At Winter Solstice, the light begins to return – gradually, the memory of the long nights fades until the light and dark are equal on Spring Equinox. From that point on, the light returns more rapidly and on May 1st we arrive at the midpoint between equinox and Summer Solstice.
Today, my sunrise was at 5:51am CDT and my sunset will be at 7:58pm … more than 14 hours of daylight, adding 2 hours since the equinox. By the end of May, we will have added 49 more minutes of daylight.
May your May days be filled with sunlight, flowers … and kissable snouts!
(Place your cursor over the photos to read the hovers!)
Beltane, celebrated on May 1st, is one of the cross quarter holidays from the pagan Wheel of the Year. It is “the celebration of life, the land, the union of mankind with the mother earth and the purification and rebirth of all things”.
As with all earth based holidays, we celebrate what we see around us in nature: the weather is warmer, plants and flowers are blooming, wildlife is more active and we are energized by what we see and feel. Beltane is about the sheer joy of life and taking part in it.
This advice for Beltane should sound familiar to progressives:
Being on a spiritual path of any kind is not a part time thing. It is a way of life, and that is an everyday thing. It is not enough to make a commitment to spirit if you don’t carry that through all your thoughts and actions for the rest of the year.
Go out and enjoy the day, leap a bonfire (carefully), dance around a maypole and listen to some stirring music from Loreena McKennitt performing the Huron Beltane Fire Dance:
Let’s reaffirm our commitment to our spiritual and progressive path and dedicate ourselves to the work that, quite clearly, still needs to be done.
(Crossposted from Views From North Central Blogistan)
Blessed Beltane! May your May days be filled with flowers and furry friends!!
What a delightful post! Thanks, Jan, it’s welcome counter to this gray, rainy day. Loved the captions, the dogs, and the flowers!
May is one of the nicest months of the year.
Thanks Jan. You’ve given me a nice moment of puppy love. Rhodies are blooming in my garden, and Heide will be here later today……
Happy Beltane Week, Meeses. I’ve got irises, peonies, and roses in my gardens. And lots of Dutch White Clover in my yard. (Also some dandelions, of course – but much more clover to both the bees’ and the bunny rabbits’ delight.) Finished out April with 476 KWHs generated. (I’ve finally reached “apples to apples” in comparison data as of May – my system was upgraded to 4K the end of April 2015.) My feline furries want to go outside and play, but that yard is also more than ankle deep and thus will take a while for the dew to dry.
I can’t remember what non-Christian this story pertains to, it could be one of any of a heck of a lot, but I remember Momma telling me about a Christian missionary reproving someone for not “saying grace” before dinner – and the response was, “You mean you only pray once a day?” Not that I like the word “pray” or “prayer” – too many negative connotations – but if you are not continually in contact with the Great Whatever (in The Secret Garden Mrs. Sowerby said “the Big Good Thing”), Ur nawt doen it rite. Blessed be.