Happy Beltane.
This is my favorite time of year when nature comes alive.
Celebrate with Mama Earth.
🌎💚
Celtic Beltane / May Day
Mother Goddess Danu
It seems fitting to share Goddess Danu, the Celtic Mother Goddess associated with the earth, the elements, fertility and abundance on St. Patrick’s Day.
Great primordial mother Danu birthed all things, including the Gods. She has always been here. Goddess Danu holds all things and presides over all stages of life, death and rebirth.
It is said that Mother Danu passed on some of her magic and wisdom to members of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the original tribe of Ireland. The tribe’s name literally means ‘the peoples of the goddess Danu”.
As an elemental Nature Goddess, Danu is present in the soil and stone and waters of our Earth. She whispers her wisdom on the wind.
You can connect with Danu by sitting with, and listening to wild, uncivilized nature.
Grá mór (Big Love)
☘️
#celtic
#Irish
#danu
#goddess
#primordial
#elemental
#mother
#sacredfeminine
#herstorymatters
Image: waterfall in Glencar Ireland
by Nancy Lankston
Becoming Elder
“…To a woman of the Celtic nations, to become Elder is above all to become Cailleach: to represent the integrity and health of the wild places and creatures of this world.
To become Elder is to become strong – strong as the white old bones of the earth, strong enough to endure the long, lonely vigil to the end of the world.
To become Elder is to hold the power, stay the course.
Above all, to become Elder is to become the bean feasa, the Wise Woman: the one who knows the secrets and speaks the languages of the land, who speaks with the moral authority of the Otherworld, who weaves the dreaming of the world.”
~Sharon Blackie
www.sharonblackie.net
🌙
I have a new goal.
Image by Carolyn Hillyer
Lunar & Solar Gates Align
“This is Lunar Samhain (the New Moon in Scorpio is the Lunar gate for Samhain) AND it is the precise Solar gate of Samhain (the exact midpoint between Fall Equinox and Winter Solstice is when the Sun cross 15 Scorpio).
“We have a rare event of Solar and Lunar gates aligning- a Hierosgamos, a sacred marriage in the depths, in the dark and in the abyss. This is a VERY POWERFUL SAMHAIN PORTAL. The massive endings, releasing, letting go and completion of old karmic patterns that you commit to, initiate and follow through on in the coming months until Winter Solstice is nothing short of profound.
… Something massive is ending, something quite significant is about to begin- and right now we are in that fallow period where the degree to which we can let go, surrender and truly sit with loss, grief and endings (rather than fill them up with the next person/place/thing/substance so as to avoid the feelings that arise) informs the heights to which the phoenix can rise once this deep, internal period is over…
We have the promise of new life amidst the inevitability of death. we are reminded that how we end things informs the next cycle of new beginnings….”
~Divine Harmony
full text here
☾☽
The Dark Season
“Life’s waters flow from the darkness.
Search the darkness, don’t run from it.”
~Rumi
❤️
Now is the season of tricks and treats
When the veils between the worlds grow thin
And the ancestors walk among us.
We descend into the dark season in the north
A time to reflect, take stock,
Clear the old, make space for the new.
What do you hope for and dream of?
What do you wish to leave behind?
What will you honor with your love and care?
As within, so without
To change your world
Start with you.
❤️
Tarot Card Guidance for Halloween and The Day of the Dead:
Two of Stones (pentacles) – Challenges face you. hold your ground, honor your own needs, guard your integrity.
❤️
Traditional Ritual / Celebration Days in early November include:
November 1: Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead – a holiday celebrated throughout Mexico that focuses on praying for and remembering friends and family members who have died. Rituals are also done to help support the spiritual journey of the departed beyond this reality.
Nov 6: Tiamat’s birth. Tiamat is the primordial creative force of the Cosmos, the ancient Mesopotamian mother of all the Gods. Tiamat is depicted as a Dragon Goddess who emerges from the Sea and gives birth to all the other deities. She is the Sacred Feminine itself – fierce, protective, loving and nurturing. Tiamat is “Ummu-Hubur, who formed all things”.
