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“Through hundreds of years, [the first day of May] was celebrated by the ancient Celts as the feast of Beltane, the renewal of earth’s reproductive energy in springtime. Revelers danced around trees that represented the phallic energy of the season, and everywhere lovers enjoyed and participated in the earth’s renewal.
With the coming of Christianity, the old festival was discouraged, especially in light of its highly sexual content. In its place, the church offered a chaste processional to honor the virgin mother of god, with girls singing songs like that below. But the ancient symbolism held fast, though hidden: the virgin was crowned with wreaths of flowers, the sexual organs of plants. Thus, even when the outer meaning changed, the inner meaning of the season remained a celebration of nature’s fertility and fecundity.”
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~ adaptation from Patricia Monaghan, The Goddess Companion, May 1st
Art: Nom Kinnear King, “The Bringing Sun”
Nom Kinnear King
Note: Nordic, Germanic and Slavic people had their version of this festival as well, and the maypole with its accompanying dance is Germanic in origin. Trees were held sacred in many different cultures, and dances around trees were a part of fertility festivals in many parts of the ancient world.
#SacredSistersFullMoonCircle #Spirituality #WomensWisdom #WomensEmpowerment #RedTent #SacredFeminine #SacredMasculine #CyclicalLiving #WheeloftheYear #Mythology #Magic #Folklore #FolkTradition #Beltane #Bealtaine #MayDay #Fertility #FertilityRite
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Text and image source: Sacred Sisters Full Moon Circle https://www.facebook.com/100064523779863/posts/pfbid02jkCUbkzQZThwSXFSui2HMkDWVwVcAXWtKL6NRrHaKT2zu47zzmD3fXt9WvKTDnj2l/?mibextid=Nif5oz
Purplerays 