Happy Northern Hemisphere, Gregorian Calendar Beltane, everyone! (whew -that’s a mouthful)
In Irish Gaelic (and Scottish Gaelic though with a slightly different spelling), the etymology of Beltane breaks down something like this:
“Beal” meaning either “bright” or possibly a reference to “Bel”, a Sun God
and “tine” meaning “fire”. And in both Irish and Scottish Gaelic, the entire month of May is known as Béaltaine (that’s the Irish spelling).
So we’re honoring the start of a longer season and moment in time. In fact, historically in Ireland, all fires were extinguished the eve before (the ancestors in these places believed a day started at sunset because all life starts in the dark), and then a new fire was lit at a central, important location (in Ireland it was Uisneach) and then spread through the land from that central fire. There’s also the folk tradition both Ireland and Scotland of lighting two bonfires and walking the cattle between them to “sain” or smudge the cattle.
Neo-pagan beliefs focus on this holiday as a fertility celebration and rite. And certainly there are places where that was true. Even in Ireland and Scotland there were folk practices for divination around romance and partnership. But I suspect the ancestors of these lands didn’t emphasize fertility in only one of the celebrations because the entire turning of the year is a practice of fertility - it’s a whole life cycle. Rather, in both these places the folk traditions and rituals mostly seem to emphasize protection and warding.
See, Béaltaine is the opposite side of the coin to Samhain and is also a thin moment when the Unseen world intermixes more readily with the Seen world. But where Samhain is opening that portal, welcoming in the dark half of the year and the intermixing that offers visions, etc; Béaltaine seems to be more a closing of the portal, celebrating the light half of the year and claiming this half of the year for the living.
A few days ago, the PDF went out to all those participating in our seasonal round house gathering with some of this context. In my last email, I shared why I emphasize “Paying Attention” as one of the skills/ prompts on the PDF and within the gathering. The next one I emphasize is “Investigate/ Deepen” where we start to ask questions and get into more of the specificity, like I did above.
While it may feel less flashy and glamorous (and less meme-able) than some of the more simple/ universalized themes we are used to seeing, I offer it’s deeply important because this is the part where we start to stretch our understanding of “why”.
If we take the celebration and apply it with our modern way of seeing the world, it might help us feel a little more connected, a little more attuned to what’s happening in the seasons... but it doesn’t necessarily change the larger outcomes. We’re still operating in the world from the same foundation we have been (one which seems to keep leading us to burnout, disconnect, and overwhelm).
Plus, in the universalizing of the seasonal themes, we also risk speeding up the forgetting and loss of what ancestral cultures and traditions are left. How they celebrate this moment in the year is different in Germany than it is in Italy in Ireland in England in Poland... you get the picture. These differences house richness and more diversity of perspectives and nourishment to spark our dreamings for the future.
See, investigating and going for more details is part research, part imagining.
It asks us to do our best to walk a mile in the shoes (or bare feet) of our ancestors. To try and see the world through their eyes. That’s how we stretch our own perceptions and widen our gaze enough to see some other possibilities.
It’s not about trying to replicate things exactly.
The world is very different in many ways than it was then. But it’s about seeing if we can find sturdier root stock on which to (respectfully) graft new rituals, ceremonies, stories, and culture in these times. (Which, not-so-conincidentally, are skills #3 and #4 in the PDF - Integrate: self-inquiry prompts and asking how does this apply to me and my inner world; and Embody: possible rituals or ways to put your celebration into action)
So in honor of this work we’re doing to steward and tend our inner fires with more humanity and sense of the sacred, and in the spirit of this moment in the turning of the year: What are you doing today or in the coming days to claim and celebrate life and aliveness? How might fire play a part in that?
And would you like to receive the PDF and join us for a live gathering to celebrate Beltane? You can still register for this Sunday, May 4th.
The card I pulled for us for this month came from the Herbal Astrology Oracle deck by Adriana Ayales and Joséphine Klerks.
One of Ginko’s medicinal uses is support for respiratory challenges (and its leaves even look a little like lungs). In the body, our lungs store unprocessed grief. So in this moment of time, between that and the Raven, I’m sensing an emphasis on rising up through the portal from the dark half of the year. Breaking through into the light without ignoring the dark. This is not a time for bypassing - it’s a time to lean in and up.
Through the sword and Ginko’s medicinal support for cognitive issues, I’m also sensing a reminder that part of rising up out of the darkness happens through action (Mars - one of the planets invoked on the card), but also through clearing and purifying our minds, beliefs, and thought processes - dispelling illusions (Uranus - the other planet invoked here). We become more powerful when everything is aligned.
