancestors, and reflection upon life, are also now part of Beltane for a growing number of people.

a sacred fire of Bealtaine

Do enjoy Beltane.  A bonfire is best way to partake of course and with a Deiseal (clockwise) procession around the sacred fire.  Followed by toasts to the Aos Sí, to Ancestors, to the coming season of Summer.  If you lack the means of a bonfire, a candle will do, or even a wee fire in your fire-pit.  Connect with your Ancestors and the Old Ways, as these are good things. 

Notes About Halloween!

I like Halloween, I always have and still do. Here is some basic data on this wonderful festival. The name Halloween is a contraction of the words 'All Hallows Eve.' This is a name created by Pope Boniface IV who proclaimed it 'All Saints Day' in AD 609.  Hallow is an archaic word meaning 'Saint' or 'holy person.' The plural is Hallows.  

From this we get to All Hallows Eve on 31 October and on 1 November we have All Hallows Day.  But, there was already an important festival at this time. In the Isles, there was Samhain (said Sow-in). Samhain was a festival that dates to early pagan times and it was an old festival already when Pope Boniface attempted to claim it. In Gaelic, Halloween is still known by its real name, Samhain and Halloween night is Oiche Shamhna (said ee-ah how-na).

Samhain has a folk etymology that goes back to the middle Gaelic word Samain (also said Sow-in) meaning summer. But, that is a pseudo etymology, the real origin is from the Proto Celtic word 'Samoni,'which means 'assembly' in this case the gathering of the living and the dead, which happened on 31 October to the daybreak of 2 November. The 1st century BC Gaulish Coligny calendar marks the date. So even in ancient time the Celts already had Samhain as a major festival time.

Samhain was important to the ancient Celts as it marked the change of season, i.e. the start of winter. At this time the cattle herds went from summer pastures to their winter pastures. Very important to the pastoral people in the Isles. On Samhain people gathered, feasted, held contests, and there were rituals associated with this time. This change from light to dark, from summer to winter, marked a time when the portals between worlds, our world and the Otherworld, opened up. Beings and entities from the Otherworld could and did appear and walk about in our world. 

These Otherworld beings included the Síthe (people of the mounds, also known today as the Fairies), the spirits of the dead, including one's ancestors, and other odd entities associated with the Otherworld. From ancient times to the present, it is in this context, that Samhain and 'Halloween' became the festival that we have today in the 21st century. 

carving the Jack o'lantern

The Gaelic people in Ireland and Scotland had many ways to commemorate Samhain. As already mentioned, the were assemblies, feasts, parties, bonfires, etc.  People also practiced seership (divination), and the use of costumes and icons to protect themselves from any malicious entities that came into our world from the Otherworld. 

Dagda, the Gaelic Sky Father, had control over time and the passages from our world to the Otherworld. Dagda is a psychopomp, i.e. a guide to souls to and from the place of the Dead. There were, and still are, bonfires lit up hills and mountains to commemorate Samhain.  These fires were part of the rituals associated with this movement of entities between the world. 

The Gaelic people also made toasts and left offerings to the Síthe. An example is seen in the Hebrides, on the island of the Lewis the population presented 'Seonaidh' with a cup of ale on the eve of Samhain. Seonaidh was a nickname for the Manannán, one of the Síthe, particularly revered in the Hebrides. This practice endured into the 20th century. Seonaidh is a taboo name, i.e. it was thought better not to say Manannán's name out loud. Important members of the Síthe often were known by pet names.  Much like the Síthe themselves were often called Na Daoine Maithe (the good people) rather than their real name.  

painting of Dagda by Howard David Johnson

Samhain/Halloween is a time of heightened spiritual activity, a time when the passages between the worlds opens. It is a time to revere ancestors, to be cognizant of the Síthe.

