A Homily for Beltane

Today is May Day (Beltane), an ancient and sacred holiday during the wheel of the year. I always loved May Day as a child because my mother would allow me to cut fresh flowers from our yard and deliver them in small ball jars to our neighbors and friends. Instead of dropping a tiny hand-made bouquet on your doorstep, I've written a story just for you to celebrate this incredible time of year. It is a homily written and recorded my me - a gift to you. I hope you enjoy it!

You can listen using the player below or on SoundCloud.

A Homily for Beltane
by Sarah Greenman

Do you hear the call? All life is bursting forth now. No longer the timid shoots of early spring searching, desperate for light, pressing through Earth’s cold crust, but the hot and bothered expansion of leafy canopies, heavy-lidded flowers, opening their saturated inner folds to any pollinator that happens by. The sun is arching its back, lifting its face closer to the apex of the season. 

The distant silence of winter gives way to the songs of canyon wrens and red-breasted Robins as they tinker and talk. The world is ripe and anticipatory. If you can hear over the wild patter of the Earth’s heartbeat, there is a hum - a low tone in sync with the harmonic buzzing of the bees, mayflies, and wasps. This is the thrum of life. It is the blood pumping through your veins, syncing with the untamed waterways that lace the landscape. Your body is not separate from this Earth. Your body is a conduit. It was built for sensation, a gift given to you by your creator, mother earth.

Many years ago, I was invited to a May Day wedding for a dear high school friend. Callie was a lanky, blond, waifish creature who excelled at math, science, and swimming. Her hair was always green in the summer. I often thought that she might really be a mermaid. She was marrying Gabriel, her high school sweetheart, a beachy beauty who had spent his formative years surfing in the Pacific and hiking the coastal mountain ranges above San Luis Obispo. His hands were always calloused from weekend landscaping he did alongside his father. He smelled of seaweed, salt, and marajuana. 

Callie’s family had a beautiful piece of unincorporated land tucked away near Nacimiento Lake in Central California. Nacimiento is Spanish for birth. Perfect for a May Day wedding. After turning off the highway, I followed the dirt road into an arid landscape dotted with live oak, sage, and juniper. Ground squirrels popped in and out of sight. Gold and rust red ribbons were tied to crooked fence posts and tree trunks, inviting me further and further away from the main road and towards the nuptial site. The road ended in a long u-shaped clearing and I parked my car along with the others. I swung my legs around the driver’s seat, set my feet on the bare earth, and walked towards the music. 

I came to a gathering of black oak trees, that looked like they’d circled up just for the wedding. Their limbs stretched out across the expanse and created a dappled canopy. The space was pulsing with djembe drumming, women grooving to the reggae style rhythm in long skirts, and men standing around an open fire pit. The flames leapt above their heads and the slow rippling waves of heat created a wonderful visual distortion of the trees beyond. As I took in the scene I could see all of the elements of Beltane on display: ochre, crimson and cream colored flowers stuffed into earthen bowls, a large central bonfire, feast food, dancing, music, and a make-shift bar in the back of a truck serving honey mead. 

The drumming kicked up a notch, alerting those gathered to a transition. Callie and Gabriel appeared at the edge of the circle, adorned with ribbons and floral crowns. A host of women in yellow dresses led the bride and groom - the maiden and her consort - through the crowd while children came running to spread blossoms out before them as they walked. 

I felt in that moment the ancient presence of the May Queen, goddess of fertility. Beltane is the spring counterpart to Samhain. While in the autumn everything is dying, in spring it comes alive, glorious and bursting free from the earth. It is during this ancient holiday when the May Queen weds the King of the Forest. 

The term “Beltane” is derived from the Celtic god named Bel and the Gaelic word “teine” which means fire. Together Beltane means “Bright Fire”. Is there anything brighter or more stuffed with possibility than a public declaration of love? Beltane reminds us that ceremonies need not be solemn to be sacred. There is deep divinity and power in an act of collective mirth.

I joined the wedding guests and we followed the couple, ribbons waving, parade-like, circling once around the raging bonfire. Then we were led to the far edge of the clearing where the father of the groom had constructed a wooden arbor with an image of the rising sun carved into the arch. The couple reached the flower strewn altar and stood under the rising sun. They kissed long and hard and then turned to face us. I remember thinking, “A wedding that starts with a kiss is my kind of wedding!” It all felt so celebratory and permissive. 

Callie and Gabriel spoke aloud their commitment to grow together, play together, to raise a family together, and to accept the love and cherished wisdom of their community. They kissed again as we showered them with petals and shouts of adoration.

I thought the ceremony was coming to an end, when Callie stepped down from the altar. She addressed the guests,“We’re ready to start a family!” Her words rang out over the crowd as we cheered. I had never seen such a forward, lusty, and centered bride. Her lips were swollen from kissing and the white petals of the wreath encircling her head gleamed in the late afternoon sun. 

Then the most incredible thing happened. We followed the bride of spring and her beautiful groom from the altar to a white canvas tent tucked under the oaks beyond the bonfire. Wildflower seed packets were passed around from guest to guest and we were encouraged to toss the seeds onto the tent as a blessing for their union. The couple ducked their heads into the tent and we all headed back to the fire. It had never occured to me to publicly ritualize the first time a couple made love as husband and wife. What a revelation! 

As I stood gazing at the tent that sheltered their love, I felt a pang of regret ripple through my chest. When in my life had I ever been so free and open with my own feelings? When had I ever felt such permission to reveal my need for love and belonging? When had I ever been allowed to indulge my senses and revel in the pleasure of my own vitality? In my world, especially as a young woman, my physical prowess and sexuality was not for sharing. And because I was encouraged to hide these essential parts of my being, I was fearful and ashamed of true surrender. But here were two souls, embodying the divine mother and her consort, tapping into an ancient May Day tradition. The reality of their union and the myth they invoked revealed to me the essential power of ritual as a means for transformation. I was gob-smacked.

While the couple was making love, the guests relished other pleasures. We feasted on fresh greens, roasted vegetables, and rotisserie chicken. The air was hot and filled with smoke and music. We sang a toast to the couple, danced, and then welcomed them back into community after their time in the tent. 

Beltane asks us to celebrate our aliveness by honoring our deepest desires. Pause, friends, and invite this verdant season of abundance, growth, and light to work it’s catalytic magic. Welcome the May Queen and her consort into your home, into your bedroom, and into your heart. Each one of us is a bright fire, beckoning our souls to leave the shadows of winter behind and step into the center of our belonging. 

Callie and Gabriel gave themselves to each other, and in doing so, they gave us all permission to love deeper, share bigger, and surrender to our truest nature. The poet Rumi tells us:

They are the chosen ones
who have surrendered.
Once they were particles of light
now they are the radiant sun.      

This May Day, I implore you to answer spring’s call. As we grieve a world in crisis, bereft of touch and public celebration, Beltane gives us permission to seek a sacred kind of joy at the altar of growth and creativity. Crown yourself with flowers, step into the fire, and embrace the pleasures of the season.