May Day

"The true man sings
gladly in the bright day, 
sings loudly of May - 
fair-aspected season." 
   ___ John Matthews, "from the Isles of Dream"

    Since before dawn this morning, many people all over Britain and Ireland
have been up to greet the May, to sing to the rising sun and to gather greeny
and flowers. Others have been preparing to celebrate with May-pole dancing
and community festivities, which may include the election and crowning of a
king and queen of the May. Most often the holiday royalty are a boy and girl
from a local school, but once they would have been the lustiest young man
and woman of the district.
    This is a day that is still honored in every part of Britain. Despite many
efforts to quell its rowdy good humor and lusty enjoyment down through the
centuries, it has survived in very good shape up to our own time. The sheer
exuberance of May overwhelms the restrictive and humorless reformers who
have tried to stop it.
    The explosion of May-blossom, sunlight and burgeoning life needs expression
at this time, when workday commonplaces can be thrown to the four winds
and the bright joy of living can bubble up within us with natural ecstasy.  All
who have waited at dawn to welcome in summer have felt the sudden burst of
brightness that ignites the deep happiness of the living earth as the sun rises.
This brightness is the sign of the ancient Celtic god Bel, whom the Gauls called
Belenos - the Shining One - the bright-faced splendor of green summer whose
glad arising spreads a shining honey of golden light over the waiting earth. It
is hard to witness this sunrise without feeling a part of it.

Cancel work today. Go and enjoy May Day by doing something that 
gives you great pleasure. Try to be outdoors all day if you can. Leave 
formal meditation alone and let your natural joy find its best outlet. 
[From The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

Beltaine

"Unite, unite, let us all unite, 
For Summer is a-come unto day
And wihither we are going we will all unite
On the merry morning of May." 
   ____"Padstow Night Song, traditional Cornish song

    At twilight this evening, May Eve, the great festival of Beltaine begins, a
great communal celebration that excludes no one from its embrace.
Ancient Celtic celebrations involved the kindling of bonfires at this time -
indeed, the name of the festival derives from 'bright fire'. The Beltaine
fire itself was kindled in a special way: evidence from nineteenth-century
Scotland reveals that the wood had to be of nine different kinds, that
it had to be gathered by men with no metal about their persons (metal
being inimical to the faerykind), and that it had be kindled without metal.
The ancient method of fire-raising involved a fire spindle and a small
piece of wood to create friction or by the rubbing together of two oak
poles. This arduous task was traditionally performed by nine teams of
nine married men - eighty-one firstborn sons.
   Once the fire had been kindled, people danced sunwise round it and
jumped through the flames. As the fire was dying down, the animals
that had wintered over in barns and local pastures were driven, on
their way up to summer grazing, between the parted fire to ensure
their fertility. Before the coals died out, people took fire from the
ceremonial blaze to rekindle their hearths (which had been extinguished
in every household prior to the festival).

Welcome in the May by making your own fire or lighting a candle 
and singing May-time songs. Honor the coming of summer in your 
own way. Rise before dawn and wash your face in the dew tomorrow
morning to receive the blessing of Beltaine.  If you have a partner, this 
is the best time for sexual fun and frolic. 

Faeries

"We are from the beginning of creation
Without old age, without consummation of earth." 
   ____ "The Voyage of Bran", early Irish text (Trans. CM)


    The faeries are the race of beings who live between the worlds, making
their home upon the earth but usually apprehensible only to otherworldly vision.
Every country in the world has stories about the faeries as the 'people between'
who inhabit quiet country places but occasionally interrelate with human beings,
exchanging favors for small gifts and courtesies, such as gifts of milk or food.
    Within the Celtic countries there is still a great respect for the faerykind.
People and faeries are considered to be neighbors who must live in mutual
respect. People are careful to build their houses away from routes frequented
by the faeries, and refer to them only as 'the good folk,'
    Many stories relate how musicians have learned tunes from the faeries or
how humans have wandered into faery domains and lived with them there.
Such tales may seem fabulous to those who have cliched images of tiny,
gossamer-winged faries who flit about from flower to flower; but faeries
within the Celtic tradition are considerably more robust, some being even
taller than humans.
    As B eltane (BEL'tenn-a) approaches, faeries become very active. It is
believed that now and at Samhain, the doors to the faery hills are open,
and that the faeries make their progress through the land. It is a time to be
sensitive about our movements and intentions so that we do not disturb
the fair folk about their business.