Guardians of the home 

Samhain was brought to America via the many Irish and Scottish immigrants that came here. It has evolved into the modern Halloween and has become a world wide festival.  It is good to remember its Gaelic origins. Many people, sadly most people, have little or no idea why we have all those curious customs associated with Halloween. The ghosts, the entities of the Otherworld, the feasts, candy, parties, bonfires, etc., have lost their meaning to many in our consumer, materialistic, post modern society. Too many people participate in Halloween not knowing what the festival is and the older spiritual connections. 

I have placed a Jack o'lantern out, and I will welcome trick or treaters to my door. Later tonight I will have a fire in my large firepit, have a salutation to Dagda and my ancestors.  I wish ever one a wonderful Halloween. 

© 2022 Barry R McCain 

Imbolc 2022

 

A Bríd's Cross

Today, at sunset, marks the beginning of the festival of Imbolc. This a Gaelic festival to honour the beginning of Spring and falls between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. The festival is general to Celtic areas, but is perhaps most celebrated in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man - which are the Gaelic homelands. It is indeed an ancient celebration and is mentioned in the earliest Gaelic literature, and it was old even at that time. 

In Christian times Imbolc was conflated with the veneration of Saint Bríd. Bríd is also a goddess, a prominent member of the Tuatha Dé, and it is no accident that the Church synchronized Imbolc to Lá Fhéile Bríde (Saint Brid's Day). It was a way to allow the people to continue their ancient custom, but place it into the Judeo-Christian cosmology.

The etymology of Imbolc has several theories, but given its ancient origins, it is most likely from an early proto Celtic word 'embibolgon' which means 'budding.'  And, this is when the first buds on early blooming plants start to show the signs of the growing sunlight at this latitude.

Saint Bríd

There are several customs still observed on Imbolc - visits to Holy Wells, where one walks sunwise, known as Deiseil in Gaelic, around the Holy Well and leaves a Clootie on the Faerie Tree (or bush). A Clootie is a piece of cloth tied to a Faerie Tree. The Clootie is to invoke blessings on home, family, clan, and livestock and fields. The practiced is still done to this day. One will also light a fire, candles or a bonfire, and celebrate with a feast and libations. This was also a time when divination is done. 

In Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man, there are numerous accounts throughout the centuries to the present, of people celebrating this festival. Saint Bríd is a very thinly Christianized form of the older goddess Bríd and the saint retains many of the attributes of the older goddess.

So I wish you all a Merry Imbolc and a Happy Saint Bríd's Day.  Light a candle tonight after sundown, and have a glass of drink and salute the growing daylight and wish the best to your family and loved ones.     


© Barry R McCain 

Finding the McCains

Winter Solstice and Io Saturnalia!!!

 

Father Christmas looking a bit like Saturn here

Today is the Winter Solstice. This is the astronomical first day of Winter and it is the shortest day of the year, in the Northern Hemisphere.  The Winter Solstice has been celebrated and venerated for many thousands of years. 

On the winter's solstice the sun is low in the sky. The sun's path begins northward again and will reach the most northerly point on the summer solstice. If you step out at noon today your shadow will be the longest of the year. 

Saturnalia Holly and Candle

Celtic, Germanic, Slavic, Hellenic, etc., people all celebrated the Winter Solstice. Due to the Roman conquest of most of western Europe the Roman Winter Solstice traditions survived in Britain and in much of Europe. In the Roman world the Winter Solstice festival was Saturnalia. Many of the traditions of Saturnalia have endured and have been assimilated into our own Christmas customs. 

The giving of gifts, decorating homes with evergreen boughs, ivy and holly. Candles were given as gifts and used to celebrate the season. 

Saturnalia is named after the god Saturn. The etymology of Saturn is from the Proto Indo European word sewH(r) which means 'seed, bring forth.' Saturn is connected to agriculture, and he is often conflated with the Greek Chronos. The two entities come from a single Indo-European spiritual cosmology concept. While it is a different topic, there is a link between the Spirit of Christmas, or Father Christmas, and the traditions and rituals from Saturnalia. 

During Saturnalia a man was selected to portray Saturn. He was the king of Saturnalia and he encouraged the activities and brought seasonal cheer to the people. He is remarkably like our Father Christmas.  

