Practical Witchcraft and Worship : How I celebrate Beltane

The next installment of my practical magic and worship series. For those who read my blog yesterday, you already saw this section. So you can ignore this. This is for those who want adapt their practices to modern life. I took this from my article the Fires of Beltane.

So my practice is a bit of a mix. A mix of reconstructionism. A mix of the eclecticism. And a mix of practical magic for modern times. So I do start off trying to recreate the rituals as best as possible.

I live around several bodies of water. So I do have holy places where I do magic by the water. I leave offerings there. I have a sacred tree I use as my May Pole or May Bush. And I left a clootie in the form of a red string tied to a branch.

But that being said, it’s not always feasible. I don’t cook caudles of egg and milk and all this other stuff. And I don’t sacrifice animals to Belenus or any other God. So I have to adapt my rituals to something that is possible. And that doesn’t violate my personal beliefs.

So for a few days, I collected the left overs of all my dinners.

I placed them all in the same sealed bag. And infused them with my prayers. Prayer is a form of energy after all. My spirits did the same. Filling them with our desires and wants.

Then today a half an hour before sunset, I set out to do all my offerings. Rather than a caudle of milk and eggs, I gave crema catalana. Americans normally call it Creme Brulee. But it’s got eggs and milk and is delicious. In this case I didn’t pour it as a libation.

It’s almost like a cake. So I have a cake offering. And I also put fresh fruit with the “cake”. For a libation, I gave milk, cream, and some alcohol. Then instead of the typical bonfires, I added a combination of Celtic and Native American influences. I believe we should all have loyalty to the Native Gods and spirits of this land.

And we should always leave a space for them in any of our rituals. I kept it simple. I burned Sage for the Great Spirit and all the spirits of the land. And used that as the first holy fire. I smudged the whole house myself and my family and pet.

Then I lit a holy candle to Belenus. And I sanctified the home. And I filled the void from the banishing with holy fire from Belenus. The candle acted as the second fire. And I blessed each member of the household.

There is an old blessing charm that used to be sung around Beltane. But the problem was more than the fact that I can’t speak Gaelic. It was also that the words of the charm didn’t 100% apply to me. People who parrot old spells and charms that don’t apply to them are looking for a world of hurt. A spell or blessing may have been good for a peasant farmer hundreds or even thousands of years ago.

But if you try to cast the same exact spell today, it could backfire. Because you are not a farmer or a peasant. So trying to cast the same spell now would be detrimental to you. Like a spell to protect your farm animals. That’s fine if you live on a farm.

What happens if you don’t?

So it’s necessary to take the old spells and adapt them to your modern and personal life. Personalize them as much as possible to what really works for you. The original spell was this.

” Beannaich, a Thrianailt fhioir nach gann, (Bless, O Threefold true and bountiful,)
Mi fein, mo cheile agus mo chlann, (Myself, my spouse and my children,)
Mo chlann mhaoth’s am mathair chaomh ‘n an ceann,(My tender children and their beloved mother at their head,)
Air chlar chubhr nan raon, air airidh chaon nam beann, (On the fragrant plain, at the gay mountain sheiling,)
Air chlar chubhr nan raon, air airidh chaon nam beann. (On the fragrant plain, at the gay mountain sheiling.)

Gach ni na m’ fhardaich, no ta ‘na m’ shealbh, (Everything within my dwelling or in my possession,)
Gach buar is barr, gach tan is tealbh, (All kine and crops, all flocks and corn,)
Bho Oidhche Shamhna chon Oidhche Bheallt, (From Samhain Eve to Beltane Eve,)
Piseach maith, agus beannachd mallt, (With goodly progress and gentle blessing,)
Bho mhuir, gu muir, agus bun gach allt, (From sea to sea, and every river mouth,)
Bho thonn gu tonn, agus bonn gach steallt. (From wave to wave, and base of waterfall.)”
“From The Songs and Rhymes of May, courtesy of the Wayback Machine

As most of you can see, there’s a lot there that doesn’t resonate with everyone. Not everyone is married or has children. Or even has a wife. A lot of people are LGBTQ. And they may or may not have female partners.

They might not have partners period. And like I said before, not everyone has “crops”. Most people in the world live in cities. So I adapted mine specifically for myself. It goes something like this.

” Bless, O Threefold true and bountiful, Myself, my family, including my animals and spirits, My tender animals and trees and stones, and my beloved mother at our head,On the fragrant plain, at the gay mountain sheiling, On the fragrant plain, at the gay mountain sheiling.