Nov 7: Celtic Samhain Cross-Quarter Day falls on the boundary between autumn and winter halfway between autumn equinox and winter solstice (November 7th this year). The light is slowly fading away as our Sun drops lower and lower in the sky and our nights grow longer. This is a potent in-between time. The veils between the worlds grow very thin during this sacred in-between time. Loved ones who have departed this Earth are believed to be nearby. Samhain is a time to acknowledge and celebrate the sacred cycles of birth – growth – death – rebirth that are an integral part of Nature.
The Goddess Hekate was also celebrated and honored in ancient Greece at this time of year. Hekate is the guardian of the gateways between the worlds. She is a wisewoman crone Goddess of the Moon and Magick who stands at the crossroads and assists with all kinds of transitions, including birth and death.
Hindu Diwali or Festival of the Lights is also celebrated at this time of year (November 5-9 this year). This popular festival celebrates the victory of light over darkness, good over evil. In some traditions, the Diwali night’s lights and firecrackers represent a celebratory and symbolic farewell to the departed ancestral souls.
Natural Gratitude
“love the world as your self
then you can care for all things”
~Lao Tzu
There is an earthy Celtic tradition that I enjoy very much. This tradition is simple, healing and fun. It involves speaking or singing your love and appreciation directly to the trees and flowers, birds and animals that you encounter in nature.
For example, I might go out into my backyard and whisper to the pine trees and tell them just how lovely their green branches are today. Or I might smile at the lavender bush and praise its scent. I might stop as I’m walking the dog, and thank the sky for the amazing cloud shapes floating by. If I’m feeling especially exuberant today, I could even go so far as to sing my gratitude to the trees and flowers and sky. Or create a little poem about their beauty and effect on me.
This ancient Celtic practice gives me a simple way to honor and acknowledge my relationship with nature. Our human lives are interwoven with the natural world in a multitude of ways. But I often forget just how important nature is to my life. This gratitude practice helps me to remember.
“Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet
and the winds long to play with your hair.”
~Khalil Gibran
Gratitude Walk
Below I share yet another way to shift into a naturally grateful state:
Take a walk in a beautiful natural space. As you walk, just notice what is beautiful around you. Whenever you notice a beautiful object, silently say thank you to it; thank each beautiful tree and flower and blade of grass for existing and brightening up your life.
Can you come up with 10 things to be grateful for? 25? 50? Make your list silently. And then notice what happens to your mood when you practice gratitude.
∞
Happy Beltane
My Celtic ancestors held huge celebrations today in honor of the abundance and fertility of the growing season. The time to plant has just begun here in the northern hemisphere and Beltane honors that fact.
Last night under the dark of an earthy Taurus new moon, we slid quietly into the light half of the Celtic year. The light half of each year is filled with sun and warmth, new growth and abundance. And then in 6 months, on November 1, we will dive into the dark half of the Celtic year, marked by short, dark days, fallow ground and long cold nights. And so the cycle of the seasons progresses, year after year after year.
The Celts were avid observers of the seasonal shifts, both on Mama Earth and in the skies above her. So it doesn’t surprise me that my Welsh and Scottish ancestors held outdoor festivals to mark Beltane, also known as May Day. The tradition of teen aged boys and girls dancing around the May pole is believed to have started with the Celts. The dance was a way to have fun AND symbolize the intertwining and merging of the male and female energies that ultimately creates new life on the land and in the waters all around us. Beltane marks the beginning of Mama Earth’s season of fertility and new growth.
For me, Beltane is all about celebrating intimate relationships. My own anniversary falls on May Day, so I consciously celebrate my union with my partner David on this day. But Beltane has other meanings for me as well; my hubby would tell you that this is my absolute favorite time of year, and I love to spend it outside in nature. I love to get outside and commune with Mother Nature by hiking, dreaming in my hammock, picnicking, or just sitting with a tree listening to the wind rustle a million new leaves above me. And I find that every moment I spend connecting with nature nourishes my Soul.
Beltane is the perfect time to connect with Mama Earth in a deep intimate way.
If you can, spend a few moments outside this week. Turn off your computer and go walk barefoot in the grass. Breathe in the scents of spring. Pause and notice the abundance of new life sprouting up all around you; green shoots of grass, tiny new tree leaves and a plethora of flowers all show us how fertile and abundant Mama Earth is at this time of year. Meditate on the beauty and bounty of Mama Earth. Give thanks for every gift that this beautiful planet joyfully shares with us. Give thanks and revel in spring.
Happy Beltane!
