Happy Afternoon,
Our Wiccan Sabbat of Beltaine is just around the corner on May 1st. This is the celebration of the Goddess and God getting handfasted and performing the Great Rite, which in turns fertilizes the earth and provides great bounty and abundance for the upcoming year. This Sabbat also marks our traditional first day of summer!
Whew! That's a lot to put into one Sabbat ritual! There are many ways to celebrate such a Sabbat and this year at Enchantments we will be building a Beltaine fire in which to burn Beltaine bundles. These little bundles of wooden sticks and branches are used as petitions to ask the Goddess and God for blessings during the upcoming year.
Taken from the long version of the Wiccan Rede there are 10 woods mentoned in the Rede, with only nine being meant to be burnt. The portion of the Rede containing the woods of Beltaine is as follows:
"Nine woods in the cauldron go, burn them quick and burn them slow.
Birch wood in the fire goes to represent what the Lady knows
Oak in the forest, towers with might, into the fire it brings the God's insight
Rowan is a tree of power, causing life and magick to flower
Willows at the waterside, stand ready to help us to the Summerland
Hawthorne is burned to purify and to draw faerie to your eye ,
Hazel thee tree of wisdom and learning, adds its strength to the bright fire burning
White are the flowers of Apple tree that brings us fruits of fertility
Grapes grow upon the vine, giving us both joy and wine
Fir does mark the evergreen to represent immortality seen
But - Elder is the Lady's tree, burn it not or cursed you'll be"
We'll be making bundles of three sticks of each of the nine woods, which again are: Birch, Oak, Rowan (or Mountain Ash), Willow, Hawthorne, Hazel, Apple, Vine, and Fir.
We'll place little slips of paper into the bundles with that which we desire the Goddess to grant us, and then throw them into the fire already started. It's fine to start a fire in a fire pit with a bag of charcoal (outdoors this must happen, do NOT burn a Beltaine fire indoors for safety's sake!!) Then throw the bundles, tied with a bit of ribbon or string onto the Beltaine fire and allow to go up in smoke. The idea is the smoke will bring our desires to the realm of the Goddess and the God and they will be answered.
Afterwards it is customary to celebrate with a Beltaine feast. I wish you a Happy and Healthy Beltaine!
Peace and Happiness
© 2010-2013 Faith M. McCann. Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website. Please note that the copying and/or further distribution of this work without express written permission is prohibited.
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