Everything within my dwelling or in my possession, all the larders of our food, all our finances, From Samhain Eve to Beltane Eve, With goodly progress and gentle blessing, From sea to sea, and every river mouth, From wave to wave, and base of waterfall, “
My personal adaptation of the Beltane blessing charm

And thus we were all blessed. If I really wanted to get technical about this, I could have taken out the parts about mountains and plains. But then that would have defeated the purpose. Imagine removing parts or Greek prayers that mentioned Mount Olympus. Or taking out prayers that mentioned sacred trees in Yoruba religion.

Its important to not sterilize your prayers. The culture and the land sites and other places are important. You should not remove those parts of the prayer. So ask yourself if what you are taking out, would destroy the cultural identity of the prayer. If the answer is yes then you know you need to leave it the hell alone.

If it needs to be adapted to you, that’s okay. Just make sure you keep the cultural influence alive. I also anointed my animals with lustral water. To keep them safe from malefic influences. The house was blessed.

And from there I did a divination for the Aos Si to speak to me. To grant me any knowledge I needed. And I got answers to some hard questions I hadn’t even thought to ask of yet. And that’s it everyone. That’s how I personally celebrate it.

Cheers,

– M

Random Links of the Day : Beltane Edition

It’s been a while since I did a good old fashioned Random Links of the day. So here we are. The spring edition. Including monsters, Dracula, Pagan Gods and Goddesses. As well as an obscure Christian Saint and a giant snow man from Wisconsin. Sounds like the set up to a joke right? But it’s true.

All of these things have been associated with this time. So without further adieu here we go.

Embrace the Flower Bride

This Witches Country Life – Beltane

The Floralia : Ancient Roman Festival for Sex Work?

(I think this one is bullshit but I added it regardless)

May Day by Sara Wright

Croatia Bans Winter By Partying Like ‘Where the Wild Things Are’

” The Dark Watchers” of California – From the Article “Ghosts in the Rainbow”

The Brocken Spectre Is an Rare, Yet Beautiful, Optical Phenomenon

The Incredible and Rare Optical Phenomenon of the “Broken Spectrum”, How Does it Originate? (Giant Shadow Men)

What is the Brocken Spectre? A misty figure in the fog – EarthSky

Brocken Spectre: What is it and what causes it? – BBC Newsround

Stunning ‘angel in the sky’ photo caused by rare weather event – USA TODAY

Shades of grey: What is the brocken spectre? – BBC News

Brocken spectre | Optical Illusion, Mountain Haze

Explore Sinister Spring Tales with Atlas Obscura

Forget the Wicker Man, look at the burning of the Böögg, an exploding, weather-predicting snowman in Wisconsin

Spring Is for Monsters, Ancient Rituals, and Scary Stories (From haunting tales of the Bell Witch to child-eating swamp monsters, the season is full of frights)

Rites of Spring at Atlas Obscura (mixed articles)

the ancient origins of Beltane

Modern fire festivals in Edinburgh

Spinning Balls of Fire Light Up Spring in This German Town

The Demon Appeasing Dance of Sri Lanka

Fallen Angels and Black Witches partying with the Devil on Walpurgisnacht

Saint Walpurga and the Witches of Walpurgis Night – Daimonologia

In Poland, Drowning the Pagan Goddess Marzanna Ushers in Spring

Welcoming Spring by Burning the Goddess of Winter

The Italian Town that Welcomes Spring with Live Snakes

by Dania Rodrigues

(Every year on May 1st the small town of Cocullo in central Italy celebrates its patron saint San Domenico Abate. The celebration resembles many other Catholic festivities, but during this religious procession the saint’s statue is fully covered with living snakes)

In North Dakota, the Hideous Miniwashitu Ushers in Spring

by April White, Senior Editor/Writer

A dreadful, one-eyed creature with a sawlike backbone, the Miniwashitu is a hardworking monster that, for the Madan people, is all that stands between salvation and destruction.

Spring Rituals

Croatia Bans Winter By Partying Like ‘Where the Wild Things Are’

Spinning Balls of Fire Light Up Spring in This German Town of Lügde (Plus fireworks, music, and maybe a goddess or two)

Dracula’s Guest by Bram Stoker (Happy Beltane Halloween!) this one is a special post for me because it’s sort of a Dracula Prequel. When Johnathan Harker stupidly ventures into a curses town on Walpurgisnacht of all nights. It’s a fascinating read and there are YouTube audio books there too.

