03/05/2024
Here in Ireland, with the continuing turning of the Wheel, we celebrate Bealtaine, hanging ribbons upon a Hawthorn bush. In Wexford, where my father came from, people in many villages would have taken a fallen Hawthorn bush and would carry or pull it through villages for people to hang their ribbons upon, signifying our alliance with the ‘good folk’ – the fairy realm. A time when the tribes would gather at Uisneach, the Sacred centre of the land and share and feast together as well as making deals. Bealtaine is a time for gathering together, dancing and singing, sharing and jumping fires, awakening to the fire and lightness within ourselves. To the passion and succulence of our natures. Honouring our bodies as we honour our Great Mother's body – She that holds and sustains us, feeds and waters us and gifts us so much beauty.
This time is presided over by the Ancient Earth Goddess Meaḋḃ/Medb. A time when a chieftain would be chosen to lie with one of the priestesses of Medb, at Meaḋḃ’s Rath in Tara and, by their coupling, would bring fertility to the land and Her people. Great Medb, it is She who reminds us of our passion and our power; reminds us, as women, to hold to what is ours, to awaken to what is happening around us. To live and drink life, for our inner fires are re-lit at this time, with beauty and vitality, with community and commitment and with laughter and delight. It's time to 'jump the fire' and live and love in the fullness of our natures.
Photos of the Paps, one of the continued places of reverance to the Great Mother, where beneath, Bealtaine is still celebrated today.
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