Post by Mysti on Aug 6, 2007 19:08:54 GMT -5
The Bel-Fire
Beltane is the old Celtic name for the May Day festivals, and is a word derived from the Gaelic Beltaine meaning "Bel's-Fire" or more commonly just "Bel-Fire." This bonfire represented the regenerative life force energy of the Celtic god of Light, Bel Mawr (also Beli, or Belinus), now manifest in his guise as the Green Man.
On the day of May Eve, the men would go into the woods to find and collect the wood that would be used to fuel this sacred festival bonfire. Some sources report that the Bel-Fire was laid using the Nine Sacred Woods, while others say the firewood is oak. Either way, at sundown May Eve the fire was lit by the men, both feeding the god's regenerative power with their own energy through this ritual, and asking for the god's blessings through this season of growth and in the upcoming harvest.
The people would gather around the Bel-Fire to share a feast that night. One traditional food of this Sabbat is bannock - traditional oak cakes that would be given to everyone in attendance. One of the bannocks would have been marked with a coal from the fire and whichever man drew the marked bread would be named the village's scapegoat, The May Fool, or Carline. There is some evidence that for at least a period in history, the Carline would be ritually sacrificed, but in later days the sacrifice was symbolic only. The Carline would symbolically gather together all the troubles and iniquities of the village, and take those all upon himself. He would then purify himself, and in turn the village, by jumping over the Bel-Fire three times.
The fire itself represented blessings of purification, fertility and good fortune. The people danced around the Bel-Fire together, and there is much lore associated with the jumping of the flames. By its purifying aspect, the fire would cleanse the individual, dispelling negative energies and replacing them with positive ones during the leap. If a woman wanted a child in the coming year, she would jump the fire for a blessing on her fertility. Couples who leapt together were considered betrothed by that act. Others would jump for blessing on their most cherished wishes or plans for that year, and certainly for blessings on the village crops and herds.
Beltane was one of the two times each year when the hearth fires in the homes would be extinguished and the fireplaces cleaned. After the festival events this night and tomorrow, families would light torches or bring embers from the Bel-Fire to relight their hearth, bringing blessings of purification and good fortune to the home for this light half of the year.
ã Lady Ursula Grey, 2004. This article may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes only, providing that no changes are made to the original text, and providing that this copyright notice remains intact and in place at all times. Blessed be. FourElementsOneCircle
Beltane is the old Celtic name for the May Day festivals, and is a word derived from the Gaelic Beltaine meaning "Bel's-Fire" or more commonly just "Bel-Fire." This bonfire represented the regenerative life force energy of the Celtic god of Light, Bel Mawr (also Beli, or Belinus), now manifest in his guise as the Green Man.
On the day of May Eve, the men would go into the woods to find and collect the wood that would be used to fuel this sacred festival bonfire. Some sources report that the Bel-Fire was laid using the Nine Sacred Woods, while others say the firewood is oak. Either way, at sundown May Eve the fire was lit by the men, both feeding the god's regenerative power with their own energy through this ritual, and asking for the god's blessings through this season of growth and in the upcoming harvest.
The people would gather around the Bel-Fire to share a feast that night. One traditional food of this Sabbat is bannock - traditional oak cakes that would be given to everyone in attendance. One of the bannocks would have been marked with a coal from the fire and whichever man drew the marked bread would be named the village's scapegoat, The May Fool, or Carline. There is some evidence that for at least a period in history, the Carline would be ritually sacrificed, but in later days the sacrifice was symbolic only. The Carline would symbolically gather together all the troubles and iniquities of the village, and take those all upon himself. He would then purify himself, and in turn the village, by jumping over the Bel-Fire three times.
The fire itself represented blessings of purification, fertility and good fortune. The people danced around the Bel-Fire together, and there is much lore associated with the jumping of the flames. By its purifying aspect, the fire would cleanse the individual, dispelling negative energies and replacing them with positive ones during the leap. If a woman wanted a child in the coming year, she would jump the fire for a blessing on her fertility. Couples who leapt together were considered betrothed by that act. Others would jump for blessing on their most cherished wishes or plans for that year, and certainly for blessings on the village crops and herds.
Beltane was one of the two times each year when the hearth fires in the homes would be extinguished and the fireplaces cleaned. After the festival events this night and tomorrow, families would light torches or bring embers from the Bel-Fire to relight their hearth, bringing blessings of purification and good fortune to the home for this light half of the year.
ã Lady Ursula Grey, 2004. This article may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes only, providing that no changes are made to the original text, and providing that this copyright notice remains intact and in place at all times. Blessed be. FourElementsOneCircle