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Happy Beltane / May Day, fellow Witches and Pagans!

Beltane, which bridges the seasons of spring and summer, is arguably one of the most important and/or popular Celtic festivals out there and we’re doing all we can to help you celebrate. With that in mind, we’ve gathered the most relevant articles from across PaganSquare for your perusing. Additionally we’ve also gathered other pieces from across the web to inaugurate your summer celebrations as well as a few pieces about Earth Day, which passed earlier last week.

We hope you all enjoy your Beltane and have a wonderful summer!

-Aryós Héngwis

The elements of sexy: a clean house, a clean you, light tasty finger food, and good drink. These four basics will engage your senses. Added extras would include some groovy tunes and fresh flowers, of course. You really cannot have too many good smells, sounds, and visuals today.

When cleaning, throw in about five drops of Bergamot essential oil in the mop water and/or for polish on wood. Bergamot is known for it's uplifting qualities, and also blends nicely with lavender. It is always a wise idea to take care of this the night before, so that you can wake to a clear and pleasant space – setting the tone for the day. Decorate your altar in vibrant reds, whites and florals as the last order of business before getting a good sleep. Don't forget to put some clean sheets on the bed (wink wink).

I write this on Beltane eve, later than I hoped.  A bout with some bug has laid me low and I will not be up to my usual activities this Sabbat.  But perhaps my enforced period of solitude has enabled me to think a little more deeply than I might have about the meaning of this time.

Beltane and May Day comprise one of the two most important Wiccan Sabbats, the other, Samhain, being six months away.  For Wiccans and most other NeoPagans Beltane marks the beginning of summer.  We believe every basic dimension of physical existence is sacred in its own way, and seek to honor each at that time of the year when it can be most powerfully symbolized in ritual and celebration.  Beltane and May Day so honor summer.

Thought I would share my article about how to dance a maypole and maypole magic. Happy Beltane to all Pagans in the Northern Hemisphere, and Blessed Samhain to those of you in the Southern Hemisphere!

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/betweentheshadows/2015/04/seekers-and-guides-maypole-magic/

 Summer is icumen in, loudly sing cuckoo. Grows the seed and blows the mead, and springs the wood anew. Sing, cuckoo! Ewe bleats harshly after lamb, cows after calves make moo!

Ever since I began ritualing with my fostering coven almost ten years ago, The Wicker Man has been one of my favorite movies.  We’d watch it together every Beltane, sipping mead and telling jokes, singing the songs and quoting our favorite lines.  One year I was feeling especially inspired so I put it on to play first thing in the morning and my DVD ran on repeat until I went to bed that night.  Clearly, to say that I adore The Wicker Man is an understatement. 

In today's Fiery Tuesday post, we concentrate on issues of politics as it connects to religious principles. SCOTUS on same-sex marriage; Pope Francis vs. climate change; May Day history; inequities in CA water use; the personal cost of social activism.

Supreme Court Justices are hearing arguments in a case that's likely to settle the question of same-sex marriage in the United States. This story in the New York Times describes what's at stake.

Inspired by the May traditions of Padstow, Cornwall, Dave Webber's May Song is a fine modern Beltane song in traditional idiom, heard here in a rousing performance by Magpie Lane.

The traditional May Day Hobby Horse's dance of sex, death, and resurrection has no known historical connection with the widespread and deeply sacred horse-sacrifices of the ancient Indo-European world.

None whatsoever.