justabout, hedgewitch and all you lovely spiritual people...i'd really really like to celebrate beltane properly this year...

[Heathcliffscathy]

i miscarried a couple of weeks ago and feel very strongly that beltane might give me just the sense of renewal and life and symbolic boost to my fertility that i need.

please any ideas for celebrating this, i'm even considering decamping to lewes....

x

bumpety bump

Soph I am sorry to hear about the loss of your baby, your pain is almost tangible. I am more useful on the practical stuff so:

Edinburgh hosts a large Beltane celebration each year. It is an amazing experience but perhaps not as personal as you are looking for - I don't know. Anyway have a look here if you think it might interest you: www.beltane.org/

Sorry for your loss, Sophable.

I am not sure what we will do for Beltane. I am hoping some friends can get together with us so that DS will have others to play with - I know there will be a local adult oriented ritual but I doubt it'll be the sort of thing that a 3 yr old will be welcome at.

We will plant some sunflower seeds and light candles in lieu of a bonfire but I am not sure what else.

What happens in Lewes?

Padstow Cornwall the obby oss day, makes Beltane really special. Also the oss is a fertility symbol it may help and help you to feel better.

oh soph I'm so sorry. I don't know much about beltane although it sounds fascinating. The only similar experience i have had is sunrise on May Day in Oxford and Sunrise on the Autumn Equinox at Stonehenge. Both were quite powerful experience. Have you considered a retreat of some sort?

I have absolutely no idea what these retreats are like, but i just googled Beltane and Retreat and came up with this. No idea if it is too nutty or actually quite good.
here

Actually, a traditional mayday thing is a good idea - it has pagan roots. I used to go to one as a child, where people morris danced (not cool, I know) along the main road in the village from about 4 in the morning til the sun came up. Then there'd be cake & tea in the pub, bell ringing and a may day fair with a may pole etc. It was lovely and a really nice way celebrate Beltane.

oh thanks for the posts ladies. i don't think i'll be going far, we've just got back from dorset and i think that's our lot for travel til half term (which isn't very far away)..

i guess i'm thinking about what would be possible in our back garden? maybe I should get a firepit been thinking about it for a while, or even build one?

Yes, or you could do a small bonfire or lots of tealights in jam jars.

ooo that looks great justabout. what about christian ritual around mayday, is it mary-fied? or am i confusing things?

the crowning of Mary is a May day celebration, I think in the RC church.

If the weather's nice, how about a BBQ feast meal? Find out if there are any local Mayday celebrations too; I'm more of a solitary but even I find it gives an extra dimension to whatever thoughts are in my head if I'm surrounded by other people who have similar intent. I would say PLAY as much as you can. Watch some comedy, tickle your children, do anything that makes you laugh.

May Day morning in Oxford wonderfully medieval and pagan, very powerful sense of a link to the past. And the [much maligned] Morris Dancers are key - all the different groups gather from all over Oxfordshire, with fantastic garlands of flowers on that hats, pigs bladders etc. haven't been since i was 21 and slightly worse for wear though, which might help.

I'm so sorry for your loss. When I lost my first I found that planting a plant in the garden helped me.

I know you said you didn't want to travel but what about visiting the Cerne Abbas giant.

thanks so much. justabout, mary v important, am half catholic (if that is poss). had a v interesting chat once with a guy whose thesis was that mary mag (the black madonna) is the black goddess. love all the links.

oxford full of worse for wear young things doesn't appeal too much. wish there was something small and local...am in sw london.

barbeque that weekend sounds like a great idea.

ahhh yes do that would be lovely, ask her to send me a baby...x

i was joking about the worse for wear it was actually quite a profound experience but very crowded and probably not right for you.

I love the Black Madonna/Black Goddess theories.

any more beltane lovers out there?

So so sorry to hear of your loss, my daughter lost har baby recently and I understand the pain you are feeling in a way that I hadn't before.

Beltane celebrations are lovely, this time of year in Britain is so wonderful.

I'm going out so I'll come back later, I'll think about Beltane while I'm out and about.

Blessings to you, may the Great Goddess care for you and yours.