Beltane (Beltaine) -  Walpurgisnacht  (Wiccan)

International Workers' Day

Dancing at Otley Maypole on the 1st of May 2008

Video: Loreena McKennitt -Huron (Beltane Fire Dance) 5:47 minutes

Video:  Beltane 2008 - Celtic Woman "The Voice"  3:05 minutes

Beltane Dancers - 2006 (wikipedia)

The night of the 30th of April and the 1st of May is celebrated by two Pagan traditions. The Celtic festival of Beltane (or Beltaine) and the Germanic celebration of Walpurgisnacht are both observed between 30th April and 1st May. May begins with a day sacred to Maia, the goddess who gave her name to this month. In ancient Rome it was the month of the Lemuria and Rosalia festivals, amongst others.  Pagans celebrate Beltane with maypole dances, symbolizing the mystery of the Sacred Marriage of Goddess and God.

You can find a very thorough and very international description of the history and origins of May Day here.

The Etymology of the word Beltane

Bale-Fire

     Beltane derives from the Irish Beáltaine or Scottish Gaelic Bealtuinn; both from Old Irish Beltene "bright fire" from belo-te(p)niâ), where belo- is allied to the English word bale (as in bale-fire), the Anglo-Saxon bael, and also the Lithuanian baltas, meaning "white" or "shining" from which the Baltic takes its name.

     In Gaelic the terminal vowel -o (from Belo) was dropped, as shown by numerous other transformations from early or Proto-Celtic to Early Irish, thus the Gaulish god-names Belenos ("bright one") and his partner Belisama. Belenos was probably the same divinity, originally from belo-nos "our shining one", is also from the same source, as was Shakespeare's Cym-beline.

     From the same Proto-Celtic roots we get a wide range of other words: the verb beothaich, from Early Celtic belo-thaich (to kindle, light, revive, or re-animate); baos, from Baelos (shining); beòlach (ashes with hot embers), from beò (originally belo) + luathach, "shiny-ashes" or "live-ashes".

     Metaphorically a beolach was also a shining youth or a lively youth, a hero, beò-lach or belo-lach; for -lach (youth). Similarly boil, boile came from "fiery madness", through Irish buile, Early Irish baile: and boillsg (gleam); bolg-s-cio-; related to Latin fulgeo, "shine", English effulgent, Lithuanian blizgù, glance, shine, English blink (where the shine causes eyes to shut), Proto-Indo-European bhleg -> fulgeo (Grimms' Law). In this way the Celtic tribe of Belgae in Northern France from which Belgium today takes its name, may derive from the same root. One of its tribes was called the Bellovaci. Some have suggested that the Ancient Irish "Fir Bolg" (i.e. "the Shining Ones") of Celtic mythology may have derived from the same word.

                                    by  Dr. Leo Ruickbie 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Click here for information on International Workers' Day.