How to Celebrate Beltane, a cacophony of fertility, love, sensuality, warmth, and play.

One of my favorite celebrations is occurring this week, Beltane!

Beltane, also known as May Day, is a Celtic Sabbat that occurs on May first. It is a cacophony of fertility, love, sensuality, warmth, and play. Think Aphrodite, bouquets of pink roses and lush peonies, sweet honey fresh from the hive, silk tank tops, and evenings spent outside under the first warm stars of the season. Think flower crowns and mischievous kisses and running through fields of lavender. Think berry picking and herb gardens and picnics with hibiscus rose tea.

Beltane is celebrated as the start of the Celtic summer, though the official start of the summer, Litha (the summer solstice), doesn't happen until late June. It’s all about love and fertility, and traditionally it was observed by building bonfires and leaping over the flames. If you were young and single you would do this while wishing for a lover. If you were already coupled up, you would jump over the flames together to strengthen your love. It’s a very favorable day for dates, spending time with your lover, and all types of relationship vows and commitments.

Beltane happens opposite Samhain on the wheel of the year, and in many ways we can think of the two as mirrors of each other. Whereas Samhain marks the descent into darkness, Beltane celebrates the re-emergence into the light. Like Samhain, Beltane is thought to be a time when the veil between the worlds is thin. But whereas Samhain is generally considered a time to commune with ancestors and shadow spirits, Beltane is associated more with nature spirits and fair folk (especially fairies!). It is a magical day for walks in the forest (fairies are known to hang out in Hawthorn trees) or time spent outside near a garden or flower patch. Witches say that if you go out during dusk, twist a rowan sprig and peer through it like a magnifying glass, you might be able to catch a glimpse of the fairies.

Dew Walk and May Basket Harvest

It is said that if you go outside at dawn on Beltane and wash your face with dew, you'll ensure beauty for the coming year. Traditionally, this was done with dew from a hawthorn tree, but you can harvest the dew from any patch of grass, flowers, and/or leaves.

This is a wonderful practice to combine with another Beltane ritual: May Baskets. Traditionally, May Baskets were baskets filled with the first flowers of the summer, left on the doorsteps of family, friends, and lovers.

If weather allows, it would be a beautiful practice to go outside the morning of beltane, wash your face with dew, and gather flowers for your very own May Basket! Give the basket to a loved one, or keep it on your own doorstep to welcome in fertility, beauty, and the playful spirit of nature.

Love Potion

While you might not want to leap over a bonfire, you can still harness the love-charged energy of Beltane by creating a Beltane love potion. To make this love potion, you will need: a candle, a small bowl, filtered water, rose quartz, rose petals, damiana and essential oil of your choice (rose, jasmine, or ylang ylang work best), vodka, and a small bottle. This is best done in the light of the moon or outside or near a window. If that isn’t available, candlelight will work as well.

First, set the scene. Turn on some sensual music, light a stick of sandalwood incense, have a piece of chocolate or glass of wine, dance around your living room, whatever you need to do to get yourself in a relaxed, sensual, receptive energy. Once you are ready to begin, place the water in the bowl, asd allow it to catch the reflection of the moon (or the candlelight).

Then, invoke Aphrodite, asking her to send energies of love, pleasure, and sensuality into the water. Meditate on what love and pleasure feel like your you, and send those intentions into the water as well. Then, add the rose quartz, rose petals, damiana (a few pinches of each herb will do), and a few drops of your essential oil to the water. Allow the mixture to soak in the moonlight for a few more moments, then add it to the bottle, filling it up 3/4th of the way. Fill the remainder of the bottle with vodka to help the energies distill, and leave the bottle to soak in the moonlight overnight. Use this love potion as a perfume, at your altar, to add to spells, and to anoint candles.

Beltane Altar Suggestions

If making an altar is part of your practice, here are a few suggestions for items that would be quite magical to include:

Crystals: Carnelian, emerald, malachite, garnet, rose quartz, bloodstone, amber, citrine, golden tiger’s eye, and topaz.

Herbs: rose petals, yarrow, calendula, lavender, lemon verbena, hawthorne, meadowsweet, lemon balm, blue cornflowers, nettles, daisies, and elderflowers.

Other items: Blooming flowers, red candles, colorful ribbons, pieces of wood or wood essential oils (pine, cedar, etc), images of Aphrodite, items that invoke the fairies (mushrooms, sparkles, etc), daisy chains, items to represent the lingam and yoni (to invoke fertility), and wicker baskets.