Embracing Ancestral Fires and Fire-starting at Beltane

Beltane and Walpurgisnacht

Beltane Lovers Fete: A Poem

The Greek Anthesteria Day 1 : Pithogia (Opening of the Jars)

The Greek Anthesteria Day 2 : Choës (The Pouring) & the Roman Feralia : The End of the Anthesteria

The Greek Anthesteria Day 3 :Chytroi and the Roman Caristia & Terminalia

That’s all for now!

A party the Devil took Faust to in the story. It was supposedly Walpurgisnacht

The God of Fire and Light Belenus, who is worshiped on Beltane

St. Walpurga, the Saint who is associated with the Pagan Grain Goddess and Beltane

– M

Beltane and Walpurgisnacht

For many Celtic Pagans, tonight is Beltane. Actually a lot of different Pagan groups have similar holidays. Celebrated in different cultures under different names. Even the Germans celebrated this holiday. Of course there is a link between Celtic and Germanic culture. But that’s a discussion for a whole other days. But I was once told by a Wiccan herbalist :

“Norse and Celts, we were kin once. And a lot of practices were shared between us, “

For me it’s even more nuanced. I celebrate a Beltane week. That is a mix of many of these influences. And it ends on the Astrological Beltane. Which is on May 5th or Cinco de Mayo in Mexico.

But a friend of mine had no idea what it was. And I wrote out this long ass explanation to him. So I figured it was more than enough to make a blog post. And my original Beltane post is too long to post yet. It isn’t finished.

So this will be my post for Beltane.

Beltane

Beltane is a Celtic festival that is dedicated to Belenus. The Celtic God of healing, light, and fire. He was also in charges of shepards and pastors. Fire is associated with holy magic and healing. But Europeans in different places had dedicated it and named it differently.

Like all Celtic fire festivals, the bonfires were meant to protect people. From the malevolent influences of Faeries. And other spirits who could harm humans. Including ghosts, and in some cases even devils. The idea was to create two bonfires.

And animals and people would be passed through the bonfires. The fire would remove any negative energy from their souls and bodies. And also bless the person. And would warm them of all evil influences. This night, like the other fire festivals of the Celts is liminal.

It is a time when the barrier between the worlds is thin. That’s why the bonfires were necessary. It’s not just something cool to do for the neighbors to see.

Others make this a Hexennacht (Witch’s Night). And focus specifically on magic. Not just worship of the Gods. They take advantage of the fact that the world is in a liminal state to do spells. Or conjure forth spirits.

And some like me do both.

Sankt Walpurgisnacht

(St. Walpurga’s Night)

The Catholic Church tried to convert the German Pagans. So they renamed the fire festival after a Saint named Walpurga. Who in life was a Nun from the church. She was canonized on May the first, 870 AD by Pope Adrian II. She was an Anglo-Saxon Missionary to the Frankish Empire.

She was the daughter of an under king, and came from a family of Saints. She was raised in England in Devonshire. She was one of the first people to write about Palestine. Specifically her brother’s travels there. She was his autobiographer.

She’s considered the first female author of both England and Germany. Which I disagree with. Pagans had their own writings. And their own authors. No one single person from any one country can be named the first female author.

But to get to the point, she was a remarkably accomplished woman in her time. Likely because of her Royal lineage. And the benefits of an up to date education. But when she died, is when her legend truly began. Her bones were in a rocky shrine.

And strangely began to exude an oil capable of healing people. There were also Pagan associations with St. Walpurga. She would be seen frequently with grain imagery in her icons. Holding up stalks of grain. Linking her to the Grain Mother.

Her relics would be moved around this time. Which became a sort of mystical ritual in its own right. Which was also another reason for the Walpurgisnacht feast. They even copied the Pagan corn doll idols for the Grain Mother. Using them instead for St. Walpurga.

There was also a miracle she performed once. These sailors were caught in a storm at sea. They prayed to her and survived. Before her intercession, they believed they certainly were going to die. But she was more than a miracle worker.

As noted before she was called upon to bring in the grain and agriculture of the Earth. But she was also called upon for warding off,

• Pests

• Rabbies

• Witchcraft

• Whooping Cough

The witchcraft I can understand. If her festival of the moving of her relics was used by the church to replace Beltane, it only makes sense that they used her against magic. Even though Paganism is a religious ideology. Not a magical system. But to them Pagan was synonymous with witch.

But her associations mainly seem to be about infusing the Earth with life. And warding off those things that threaten life. Not just disease and creatures that bare them. But warding off death itself. A Saint associated with pure life.

Besides bonfires, people would also go to her tomb in the town of Eichstätt. Located in Bavaria, Germany, the faithful would go in hopes of obtaining some Walpurga’s oil. And use it to cure all matter of ills.

The Witches of Satan, dancing and flying around Mount Brocken to feast with the Devil

Later, the holiday was taken by black magicians, specifically Satanists, to worship the Devil. It was said that on May 1st, the Devil and the forces of evil had full, unchecked sway upon the world. Evil spirits and those witches who pacted with them, would choose holy days.

To mock holy Gods. This isn’t limited to just Christianity. In the old days, Satanists of the old order celebrated their black rites on these days. But not to worship our Gods. But to mock the Gods of our ancestors.

For the demons despise all holy Gods. And all holy things.

A stereotypical depiction of the Devil with a Ram head, leading the Walpurgisnacht festivities

Modern satanists deny that as a false accusation. And claim commiseration with us Pagans. Saying that we have more in common than we don’t. I have met some Satanists. Some are good people.

Others not so much. I suppose it could be argued that they are Polytheist. If they worship more than one Demon as their God or Goddess. And some of the Demons they worship are ancient Gods who are evil. And came from our pantheons.

So I suppose it depends on your point of view. So on this night, there are Old Gods and their Fairies. And their worshippers dancing by the fires. And performing secret and sacred rituals.

But we also have Satan and his demons. And of course his witches. And on this night they roam around their neighborhoods and towns. And do smaller versions of the mythical Black Sabbath at Mount Brocken. A mountain in Germany reputed to be where they held it.

I believe Mount Brocken has Pagan associations. But I wouldn’t be surprised if old Lucifer showed up there to have a party. Doing their own black rites. And dancing and having sex. At least in the Christian folklore.

Ironically or not so ironically, the Christians also used bonfires. For the purposes of warding off evil spirits during this night. Each bonfire was lit with the intention that St. Walpurga bless them all. And protect them and their communities from the forces of evil. For they knew Walpurga shared this night with the Adversary.

In fact, St. Walpurga was invoked against magic. So she became a powerful Apotropaic Saint. It makes sense. After all, she was a Benedictine Nun. And St. Benedict was known to be a mystic.

Who had holy knowledge to ward off evil. She also died in 777 AD. I mean what holier number is there than that? This woman was a hell of a special person. If you’ll pardon the joke. Walpurga was canonized both on May 1st and her relics were moved at that time to Eichstätt by the local bishop each year.

All sorts of miracles were reported during the journey. People that were sick, were cured. Even without being touched by the oil. It seems just being in proximity of her body was enough to heal a person. Even by accident.

A poster for one of the old Faust movies, with Faust and the Devil partying at Mount Brocken

So modern Satanists celebrate this as their highest holy night. Catholic Christians do their own Masses for Saint Walpurga. But the Old Christians, those who know the old ways, they stay inside at night. To avoid being caught outside with the Devil and his minions.

So basically you have a bunch of ancient Nature Spirits and Gods, the Devil, and the Christian God, and the Demons and Angels. And they’re ALL roaming around everywhere. Man that sounds like the set up to a joke. But for all intents and purposes these spirits and Gods keep to themselves. Well depending on your point of view anyway.

I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the angels and demons decided to dance with the nature spirits and faeries. And arm wrestle each other to prove who has the biggest cock. And before you say that’s blasphemy, let me remind you that in ancient times both Angels and Devils had genitalia. The idea of them being “de-sexed” is a modern one.

All this sex aside..my rituals are mixed. They come from various cultures. So for example, I gave an offering to Lord Belenus and the Tuatha Dé Danann. Then after I was done praying to all of them. I gave offerings for light, healing, and protection.

A Beltane celebration with one man dressed as the Green Man

And I immediately went to my Christian altar. And I prayed to St. Walpurga as well as Mary Undoer of Knots. This week is for that aspect of Mary after all. And finally, I did an offering to the Dark Gods. And asked them to pacify the Fallen One on behalf of everyone in the neighborhood. Even someone walking around at night.

Including the animals. We’re also nearing the New Moon. And yesterday was Hekate’s Deipnon. The Feast of Hekate already passed. But it happened close enough to give the darker half of this Walpurgisnacht some extra strength.

So celebrate and worship our Gods. Or your Saint. But also remember to do so with caution. Too many cooks are in the kitchen. And they all want their perspective flavors and seasonings out there for all of us.

Have a good, safe night,

– M