As I wrote in the previous post, Beltane a.k.a Mayday is the celebration of the coming of summer and fertility. It is referred to as "festival of fire" as it roughly translates to "bright fire" and symbolizes the lengthening of daylight.
In the modern days, we may not be able to celebrate on such a big scale as it was celebrated in Gaelic time, but there are a lot of subtle and easy ways to honor this day of "returning of the sunlight".
So, how can you celebrate Beltane as a modern witch?
The first and most essential thing for celebrating Beltane is fire. Since most of us can't afford to light a full-fledged bonfire, the next best thing is candles. Light as many candles as you can to recreate the feeling of fire and to symbolize the lengthening of daylight. It is better if the candles are in bright colors that remind us of spring, summer, and sunlight. Such colors are Yellow, Red, Pink, Lilac or Lavender, Green, and White. If you don't have these colors White is just fine if you want you can decorate it with flowers.
Another thing you can do to celebrate is to spend time in nature - go for a walk, take pictures, lay in the grass even dance around, whatever feels right. You can also pick flowers and take tree branches, but always do so respectfully to the spirits of the flowers and trees, make sure to thank them afterward. You can weave flower crowns from spring flowers or from tree branches (willows are really good for it). Furthermore, you can wear something you find beautiful and with a free silhouette, again it's better if it's in colors related to spring, best if it's white. It is a good thing to wake up early and gather some morning dew if you can, as it is good for glamour magic. If you can't go out in nature for some reason just playing some music and singing or dancing around is perfectly fine. You can decorate your home with flowers (even artificial ones) too. Anything that gets you in the mood for better days ahead.
Taking a bath or shower on this day is also a perfect way to honor Beltane. You can light up candles or incense, use flowery or fruity smells, decorate with flowers and crystals, play some relaxing music, and just enjoy yourself in general.
Eating special food and drinking tea/wine/ciders are other good ways to get into the Beltane spirit. Foods such as cakes, sweet bread, edible flowers (e.g dandelions), honey, milk and dairy products, oats and cereals, seasonal vegetables and fruits are all a good choice for your menu on this day. All sweet beverages are a good choice, especially fruit wine and herbal, fruity or flowery teas, such as lavender, thyme, rosemary, mint, mugwort, and yarrow.
One of the most important things to do and have on Beltane is the Maypole. Truth is, few of us can afford to make a traditional maypole, decorating a tree outside and dance around it, BUT what we can do is create a symbolic smaller one. What you need is a stick and some colorful ribbons to glue on the said stick. You can put the stick in a pot of dirt and place it on your altar, or put it in your backyard (if you have one) and decorate it with spring flowers. You don't need to dance around it literally, you can dance near it or just enjoy some music in any way you want. Feel free to get creative with it. You can even decorate a house plant sturdy enough for it.
Other things you can do include
1. Using crystals of the corresponding colors when decorating or on your altar. Such crystals include rose quartz, clear quartz, aquamarine, aventurine, rhodonite, malachite, jade, moonstone etc.
2. Planting or watering flowers, plants, herbs, or use any seeds you had laying around.
3. Clean and declutter around your house
4. Do some tarot readings or decorate your altar with corresponding tarot cards such as The Emperor, The Empress, The Magician, The High Priestess
Beltane altar offerings.
Beltane is a day we honor Fae, spirits, and deities such as Persephone, Demeter, Eostre, Pan Astarte, and so on. As such it is a good idea to leave some offerings for them on our altar space or outside in the open. Things you can leave as offerings include oatcakes, sweet bread, milk, honey, dried herbs (thyme, lavender), daisies, flower heads, crystals, candles etc.
For the fairy folk especially, since they are a huge part of these celebrations, as they are believed to be especially active around this time, you could leave shiny coins, beer, ale, berries, bird seeds, seeds of wildflowers, petals, mushrooms etc.
Remember you don't have to do absolutely everything listed here. Do whatever feels right, get crafty, get in the spring mood and make sure you have fun with it!
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