The proxy for Saturn at the festival

During Saturnalia people would enthusiastically proclaim Io Saturnalia to each other. Even in medieval times Io Saturnalia was a common greeting at Christmas time. 

Saturnalia included the serving of roast pork, which was the traditional sacrifice to the god Saturn. The festival ran from 17 to 23 December.  On 22 of December gifts were given. Common gifts included small figurines called sigillaria, combs, hats, lyres, hunting knives, oil lamps, candles, perfumes, wine cups, spoons, writing tablets, dice and other gaming pieces, etc. There were also the Saturnalia treats such as cake. The Saturnalia cake included nuts and fruit and that tradition also has survived in the form of our Christmas Cake.

By the late 4th century, the Christian churches extended their control over Europe and they chose the date of 25 December as their Christmas. This allowed them to incorporate the celebration of Christ's birth with the still popular Saturnalia and other pagan festivals around Europe. It was a clever bit of marketing you might say, and the old traditional pagan Winter Solstice festivals were now linked to the Christian holiday. 

The decorating of homes with winter greenery, lighting of candles, the eating and drinking together, and giving and receiving gifts, are all traditions we still carry out. 

So, a Wonderful Winter Solstice, a Merry Christmas, and also Io Saturnalia, to you all. 

© Barry R McCain 2021

 

Valentine's Day... Lupercalia

 

Lupercalia

From February 13 to 15, the Romans celebrated Lupercalia.  This festival honours Lupercus, a god of shepherds, their flocks, and fertility.  The priests of the festival were called the Luperci.  The Luperci were the masters of the festival's rituals. They sacrificed male goats and a dog.  The Luperci dressed in goat skins and used strips of goat hide from those sacrificed to strike, or mark, young women. This was done in a gentle manner and not painfully. Often young women would seek out the Luperci and hold their palms out to be struck. 

It was a joyous occasion, the air festive. The purpose of the ritual was to encourage fertility in women, to encourage lactation in new, or soon to be mothers, and importantly, to encourage matchmaking between couples. Childless women especially would seek out the Luperci to be marked and encourage pregnancy.  As noted, it was a festive time, and like the Valentine's Day of our time, things sometimes became too merry. The Emperor Augustus forbade men that were deemed too young from participating. They tended to drink too much and become overly enthusiastic with their reveling. Foods were given out, libations taken, and the colour and flavour of the festival was much like our modern celebration of Valentine's Day, but without the crass materialism of post modern consumerism.
 

Icon of Valentine

Like many of our ancient traditions, this old pagan festival was synchronized into Christian beliefs and Lupercalia evolved into Valentine's Day. There are several legends about a man called Valentine. The most common one is there was an early Christian named Valentine. He was executed on 14 February, in the 3rd century. Valentine was imprisoned in Rome for helping Christians and was known to have secretly married Christian couples in love. The lore states that while Valentine was a prisoner he tried to convert the Emperor Claudius to the new faith. Claudius was not impressed and had the poor Valentine beheaded.

Valentine became a saint and was the patron of lovers. In the late 5th century Pope Gelasius I banned the festival of Lupercalia and declared 14 February the feast day of Saint Valentine. Christians began to celebrate Valentine's Day... but the people continued to embrace all the customs and nuances of the old pagan Lupercalia. The colours red and white were used in Lupercalia, red for the ritual blood and white for milk to represent fertility. The memory and veneration of Valentine continued, but so did also the earlier traditions from Lupercalia. 

The god Cupid

Over the centuries, Valentine's Day picked up yet one more pagan relic from the past, in Cupid, another old god. Even before the Romans adopted Cupid as a god representing passion and love, he was already know in the Hellenic world as Eros, i.e the god of love. Cupid was an easy fit into the Valentine's Day complex.  He was armed with a bow and arrows - golden arrows to arouse desire and passion and leaden arrows to cause aversion. Cupid struck at the hearts of both gods and mortals to influence their emotions and passions. 

