Bealtaine, called Beltane in England and Wales, and Bhealltainn in Scotland falls opposite Samhain on the Wheel of the Year. These were the two most important Sabbats on the Celtic calendar, marking the beginning and end of the two recognized seasons.

    Even though this is a fertility Sabbat, one that celebrates life above all, some scholars believe the holiday takes its name from the Irish death god, Beltene. Another possible derivative of the name might be from the Welsh god Beli, but he appears to be more of a sun deity like Lugh, who would be honored at Midsummer or Lughnasadh rather than in the spring. Other intriguing possibilities of the origin of the name are from a little-known Celtic fire god from Gaul called Belanos or Belios, or from the Phoenician vegetation god Baal, a deity demonized by the new religion.

    Still another explanation and probably the one most popular with pagans is that the Sabbat's name is derived from a word meaning "bale- fire." Even today, balefires are lit all over Britain and Ireland on May Eve, just as they were in the past. In the times of the High Kings of Ireland, it was illegal to light a balefire until the king had lit the one atop Tara, the seat of government. Many other cultures also sought out high spots for their ritual fires, including the people of the Alps and of Germany. The Royal Family of Britain still burns their Bealtaine balefire each May Eve in order to keep the family line going.

    The Russian tradition requires that everyone wait until moonrise to light balefires rather than lighting them at sundown on April 30. They toss holly sprigs into the fire, perhaps in deference to the soon-to-return Holly King. They also toss aromatic herbs onto the coals to make a ritual incense for the occasion.

    An old Swedish custom states that the balefire has to be lit by two peo- ple striking two flints together. This is symbolic of the sexual union of the Goddess and God. In Norway the balefires are called Balder's Fires in honor of their own Sun God. Old brooms were often thrown upon these fires and new ones, made during winter, were brought out and dedicated to their proposed purpose.

    Germanic and Dianic covens celebrate Bealtaine as a Night of the Dead, and ancestors are asked to join them at the warmth of the fire in much the same way the Celts do at Samhain.

    In Slavic countries, young men travel from house to house just before sundown to collect items to fuel the balefire. In this tradition, wreaths are tossed into the flames by individuals who wish for healing.

    In Scotland, the balefires were required to be lit from another fire known as the tein-eigin, or "need-fire," which had to be created by using the friction of a wheel. This fire was termed a "need" because it was used solely to cook with, and it was the only non-ritual fire permitted to burn on this day. Starting the need-fire from a wheel was symbolic on two levels. First of all, it was the symbolic association with the ever-spinning Wheel of the Year on this first day of the Celtic summer. Secondly, it is traced to a minor god of Celtic Gaul called Taranis, the God of the Wheel, who was also honored in early May.

    It is traditional to take home a smoldering piece of the Bealtaine balefire to bring summer blessings into your home. The first cookfires of the summer season were once lit with part of this fire. But note that the custom asks you to take part of the balefire home, and not ask it as a gift. There was a strong taboo in Ireland and Scotland against giving away any portion of the Bealtaine fire. It was a basic belief of most Europeans that faeries could not start their own fires, but must obtain them from human sources. The Celts respected faeries, active at this Sabbat, and were sure that these Little People would come to the celebration disguised as humans to ask for a part of the fire which, when freely given, would give the faeries some measure of power over the giver.

    Bealtaine is next only to Midsummer in the pervasiveness of faery lore. Daisy chains woven Just prior to the Sabbat were placed around children's necks for protection, and livestock was fed fresh dill weed. Fresh butter was at particular risk, and it was customary to toss a hot coal into the churn to protect it from marauding faeries. In the Arthurian myths, Queen Guine- 'vere rides out on May Day to collect white hawthorn for protection.

    Perhaps the best protection against faeries is the ringing of bells. Bells in any form are supposed to hurt the Wee Folks' ears and make them flee. Therefore, it is not surprising that bells figure heavily in the Bealtaine festivities. Most pagan altars sport bells, and bells are often used to ring in the rising May Day sun in the Norse tradition. But the most prominent display of bells is on the heels of Morris Dancers. Morris Dances are old fertility dances traditionally performed around a Maypole. The dances from English and Celtic lands still survive, and on May 1, one need not look long or far to find a group of these dancers with bells tied to their heels.

    You can make your own bells for Bealtaine dancing by getting two three-foot lengths of white or red ribbon and several jingle bells. Lace the bells through the ribbons until they are in the center. Wrap one ribbon around each of your ankles and tie it in a bow.

    Other bells once used for protection are still in everyday use, though their original meaning has been largely forgotten. These are the folk art items we call wind chimes and door harps, both once set out to frighten faeries and other baneful spirits away from open windows and doors. The primrose flower was also believed to repel Bealtaine faeries, even though most faery lore tells us that this is a flower they like and to which they are attracted. It is still a popular custom in rural Ireland to strew primrose blossoms over the front porches of homes on May Eve to prevent mischievous faeries from entering. The Norse believed you had to sleep at home on Bealtaine Eve and keep a strong hearth fire blazing until dawn. Today's Easter fires are derived from this Norwegian practice.

    In China a group of men used to wander through the villages reminding people to put out their old fires at the end of April so that all communal fires could be rekindled anew on May 1. Cold food was eaten for a night to ensure that there was no fire in the house.

