Beltane

The spring festival on 1 May of fertility, fire and union.

Beltane falls on 1 May, or on the night of 30 April to 1 May, and is one of the eight sabbats of the Wheel of the Year. It stands exactly opposite Samhain: where Samhain opens the dark half of the year, Beltane opens the light half. It is a festival of fertility, fire, love and the full life of spring passing into summer.

The name goes back to the Gaelic Bealtaine, often explained as bright fire. In Ireland and Scotland great fires were lit on this day, and cattle were driven between two fires to protect and cleanse them before they went out to summer pasture. The maypole, danced around, and picking hawthorn and flowers also belong to the traditions around this time in Europe.

In modern wicca Beltane often celebrates the union of the goddess and the god, and with it the fertility of the earth. It is a popular time for handfasting, the Wiccan commitment ceremony. Many practitioners celebrate outdoors, with fire, flowers, music and dance.

For dreams Beltane is a time in which love, desire, creativity and new connections are central. Dreams of fire, blossoming flowers, dancing, a wedding or a new love are often read in that light around this date: as growth, passion or a union presenting itself. Dreams in which you step through or over a fire are also sometimes read as cleansing and a fresh start.

Wicca has no central doctrine, and the way Beltane is celebrated differs greatly by tradition, coven and person. On Dreamkin the wicca readings give the Wheel of the Year as context for a dream.