A
Beltane fertility ritual
This can be carried at any time when you need fertility
on any New moon or on Beltane Eve.
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Take a tiny doll and make for it a cradle of flowers
and greenery.
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Place in the cradle symbols of increase, with golden
coins, sparkling crystals, ears of corn , nuts, seeds.
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Loop over the cradle, nine ribbons, red, yellow,
green ,blue ribbons for the four seasons, silver for the Moon, gold for
the Sun and white for the Earth Mother, purple for the Sky Father and pink
for new life.
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As you bind each ribbon clockwise say,
Grow strong in love,
Bear fruit and multiply,
Child of mine,
(or substitute whatever it is you wish to
increase)
From seed to fruition,
Be safe from all harm, all fear.
You whom I bind close with hope,
All the spiralling energies of earth,
air, fire,
water, moon, sky and mother Earth
Who gives life to all,
Aid me.
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Secure each ribbon underneath in a loose knot to
another so they form threes;
saying:
As one becomes two, becomes three,
So three to six to nine,
Winding, binding,
Babe of mine(or
wish if it is another fertility matter).
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Go into the open air and make love in a private place
or of this is not possible go outdoors immediately afterwards and gather
greenery to bring indoors. This is effective for the fertility of joint
ventures as well as for conceiving an infant.
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If you do not have a partner, gather greenery and
flowers (even from a balcony or window box) and encircle yourself with
them before you go to sleep.
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In either case, have the cradle close to you while
you sleep.
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In the morning, sprinkle salt nine times clockwise
over the cradle, then nine drops of water or Dew (May dew is most potent
of all); burn a silver candle, a colour especially associated with
fertility and pass it clockwise over the cradle being careful not to let
any wax fall.
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Finally waft the smoke of rose or frankincense
incense clockwise.
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Leave the cradle by your need either until the Full
Moon or for fourteen days after Beltane Eve, replacing any greenery or
flowers that are wilting with fresh ones.
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After this period, bury all the greenery in the
earth, and cover over the cradle.
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Repeat monthly if necessary.
I have a knitted cradle that folds like a bag over the
baby within, or you can buy large pottery or wooden hens used for holding
eggs. But any lid will do - even the lid of a silver-coloured wok. Magic is
all about adapting the available tools, rather than modifying or not
carrying out a ritual. Our ancestors managed remarkably well with the
hedgerows and fields as source material and much of today’s most potent
magic has a simple countryside origin.
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Throw the pieces on to a bonfire or fire in a
domestic hearth and look into the embers to see pictures of a brighter
tomorrow.
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Spring or Vernal Equinox
Around
March 21, comes the
Vernal Equinox, with light and darkness equal, but when light triumphs over
darkness and the light year begins It is now that the Mother Goddess
conceives a child, to be born at the next Winter Solstice. This links with
the Christian Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, day that the angel
Gabriel told Mary she was to conceive a son. This forms one of the Lesser Sabbats in modern Wiccan celebrations.
Beltane from Sunset on April 30 to sunset on May 2
This is the second major
festival or Sabbat of the Year. Beltane or Beltain is named after the Irish
Bealtaine meaning ‘Bel-fire’, the fire of the Celtic god of light, known as
Bel, Beli or Belinus. Also known as May Eve, May Day, and Walpurgis Night, Beltane occurs at the beginning of May. It
celebrates coming of the old summer and the flowering of life. The Goddess
manifests as the May Queen and Flora, Goddess of Flowers whose festival was
celebrated in Ancient Rome in early May.
Animal: cow
Tree: hawthorn
Incense and herbs: almond, angelica,
ash, cowslip, frankincense, hawthorn, lilac, marigold and roses for love.
Candle Colours: dark green, scarlet and
silver candles
Crystals: Sparkling citrines, clear
crystal quartz, golden tiger’s eyes, amber and topaz.
Symbols: As a focus, gather fresh
greenery, especially hawthorn (indoors only on May 1), any flowers that are
native to your region.. Dew is especially potent when gathered on May 1
morning – traditionally girls would bathe their faces in it, You can
substitute pure spring water left for a moon and sun cycle in a crystal or
glass container, beginning at sunset on April 30.
Deities:
Sulis (Minerva). At the sacred Celtic hot springs at Baths, the Romans built
their own magnificent healing edifices, combining the indigenous Sulis, the
Celtic Sun Goddess and resident patroness of the sacred waters at Bath, with
their own Minerva Goddess of Wisdom.
Beltane rituals
These are for maximising the fertility
energies first experienced at the Equinox, whether for conceiving a child or
bringing a business matter to fruition. They can improve health and increase
in energy, optimism and self-confidence as the light and warmth move into
summer.
Sundown on May Eve heralded the signal for Druids to
kindle the great Bel-fires from nine different kinds of wood by turning an
oaken spindle in an oaken sockets, on top of the nearest beacon hill, for
example on Tara Hill, Co. Meath, in Ireland, former home of the Dagda the
hero gods of old Ireland. As time went on every village would have its
Beltane fires which were attributed with both fertility and healing powers.
Young couples leapt over the twin Beltane Fires, ran
between them or danced clockwise. Cattle released from the barns after the
long winter, were driven between two fires to cleanse them of disease and
ensure their continuing fertility and rich milk yield for the coming months.
But the chief feature of the festival was the custom
that dates back to the first farming communities and finds echoes worldwide
of young couples going into the woods and fields to make love and bring back
the first May or hawthorn blossoms to decorate homes and barns. May Day is
the only time of year, according to tradition, that hawthorn may be brought
indoors.
May Baskets filled with the first flowers of summer
were left on doorsteps of friends, family, lovers and the elderly and
infirm, a custom that is worthy of revival in every community and home.
Beltane is therefore a festival potent for fertility
magic of all kinds, whether conceiving a child or financial or business
ventures bearing fruit, for an improvement in health and an increase in
energy as the light and warmth move into summer.
As a focus gather fresh greenery, especially hawthorn
(indoors only on May 1), any flowers that are native to your region, placed
in baskets; gather dew potent especially on May 1 morn when girls would
bathe their faces in it, or pure spring water left for a full sun and moon
cycle in a crystal or glass container.
Personal Activities
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On the Summer Solstice, greet the dawn by
lighting a lantern just before sunrise, from an East facing hill or plain.
Spend the day in the open air and then say farewell to the Sun on a West
facing slope, lighting your lantern once more to give the sun power even
as it descends..
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Cast golden flowers or herbs into the air
from a hill, a handful at a time, making empowerments for courage and
achievement to the winds. Where they land and take root represents in the
old traditions places of buried treasure or in this case symbolises new or
buried talents you can develop to realise your hidden potential.
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Make your Solstice water, the most potent
Sun water of the year, leaving water in a gold coloured dish surrounded by
golden-coloured flowers from dusk on the Solstice Eve until Noon on the
Longest Day. This is especially healing and empowering and you can keep it
in clear glass or gold coloured bottles to drink or add to bath water to
give you energy and confidence.
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Make a small sun wheel garden, either
indoors or out using the flowering herbs of Midsummer vervain and St
John’s Wort, Sun herbs such as frankincense, juniper, rosemary and saffron
and all yellow or golden flowers, arrange them in the form of a wheel and
fill in the centre with tiny golden crystals or glass nuggets. You can
breathe in the golden light from your living sun wheel.
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Light sun oils,
frankincense, juniper, rosemary, orange or benzoin or burn them as incense
to bring the sun power into your home or workplace.
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