There’s also something coming through about sovereignty and how in ancient Ireland, there was a belief that a king couldn’t rule without marrying the sovereignty goddess of the land first. And that he would have to step down if he began abusing that relationship or if he became physically unfit or maimed in anyway because his body now represented the land itself and the land would mirror any weaknesses or illnesses of the king. If the battles you’re fighting aren’t in support of a wider web of kin, you’re not wielding the sword or the crown in a good way. Pay attention to where human weaknesses (yours and, perhaps those of our leaders) are being mirrored back to us from the land. What if part of our role as humans is to keep that relationship right? What next steps might that point us towards?
This is a time for action, for uplifting, for staying true and chivalrous. The ancestors are with us.
I’m aware that’s a lot to chew on so far in this email, so I’ll wrap here with just a few heads up about upcoming events/ offerings/ appearances:
1) You can join us for Beltane or any of the upcoming seasonal round house gatherings. The links are all live. (Any gatherings occurring while you’re working with me 1:1 in a series of 6 sessions are included for you.)
2) I’m aiming to have Sanctuary back in June. Those will be running the second Monday of the month and will be places for the deep rest and soul nourishment we need when we’re in a place of deep exhaustion and disconnect. They’ll be available on a drop-in basis or you’ll be able to purchase and schedule packages. I’m anticipating having guest facilitators from time-to-time. More details to come.
3) In July, over summer solstice, I’m excited to be offering a talk/ experience and some 1:1 session slots at a healing arts festival/ retreat in Wales - The Elements Retreat. It’s quite a line-up of different offerings and lovely-seeming practitioners (no headliners - all very co-creative and emergent) and the videos I’ve seen of last year’s event look special. The land in particular seems to hold a deeply loving presence. There are still tickets if it calls to you and is something you can get to.
4) Then I’ll be returning as a guest teacher in friend and colleague Jaime Lehner’s 7-month mentorship container - Women of the Earth. Jaime holds deep integrity in her work with plants and in the energetic and shamanic realms. I’m touched and honored to be invited back for a module. There are still some spaces in the mentorship and there may be the possibility that my talk will be open for others outside the mentorship container to attend. Not sure yet. I’ll keep you posted.
5) And finally, you might remember back in February, I was one of the speakers/ practitioners in the inaugural OracleFest - an online festival. Well, Kate-the-founder, has continued pulling events together including a series of talks and readings she’s calling Podiums. Tomorrow, May 2, is the first one (around the theme of Passion). You can sign up for it or for an all-star access pass which gets you access to any and all OracleFest events. I’m currently slated to present at the September Podium (Reflection) and will keep you posted as I know more about that. Just wanted to mention it in case you were interested in any of the other podiums.
I know that’s a lot of shares all at once and if, like me, you experience a lot of cool-event FOMO, just take a deep breath. Remember that less is more. The point here is not more overwhelm, but rather a sense that even in these times where things might feel dire, you have options for support, for skill building, for connection. Some of those options are online. I hope you’re also finding them in person.
But wherever you’re finding them, I hope you remember that light and dark always move in cycles. That death and endings always precede rebirth. And that we, as humans, have a part to play in ensuring that happens.
Welcome back.
with Love,
Kate
P.S. Pro tip: The skills of Paying Attention, Investigating/ Deepening, Integrating, and Embodying are not just applicable for these seasonal celebrations. They’re the underpinning of all my work - we get curious and open our senses in the face of challenge and desire for a different outcome; we deepen and investigate what we find with the intention of seeing it differently than we have, seeing to a deeper truth of it; we integrate what we find there and let ourselves be changed by what we’ve experienced; then we go out into the world and see what responses we get back… and the cycle begins again. It seems to be a pretty solid framework for being human.
P.P.S. In case you haven't read enough yet and like stories and examples - my most recent foray into "Investigation" and "Embodiment": for years now, I've had a practice of greeting the day. I've done it each morning. Recently, I've been switching it up. What changes if I act as my Irish ancestors did and treat dusk as the ending *and* beginning of the day?
Only a few days in and I'm noticing I'm going to have to be much more devotional when it comes to my bedtime routines (I generally like "devotional" more than "disciplined"). How I set myself up for sleep greatly affects how I sleep. And how I sleep sets the tone for how my waking day goes. Sunrise isn't a fresh start. It's a continuation.
None of this is necessarily new info, and there's plenty of science to back up how important good bed time routines and sleep hygiene are. But there's something for me about trying on a different mindset, seeing the world through a different lens, and then noticing how that highlights things working and not-working in my life which seems to land more deeply and give me a greater sense of connection to the "why" of making a change. Plus, the ancestors then offer some of the community we seem to need for changes to stick. And that's pretty cool.
What ancestrally-inspired insights are waiting for you to discover them? Maybe you'll find some in our seasonal round house gatherings. <3