Discover the faery traditions of your own part of the land. What spots
are associated with faeries? What courtesies are customery? Respect 
their ways; leave them to their own affairs. 
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

Helping Others

"One should give only what people need or want, 
and in the way they need or want it." 
    __Peter Levy, The Flutes of Autumn 


   It is a good and natural thing for us to want to help and support others.
But it can also be a very difficult thing, as we may have already discovered.
There are a number of factors we must consider before we step forward to
assist someone. In the first place, help may not be wanted. In the second
place, if help is wanted, we may not be the best people to bring it. The one
we wish to help may not want our assistance or be able to receive it. This
inability to ask for or receive help can be very frustrating to the would-be
helper, but for the one in need, personal control over her life - even to the
extent of refusing help - may be all that she has left. To persist in helping
in the face of down-right refusal is a way of further dis-empowering that
person in need.
   When we help others in order to help ourselves, we are on a slippery
slope of self-delusion. Sometimes, after discovering something wonderfully
efficacious to our own condition, we press that something on everyone we
meet in a fit of convert fevor and excessive zeal. People find their own ways
to ask help. Our part is simply to be sensitive to the signs (Whether obvious
or indistinct) that they make in our direction. Then we can look into what kind
of help is needed, what nature of support and backup is desired, when to
back off and let well enough alone so that nature can heal wounds. If our
personal help is inappropriate or inexpert, we must leave the helping in
the hands of those better capable than ourselves and not press our attentions
where they are not wanted.

Is there something you need to ask help with at this time? If so, is 
there someone you know whom you would like to have help you?
[From: The Celtic Spirit Caitlin Matthews]

The Gateways of the Heart

"Ancient power spots and sacred sites .... are gateways. The real
openings lie in our hearts, minds and lives." 
  _____ Jo May, Fogou 




    The whole of our lives is a bringing together of our inspirational and power sources.
These are like the stones that form the gateway of our spiritual path, creating thresholds
in which our spiritual allies in the otherworld are drawn; they come close to us when we
recognize and visit our inspirational and power sources. Our efforts and their efforts
combined make these thresholds real gateways between the worlds, through which vital
energy can flow. The reciprocation between the worlds passes through these thresholds.
When we finally come to die, our fear will be lessened because we will already be familiar
with these thresholds of passage.
    The ancestors who once visited sacred sites were acutely aware of these things. They
would doubtless prepare themselves before visiting by prayer, fasting and purification and
be interviewed by the guardian of the site before they approached it, to ensure that each
visitor truly attuned and prepare. If we also cleanse the gateways of our heart before we
approach sacred sites, we will come fully prepared for the encounter between the worlds:
to greet our ancestors with peace and our spiritual allies with love.

Before you next visit a sacred site, meditate upon the preparations you may need
to take before visiting. 

[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

Manifesting Our Dreams

"Dreams grow holy put in action, 
Work grows fair through starry dreaming; 
But when each flows on unmingling, 
Both are fruitless and in vain. 
May the stars within this gleaming, 
Cause my dreams to be unchained." 
   ___ Caitlin Matthews, Celtic Devotional 


  We live in a world where the divorce of dreams and their practical implementation is
almost complete. How can we weave the two worlds of dreaming and working together?
By attending first to our dreams and visions, and by allowing a space to appreciate and
develop them. Unless we take steps, our dreams fall barren into rocky soil of our
unconceiving imagination. Dreams will not manifest without our active help, or
without the energizing grace of the spirit. And while that grace is generously available
to us, it will not accomplish our dreams without our hard work.
   When our dreams manifest through this process, the whole world is recreated in
that moment, for we have been cooperators in the work of creation, not merely passive
creatures who crawl upon the earth. It is then that the stars dance where we step and
the song of joy issues from our spiritual allies, for we have made holy the daily ground
of our working.

Before sleeping, hold your inspired plans and visions in your heart as you recite
this prayer above. Be attentive in the days that follow to the clues and pathways 
that open to your dreaming. 
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Mattews]