The Celtic Festival of Beltane

Beltane is a Celtic word which means 'fires of Bel' (Bel was a Celtic deity). It is a fire festival that celebrates of the coming of summer and the fertility of the coming year.

Celtic festivals often tied in with the needs of the community. In spring time, at the beginning of the farming calendar, everybody would be hoping for a fruitful year for their families and fields.

Beltane rituals would often include courting: for example, young men and women collecting blossoms in the woods and lighting fires in the evening. These rituals would often lead to matches and marriages, either immediately in the coming summer or autumn.

Other festivities involved fire which was thought to cleanse, purify and increase fertility. Cattle were often passed between two fires and the properties of the flame and the smoke were seen to ensure the fertility of the herd.

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The Wheel of the Year

Beltane is just one of four Celtic quarter-days that mark the passing of the seasons through the year.

The other quarter-day festivals are:

Lughnasa (beginning of August)
A harvest festival correspnding with the Anglo-Saxon Lammas.

Samhain (beginning of November)
Considered by many the 'Celtic New Year' and synonymous with Halloween.

Imbolc (beginning on February)
A festival associated with the Goddess Brigid (Brigantia) and also the Christian St. Bridget.

In the Name of the Goddess: Brigantia

At Beltane at Thornborough we choose to evoke the name of the Goddess Brigantia for our celebrations.

Brigantia was historically worshipped by the Brigantes tribe in the North of England and is probably identical to the Goddess Brigid of Ireland (where the Brigantes tribe also held territory).