2 Reasons the World Needs Beltane NOW

Beltane, or May Day, is known in the neo-pagan community as the wild and sensuous holiday of fire leaping and trysts in the woods. It is that, with a maiden playing the Queen of the May and a young fellow playing the Stag Lord. They chase through fiery revelries and ritually make love for the benefit of the harvest, or, at least that is what we believe was celebrated in antiquity; now it is a huge street party in cities such as Edinburgh, Scotland. However, the underlying meaning of this holiday is so needed in our world right now.

Uniting of the Queen of the May and the Stag Lord

The ritual chase and coupling of the May Queen and the Horned God symbolize the great coming together of the masculine and feminine energies for creation, with the added fuel of great desire. What marvelous good could be accomplished in our world with the clarity, courage, decisiveness, and the “going forth” energy of the divine masculine, together with the perseverance, stability, nurturing, and patience of the divine feminine.
 
We each have both those energies within us and we each have all those combined attributes, and more. The key to powerful creation is to unleash all those attributes along with a deep desire to facilitate the manifestation of something new. The creative urge is really all around us at this time of year…the longing of the pollen to reach the pistil, the passion of the seed to burst and send up a shoot, the battle of the stags to win the doe, the desire of the soil to support the new plant. Over and over there are examples of the desire to go forth and the desire to nurture. We, too, have those longings within us…to form a new creation and to support it to the fulfillment of its purpose, whether it is a child, a project, an invention, or something else. The Beltane message is, “Unleash your desire for the great good of the world; it is needed NOW.”

Balancing the Masculine and Feminine Energies

Beltane celebrates the perfect balance of the masculine and feminine energies. The Stag Lord pursues the Queen of the May, but she wants the coupling as much as he does and for the same purpose. In a modern reenactment of the ancient sacred marriage the May Queen says:

         I am the womb of creation. Within me the new life of earth grows each
year. Come to me. I honor you, my Lord, and shall create new life with you.

The Forest God replies:

I am the seed of the next generation. Come to me. I honor you, my Goddess, and shall create new life with you.

With their sacred union consummated, new plant life, animals, and people are assured for the next cycle of life.

Our world is in need of this balance for our next generations. At this time there seems to be a predominance of masculine energy in our political scene, in our police forces, and in schools. Take a look at the attributes of a masculine dominator world view and a balanced partnership world view:


         Masculine Dominator                        Balanced Partnership

            Fear                                             Trust

            Win/ lose                                    Win/win

            Control                                        Nurture

            One-sided benefit                     Mutual benefit

            Hoarding                                    Sharing

            Negative conditioning            Positive conditioning

            Taking orders                            Team work

            Secrecy                                        Openness

            Indoctrination                            Education

Beltane offers us a balanced partnership in the creation of our world. Each time we let go of the dominator world view in our business life and families and take the balanced partnership route we are working to create a world that works for the next generations. This is the Beltane energy that is needed NOW.