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2 Reasons the World Needs Beltane NOW

2/5/2015

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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.

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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.”


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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.

 

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The Wild Scots Have 3 New Year’s Messages for You

3/1/2015

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The Scots, those untamed, blue-painted, kilted warriors, pipers, and lovers, have a wild and wooly New Year’s celebration that you may not want to try at home; it is Hogmanay (usually pronounced hog-ma-NAY). This incredible street party does have, however, three suitable messages for all of us to integrate into our own celebration as we enter a brand new year.

The Scots did not really have a Christmas holiday to celebrate from about the end of the 17 century until the 1950s due to the Protestant Reformation and Christmas being seen as “a popish feast” by the English Crown, at least when it was banned in the 1600s. Scots growing up in the 1940s confirm that Christmas was not a part of their family’s custom. Their midwinter celebration became the wild and raucous Hogmanay, December 31st to January 1st or 2nd.


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Fire Invites the Sun to Return

As with many European winter ritual customs, fire plays a big part in celebrating Hogmanay. Our ancestors used enormous bonfires on festival days throughout the year to honor the sun or call it back in mid-winter. Today at Hogmanay, in addition to bonfires, huge pyrotechnic shows, fireworks, spinning fireballs, and torched tar barrels are part of the festivities in various town and cities in Scotland.

In our own lives, using fire at this time of the year to call forth the light and passion within each of us to come forth in new expressions in the New Year is so satisfying. A candle or a fire in the fireplace with some spoken commitments links us to our ancestors in the New Year.
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Remember Our Natural Generosity of Spirit

Hogmanay became the Scots gift-giving holiday, in place of Christmas. Families and neighbors gave and received gifts at this time of year. Much visiting of homes with food and spirits offered within is, and has been, a companionable custom of Hogmanay. Singing of Auld Lang Syne with a complex linking of arms happens after the fire revelry.

Never do I sing, nor witness the singing of Auld Lang Syne, without seeing most folks weeping. This song, sung in a language we do not understand, by people who may or may not have Scottish blood in their veins, tugs at a heart space within us that loves friendship and longs to serve it. In this cold season, let yourself be warmed by the love of friends.

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The First Thing to Enter Your Life 
Signals the Year’s Pattern

First footing is also a custom of Hogmanay. The belief is that if a tall, dark, handsome stranger comes to your door the first thing after midnight of the New Year, that you will have good luck. This probably has something to do with the anticipated bad fortune if a blond man comes to your door because in the past he was undoubtedly a marauding Viking.

The idea of first footing is that the first person who comes through your door indicates the character of your New Year. We could enlarge this idea and consciously choose what we admit through the front door with a little personal ritual. Think about what you want to admit to your home this year. Is it love, prosperity, beauty? Go to the front door and with great intention – call it in! 

All of life’s gifts are right there on your threshold. Happy New Year, everyone!
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Travel with Me to This Wild and Joyous Land 
This Spring

Scotland in the Spring, May 23 to June 1, 2015

Here is some of what you will experience:
·      Edinburgh Castle, Grassmarket, Rosslyn Chapel
·      Glasgow, Melrose Abbey, witchy East Lothian and the Borders
·      St. Andrews and the east coast with puffin colonies
·      Blair Castle and stories of Bonnie Prince Charley, the Jacobites and Culloden
·      Ancient loch dwellings and stone circles
·      Storytelling at its finest within a small group of travelers


BOOK HERE 

INFORMATION ON OTHER TRIPS
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