Victorian Valentine's Day Card with Cupid

Lupercalia was an old festival even in ancient Rome. It shares similarities to the old Celtic Imbolc which takes place on 1 February.  The festival and rituals ultimately go back to our distant past and shared Indo-European religious spiritual beliefs.


So there you have it on this Valentine's Day - I give you Lupercus, Cupid, and ole Valentine, we should celebrate them all on this day.  Do enjoy your Valentine's Day.    

Imbolc And Saint Bríd's Day

A Bríd's Cross

Today, at sunset, marks the beginning of the festival of Imbolc. This a Gaelic festival to honour the beginning of Spring and falls between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. The festival is general to Celtic areas, but is perhaps most celebrated in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man - which are the Gaelic homelands. It is indeed an ancient celebration and is mentioned in the earliest Gaelic literature, and it was old even at that time. 

In Christian times Imbolc was conflated with the veneration of Saint Bríd. Bríd is also a goddess, a prominent member of the Tuatha Dé, and it is no accident that the Church synchronized Imbolc to Lá Fhéile Bríde (Saint Brid's Day). It was a way to allow the people to continue their ancient custom, but place it into the Judeo-Christian cosmology.

The etymology of Imbolc has several theories, but given its ancient origins, it is most likely from an early proto Celtic word 'embibolgon' which means 'budding.'  And, this is when the first buds on early blooming plants start to show the signs of the growing sunlight at this latitude.

Saint Bríd

There are several customs still observed on Imbolc - visits to Holy Wells, where one walks sunwise, known as Deiseil in Gaelic, around the Holy Well and leaves a Clootie on the Faerie Tree (or bush). A Clootie is a piece of cloth tied to a Faerie Tree. The Clootie is to invoke blessings on home, family, clan, and livestock and fields. The practiced is still done to this day. One will also light a fire, candles or a bonfire, and celebrate with a feast and libations. This was also a time when divination is done. 

In Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man, there are numerous accounts throughout the centuries to the present, of people celebrating this festival. Saint Bríd is a very thinly Christianized form of the older goddess Bríd and the saint retains many of the attributes of the older goddess.

So I wish you all a Merry Imbolc and a Happy Saint Bríd's Day.  Light a candle tonight after sundown, and have a glass of drink and salute the growing daylight and wish the best to your family and loved ones.     


© Barry R McCain 

Finding the McCains

May Day-Lá Bealtainne

Well it is May Day... I remember well the May Pole ritual which was still around when I was a child.  And what is May Day? It is a very old celestial festival long celebrated in Europle. In Gaelic Celtic lands it is called Lá Bealtainne.  This is on 1 May, circa halfway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. 

May Day is still widely observed by the better sort of person and is particularly popular in Celtic areas. The festival ritual was, and still is, observed throughout Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man, and throughout the Gaelic Diaspora. It is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Samhain, Imbolc, and Lunasa.

On our earth, Lá Bealtainne is a transition between the seasons. In ancient times this was when cattle and other livestock were driven to the summer pastures. The old gods were evoked for blessings of fertility and growth for the new growing season. There are many rituals associated with Lá Bealtainne that date from ancient times and some have survived to this day. 

Foremost are the bonfires. In Old Times folk walked around the bonfires as part of a protective ritual. This is done in a Deisealach (towards the right, i.e. clockwise) fashion. People would jump over smaller bonfires also, which is still a common practice.

 Yellow flowers were, and still are, used as decorations on windows, barns, and on the folk and livestock themselves.  The yellow colour is a celebration of the coming summer, the warmth and fertility of the summer sun.  Holy Wells are visited with votives left in the well or on the Faery Tree. 

Lá Bealtainne was similar to Oíche Shamhna (Holloween) in that this was also a time when the Aos Sí moved about and the veil between the Otherworld and our world dropped.  An Dagda presided over Lá Bealtainne, as he does at Oíche Shamhna and the Aos Sí were about at this time. 

