Pagan Sabbats and Festivals - Beltane and Litha


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the celtic year 1 2 3 4

The Celtic year is traditionally divided into quarter and cross-quarter days, all marked by a major celebration. For an overview, see the Wheel of the Year page.

Samhain - Yule - Imbolc - Ostara - Beltane - Litha - Lughnasadh - Mabon

May 1 - Beltane

beltane Beltane has long been celebrated with feasts and rituals. Beltane means "fire of Bel", one name for the Sun God, whose coming to manhood the festival celebrates. As summer begins, weather becomes warmer, and the plant world blossoms, an exuberant mood prevails.

Associated colours are red and white, and associated herbs are ash, cinquefoil, frankincense, marigold, meadowsweet, and woodruff. Angelica, bluebells, daisy, hawthorn, ivy, lilac, primrose, and roses can be used as offerings or decorations.

In old Celtic traditions it was a time of unbridled sexuality and promiscuity; young people would spend the entire night in the woods "A-Maying," and then dance around the phallic Maypole the next morning. The Maypole was a focal point of the old English village rituals. Many people would rise at the first light of dawn to go outdoors and gather flowers and branches to decorate their homes. Women traditionally would braid flowers into their hair. Men and women alike would decorate their bodies.

Beltane marks the return of vitality and of passion. Ancient Pagan traditions say that Beltane marks the emergence of the young God into manhood. Stirred by the energies at work in nature, he desires the Goddess. They fall in love, lie among the grasses and blossoms, and unite. The Goddess becomes pregnant of the God.

21 June - Litha

litha Litha celebrates the height of the sun's power and the abundance of summer. Nature is alive, and fields and fruits are growing towards harvest, but the blessing is mixed, for once light reaches its zenith it can only decline.

Appropriate herbs are vervain, chamomile, honeysuckle, oak, lavender, fern, elder, wild thyme, daisies (which are named for the Sun - the "day's eye"). Offerings can be fruits and flowers of all kinds.

In the past, midsummer fires were lit for purification, protection and in the hope that the sun could be kept powerful for long enough to ensure a good harvest. People would leap over these fires in the belief that the crops would grow as high as they could jump. Drumming, dancing and singing were common, making this festival a noisy and social time. The full moon in June is known as the Honey Moon; following the lusty carryings-on at Beltane, June was a popular time for weddings, as you might imagine.

Here's an interesting aside - there's a British folk tradition associated with Litha that is now thought to be the origin of the Catherine Wheel. A wooden wheel, painted with tar, was taken to the top of a hill, set alight, and rolled down, to symbolise the declining sun.

Samhain - Yule - Imbolc - Ostara - Lughnasadh - Mabon