My Wiccan tradition is made up of many related covens at this point, and while each hived coven is autonomous, we do like to get together to celebrate the 8 holidays. The coven I belong to, Amber Heart Circle, (which I’ll typically refer to as “my coven”, although I’m not the high priestess) volunteered to write and run the Beltane ritual for the group this year. I wrote the main portion of the ritual and decided it would be a nice thing to share here.
Prior to the ritual, each participant created a vision board about their joy: what brings joy into their lives, what sorts of joys and abundance they’d like to cultivate in the growing time of the year. Vision boards can take many forms. I’ll include mine at the bottom of the post.
Erect your sacred space in whatever way you feel comfortable, or as directed by your group’s teachings. Then begin utilizing the text below. If you’re working alone, you might want to record the entire piece to listen to, as I read it aloud to our ritual attendees.
We live in a world that is increasingly outwardly-focused. We’re expected to stay informed about what’s going on in every corner of the planet and post every stray thought and feeling on social media to be judged in the court of public opinion. And we’re also expected to be judge and jury for others.
While there are many injustices that cannot, and should not, be ignored, allowing ourselves to be consumed by, and overwhelmed with, anger and anxiety during every waking hour isn’t healthy for our physical bodies, our minds, or our magic.
So what if we didn’t?
What if we made a conscious choice to step off the treadmill of breaking news, manufactured outrage, and injustices so vast that we’re paralyzed by the scale of them? What if we make a conscious choice to ignore the drama and the bullshit and focus on what brings us joy? What if we choose to focus on the small steps we can do to help dismantle injustice?
Beltane is a season of fertility, creativity, and abundance. The first wild spring greens arrive around Ostara. We’re planting gardens, planning summer vacations and proms and graduations. Beltane is when the growth that we coax out of the ground at Ostara is finally able to start making a difference.
Fertility and abundance are about more than reproduction, although we can’t neglect the need to honor the fertility of the land around us. Without farms, without the cycles of plant and sow, we’d starve. But so, too, we wither and starve without creativity and joy. And difficult times such as these are when we need joy the most. When we need to put on some faerie wings and walk in the park, or blow bubbles, or pick up some crayons and draw in a sketchbook. Read a book for fun, get our feet wet in a river, enjoy the warm feel of the sun on our bodies.
The vision boards we’ve created illustrate that. What intentions do we plant now in the warm, late spring soil? What do we want to cultivate and harvest? How will we feed our joy?
Before we answer those questions and charge our vision boards, let’s take a moment to prepare our magical gardens for new intentions. Settle back, close your eyes, and listen to this song from Kelliana. Sing along if you know the words. Try to connect deeply with the music and allow the things that don’t serve you to fall away.
(Stonehenge, by Kelliana: https://youtu.be/g1k16Xv6BIw?si=GQl74w9iw0YOPqkM)
Now that the cobwebs and doubts of the past have been burned away, take up your vision boards. Look at the symbols of your hopes and intentions there, the dreams you wish to manifest in the coming months. Picture them in your mind’s eye, picture yourself whole and holy and living in that joy.
Beltane is a fire holiday. In Ireland, bonfires are still kindled at sacred sites to celebrate the holiday. In the old days, cattle were driven between such bonfires on their way out to the summer pastures as a gesture of blessing and protection. Tonight, we kindle the Beltane needfires to consecrate and protect our intentions.
Chant along with the music, dance, let the energy of our joy flow out into the universe:
For charging: Fire Soul’s Desire by ASW (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ToICvsCzoc&list=OLAK5uy_kV7LzzAu8rfxIbnkw0PTcDj4T-shXp9aI&index=8)
Let the fertility, creativity, and joy of Beltane illuminate your lives in the coming months. Let what we’ve planted tonight thrive and flourish in the gardens of the Otherworlds until we’re ready to reap our harvests at Mabon. Let us look to our guides, Gods, and brothers and sisters of the Craft for inspiration, support, and protection. So Mote it Be!
If you try out the ritual, I’d love to hear how it goes for you. Drop me a comment. Also, as promised, here’s my vision board for the rite, made on Canva with a free template for a computer desktop background. All but one of the photos is my own. The counted-cross stitch design is not mine, it’s a pattern I saved off to make later.