Dagda

So, Remember your ancestors on the Day, and if you can, do light the bonfire and celebrate tonight... If this is not possible, not to worry, just light a candle. It is the fire ritual itself that is important, even a wee fire will do. And, a libation for you and your loved ones and one for the Old Ones as well.  Enjoy your May Day. 

Imbolc, the Day of Bríd

Bríd (artist unknow)

Imbolc... also called Lá Fhéile Bríde. A Gaelic festival that marks the halfway point between the winter solstice and spring equinox. Celebrated in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man; Imbolc is one of the four seasonal festivals along with Beltane, Lughnasa, and Samhain.  Bríd (anglized as Bridget) was incorporated in the early Christian faith as Saint Bríd. Bríd governed moral guidance, virginity, purity, the household, and livestock, and she was a patroness of crafts, such as smithing, and grain farming. 

Saint Bríd with the her cross icon

Her symbols are the Bríd’s Cross and the Brídeóg, which was a corn (grain) doll or effigy, that was paraded from house to house by girls, often with the strawboys joining the procession. 

Food and drink was left out for Bríd on this day and she was asked to protect the home, family, and livestock and a scared fire was lit. Holy wells were visited on this day and seers practiced divination at this time. 

Statue of Bríd, 2nd Century BC in Brittany France

We know of Bríd as a Gaelic goddess, but she was known throughout the Celtic world from Ireland in the west and across much of western Europe.  Part of our heritage and a lovely thing to celebrate on this cold day.

Lughnasa 2018

Modern advertisement for a Lughnasa festival in Ireland

Here we are again, another year and the return of Lughnasa.  Lughnasa is one of the oldest festivals we have in the Isles.  In modern Gaelic spelling, it is Lúnasa, in Scots Gaelic, Lùnastal, and in Manx Gaelic Luanistyn.  I like the spelling Lughnasa myself.   

The festival is observed in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and throughout the Diaspora of the Gaelic people.  The etymology of Lughnasa is from the Old Gaelic, Lug (the god) = násad (assembly). Lughnasa is the start of the Harvest season.

Lugh

Lughnasa has been celebrated for at least three thousand years and probably much longer.  Traditionally it is held on 1 August and the surrounding days.  This is the time between the summer solstice and the autumn equinox.  Lughnasa is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals along with Samhain, Imbolc, and Lá Bealtaine.

An Tarbh (The Bull)

Lughnasa is mentioned in the earliest Gaelic literature and was ancient even by early Christian times.  The festival is named from the god Lugh, who is one of the ancient gods of the Gael.  Lughnasa includes religious ceremonies, ritual sporting contests, matchmaking, visits to holy wells and Faerie trees,  and special market days.  Since ancient times, there festival included the tasting of the ‘first fruits’ and elaborate feasts, the sacrifice of a bull, servings of bilberries, and a ritual play and dance where Lugh takes and protects the harvest for the people of the tribes. 

A pre Christian image of Lugh from France

Lughnasa enjoyed great popularity well into the 20^th century, but waned in mid-century, as modernity put stress upon these old customs... but, fortunately, Lughnasa has seen a great revival in the last few years.  Lughnasa  festival, fairs, and activities are growing in popularity.  The festival survives under different names, such as Crom Dubh Sunday, Garland Sunday, Bilberry Sunday, Mountain Sunday.  Lughnasa has been incorporated in Christian ritual with Saint Patrick filling in for Lugh, in the pilgrimage to the top of Croagh Patrick on the last Sunday in July.

the Lughnasa fire

In Irish myth Lughnasa was begun by the god Lugh as a funeral feast and athletic competition to commemorate the death of Tailtiu,  his foster mother.  The legends tell us that she died of exhaustion after clearing the fields of Ireland for agriculture. Tailtiu was the wife of the last Fir Bolg king of Ireland, before the coming of the Tuath Dé Danann.  

Enjoy your Lughnasa... I cooked a beef brisket for the celebration and will have a wee fire out in the fire pit tonight.   We remember our ancestors on such occasions, always a good thing to do.