    In Ireland all home fires had to be relit with part of the balefire. To use old fire was thought to bring bad luck—perhaps even bringing the winter season back to stay. In Wales the balefires were kept burning from the first to the third day of May, three being a sacred number to the Celts, and warriors and war- rioresses took turns tending the fire throughout the night. In many other lands, this Sabbat was not a Sabbat as we know it today, but a day to honor special deities. The best known of these holidays were from ancient Rome: the Floralia, to honor Flora, the Goddess of Flowers; and the Bacchanalia, to honor the God of Wine and Frolic. The Romans also honored Lares, a Roman household god whose original Etruscan name means "Lord."

    High in the Tyrolian Alps of Italy, spring comes late, with May marking the first new blooms of the season. There Floralia is celebrated as it has been for thousands of years with community festivals that feature dancing, singing, and the drinking of delicately flavored but very potent wines made from the flowers and plants picked on the first of May the previous year. All the old wine must be consumed before midnight on the first, and new blooms gathered to ferment the next year's batch. Fresh flowers are featured as the primary decorations and they are used to lavishly adorn single young women. Young men who wish to publicly express their intention to court or to become betrothed to any of the women will scale the dangerous alpine slopes and collect the elusive edelweiss, a delicate white perennial herb which grows only in the alps. A man will then return to the festival and present it to the girl of his choice. If she accepts the tiny blooms in front of witnesses, the couple is as good as engaged. If you do not have the time and money to travel to the Italian Alps but wish to catch a glimpse of this festival, rent a copy of the 1937 MGM classic film The Bride Wore Red, which features a fairly accurate look at the modern-day celebration. Bealtaine was called Walpurgisnacht in Germanic lands, and takes its name from a christianized Teutonic Mother Earth Goddess named Wal- burga who was thought to marry the God on this night and become impregnated with her son/lover of Yule.

    Other festivals that honor deities on or near Bealtaine are the Festival of Sheila-na-Gig (Ireland), Tithe Day (Germany), and the Festival of Pan (Greece). Pan is another name for the Great Horned God of western Europe, often called Cernunnos (Ker-noon-noes) by the Celts. The Horned God is probably the most widely worshiped god-form in paganism. He is the master of the hunt and comes into his full power in late summer and early fall. In spring he is also the primal fertility God, consort to the Great Mother, and his goat-like appearance intimately associates him with the lusty sexuality of Bealtaine. Ancient paintings of him have been found on Eurasian cave walls and in Egyptian hieroglyphs, and he is probably the most persistent and common of god images throughout Western paganism. The Great Rite, an often misunderstood pagan ritual, is enacted on this Sabbat in nearly every modern pagan circle. The Great Rite symbolizes the sexual union, or sacred marriage, of Goddess and God from whose union comes all creation. The Rite is performed by one male and one female who are representative of the male and female polarities of deity. They unite sex- ually in a symbolic manner by placing a knife (a phallic symbol) into a chalice (primal female image), though some traditions allow for everyone to leave the circle except the two participants, the only ones to know how the Rite is enacted. In old Europe, whole communities would celebrate the enactment of the Great Rite and the positive effects such sympathetic magick would surely have on the crops, the animal populations, and the people. Patriarchal religious teachers have often criticized paganism's use of the Goddess' son as her lover, a man who will again be her son. They use this imagery as "proof" of the "sinfulness and immorality" of pagan religions.

    Remember that these stories are symbolic, and represent the eternal exis- tence and oneness of the deities rather than concrete familial relationships.

    For most European cultures, Bealtaine marked the time of the final phase of spring planting, and their immediate concern was for the condition of the tender new shoots. Before modern farming techniques, little could be done about drought or pests, and European history is sadly riddled with miserable famines resulting from such blights. Our pagan ancestors had many crop fertility spells and charms to try to counteract the worst of Mother Nature. Besoms were ridden hobbyhorse-style over fields and through pastures by women in symbolic fertility rites. Menstruating women were espe-cially sought after for this act, as the sacred blood of which all life is made was clearly present to saturate crop land and animal feeding grounds. A calving cow was often taken into a field to have her calf there, and ritually consecrated chalices containing a mixture of sheep's blood and milk were poured on the crops to encourage their growth.

    Ashes from the Bealtaine balefire were scattered over the fields to bless and protect them, and infertile women would take these ashes and tie them in a bag around their necks. Whether this helped the women or not is not known, but as for the crops, modern science has discovered rich nitrogen in ashes which would have been beneficial for growing vegetables.

    The welfare of livestock also figures prominently among the concerns of Bealtaine. Hunting of summer animals was now permitted, and the hunting of winter game such as the deer was prohibited. Special summer pastures set aside for cattle and sheep were opened for the first time each year only after May 1. Before May Eve the fields were still the province of the phookas, malevolent faeries who claimed them after Samhain. May also marked the beginning of the lambing season, and the condition and color of the first born lamb to a clan or community was indicative of how the rest of the year would go for them. Driving the animals through or over the balefire as the blaze waned was an old Bealtaine ritual of protection, healing, and purification.

    You can ritually purify anything you wish over the Bealtaine balefire smoke. Pass through ritual tools, cherished possessions, heirloom jewelry, and especially newly-acquired items whose history you do not know. Or pass yourself through the smoke for your own purification prior to your Sabbat rituals.

    You may also wish to purify yourself before the start of the Bealtaine festivities by anointing your body with morning dew from a Hawthorn tree.

    Ritual purification was and is an inherent part of pagan practice, but we have two sources of information which strongly suggest that cleansing was even more deeply a part of this Sabbat observance, especially for females. The first of these sources can be found in the Arthurian legends that tell us that Queen Guinevere rode out early on Bealtaine morning with her hand-maidens to gather white hawthorn, and the second is a very old English nursery rhyme that states: