Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 9: Beltane & The Wheel of the Year
1.3k Plays2 years ago
Welcome back Witches! This week we're discussing the Wheel of the Year and taking a deeper dive into Beltane since it's coming up on May 1st! We are giving a very brief overview of the Wheel of the Year, but will plan to cover each Sabbat in detail as we come across them throughout the year! So get in losers, and lets discuss the Wheel of the Year and deep dive into Beltane.
We would be forever thankful if you left our podcast a 5-Star review. If you really loved the show and want more Get in Loser content, check out our Supercast & Buy Me a Coffee links below. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @GetinWitches, on TikTok @weredoingwitchcraft or email us at weredoingwitchcraft@gmail.com. You can support our show through our
Supercast: https://getinloserweredoingwitchcraft.supercast.com
Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/getinwitches
Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio- The Witch
- The Pagan Grimoire. Wheel of the Year: The 8 Festivals in the Wiccan Calendar. (2020). https://www.pagangrimoire.com/wheel-of-the-year/
- Brigden, James. The Wheel of the Year: The Calendar of Pagan Festivals Explained. https://www.history.co.uk/articles/the-wheel-of-the-year-the-calendar-of-pagan-festivals-explained
- A Beginners Guide to the Wheel of the Year. (2020) The Self Care Emporium. https://theselfcareemporium.com/blog/beginners-guide-wheel-of-the-year
- Coven of the Goddess (22 November 2021). Sabbats- The Pagan Wheel of the Year.
- A Witch in Time (n.d.). A Witch in Time- Ostara. https://awithintime.weebly.com/ostara.html
- Youtube- All About Beltane & How to Celebrate - Scarlet Ravenswood
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caudle
- Patti Wigington (25 June 2019). Sacred Plants of the Beltane Sabbat. Learn Religions. https://www.learnreligions.com/sacred-plants-of-the-beltane-sabbat-2561637
- Paul Waits (23 July 2019). Celtic Beltane:The Festival of Fire and Fertility on May 1st. The Magic Horoscope. https://themagichoroscope.com/zodiac/beltane#:~:text=Beltane%20is%20the%20Celtic%20festival%20of%20fire%20and,died%20to%20be%20reborn%20as%20the%20goddess%27s%20son
- The Goddess and the Green Man. (n.d.) Beltane .https://www.goddessandgreenman.co.uk/beltane
Recommended
Transcript
What is 'Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft'?
00:00:01
Speaker
Do you feel drawn to learn more about witchcraft and the occult that feel lost on where to start? Then welcome to Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft, a podcast all about what it means to be a witch and where to get started on your journey. Join us as we navigate through various witchy topics and share what we have learned about the craft. So get in witches and let's discuss the will of the year and all things bell time.
Midwestern Allergies & Weather
00:00:31
Speaker
I hate allergies. And like here with it, the weather being so back and forth and back and forth and like everything's like blooming and then it's windy and I'm just like, I can't breathe. I just want to exist right now. And I'm like congested and itchy and sneezy. Ew. Midwest allergies are gross. They really are. I don't miss it at all. No, send me back to the desert. I am ready to get back on the west coast, get back into that desert rat life.
00:01:01
Speaker
we have like tumbleweeds and Joshua trees and nothing to be allergic to but the occasional dust storm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, you have to worry about the corn and the soybeans and then the plants and then the- Yeah, more like tilling season or harvesting season like when they stir everything up which right now they're doing all the planting so that's probably why my allergies are so bad because they're tilling all the stupid fields.
00:01:26
Speaker
It's the worst.
Regional Odor Anecdotes
00:01:27
Speaker
The other day I was driving to where we live in England. It's kind of in the country. And so I had picked up my youngest from school and I was driving to the secondary school and on the way this tractor passed us, there's tractors like everywhere where we live. And I didn't think anything of it. And then all of a sudden I was just like, I felt like I was smacked in the face. The worst smell ever. I know that they fertilize the fields with like poo all the time. But this was like,
00:01:55
Speaker
the worst smell I've ever smelt in my life. And then it just followed us for like a mile all the way to the school. It was so bad. We were both me and my youngest were gagging in the car. It was so gross. I was just like, Oh my God, I could just, I could die right now. This is terrible. It was so bad. It was like, my eyes were watering. It smelled terrible. And then
00:02:19
Speaker
So this is just how bad the tractor smell. I get to my oldest daughter's school. We wait for her to get out of school, which is about like a 10, 15 minute process. She gets in the car. We have to take that same road again, going the opposite direction. It's still smelt so bad on that road from that tractor passing.
00:02:39
Speaker
that my oldest was just like, Oh my God, it smells so bad. What does that smell? It was terrible. It was the worst smell. It was like, I don't even know. I don't know whose poo it was. I don't know if it was a cow, if it was pigs, if it was human poo. I don't know what it was. It's just gross. It was terrible. You guys have that factory out there too. Don't you? That like stinks in the summer. Is it like a sugar factory or something?
00:03:05
Speaker
Yes, there's one in, yeah, in Berry St. Edmunds. And it smells, thankfully we don't live in Berry, so we don't have to worry about that. But at least like two to three times a year, they do some sort of like fertilization situation on the, I don't know, wherever they harvest some shit. And it smells so bad. Like the whole, the whole city will smell like shit.
00:03:30
Speaker
Our friends were, they lived in Bury St. Edmunds and we went out to visit them when we were living in Germany. And he was like, oh man, when we drive by this factory, it's going to smell so bad. And it was like summer, so it was kind of hot out too. So when we drove by, I was like, oh God, if that's what sugar smells like, I don't want it.
00:03:50
Speaker
Exactly. Like it's so gross. It is the worst. It's like the Purina plant in Oklahoma. Like in the summer where the whole town just smells like dog food. It's so bad. One of my really good friends, she used to own a house down the street from the Purina plant. Yeah. And it's Edmund. It's a really nice area. Yeah. Yeah. You couldn't pay me enough to live there. Our first house was in Edmund, like down the street from
00:04:20
Speaker
the stupid plant and every summer you go outside and it was just like, oh, steaks, like hot dog food. It's so bad. It's so bad. Like, gosh, I just, I can't, I'm really sensitive to smells anyway too. So I feel like I'm just overly dramatic when something smells bad outside because I'm just like, oh my God, I'm dying. And my husband's like, it's not that bad. And I'm like, you don't even know. It's horrible. I'm dying.
00:04:49
Speaker
So yeah, if you ever get stationed or you move to England, just know if you're living in the country, it's going to smell like shit. And if you're living in the cute little town of Bury St. Edmunds, sometimes it's also going to smell like shit, but in a different way. Yeah. But it's sugar, which doesn't make any fucking sense. I know. I just remember him being like, it was a sugar plant. And I was like,
00:05:13
Speaker
But it smells great. On what planet? Is that what sugar smells like? What kind of weird English sugar do you guys use? You know what? Considering how lacking of taste most of the food is here, it's surprising if it was like some random like, this is what we think sugar tastes like. It's like the jokes about
00:05:39
Speaker
What is it called? What is that sparkling water called? Or they're like, it's a hint of hint of lime. It's smells like someone yelled strawberry from three rooms down. That's honestly how most of the food here tastes like unless you're like at a really good fish and chip place or like man or something or like an Indian takeout place. Yeah. Outside of that, it's just bland, bland.
00:06:09
Speaker
It's really bland. Yeah. I'm going to have some seasoning on my food. Yeah. It's like some, like a little butter, like even like, even just butter. Yeah. Right. Like just the roasted vegetables or the they're boiled. Like most of the time it was really boiled vegetables. You're like, you just bring me these green beans that were boiled and that's it.
00:06:27
Speaker
I grow and I have some bacon or some salt or like something just some garlic anything anything anything it's just garlic is like another vegetable essentially exactly well and then I think I don't know don't call it a seasoning then they won't use it
00:06:46
Speaker
Right. Yeah. No, they won't use it. Well, and then Mike and I were watching, there's this show that's super popular here. I think I might've told you this story before, but, um, we were watching this show and it's like, it's called dinner date. And so like these, this woman or man.
00:07:01
Speaker
They will like, they'll go, they'll sit down and they'll pick like five menus. And it's, it's like a blind date where they just basically pick who, how they basically pick who they're going to go on a date with by what their menu has on there. And I'll never forget this episode. Mike and I literally were flabbergasted. This guy was sitting down and he had like five menus he was choosing from. He gets to this one and the girl had listed as one of her ingredients on her dinner.
00:07:31
Speaker
that she was going to use Rocket, which is basically arugula in the States. And he said that arugula was too spicy for him. And we literally looked at each other and we both at the same time were like, if that is not the most English thing we've ever heard in my entire life. That is literal white people things. It really is. Arugula is not spicy. What the fuck? I think it's a strong flavor, but it's not like a, oh my God, this is spicy. I can't eat it.
00:08:01
Speaker
Yeah. And I'm just like, oh my God. I'm just imagining him like eating a rugula and sweating. And he didn't pick the girl because she had a rugula and I'm just like, this could have been like your love match. The rugula is too spicy for you. I need iceberg. Thank you.
Significance of the Wheel of the Year
00:08:29
Speaker
For this episode, we are going to be discussing the Wheel of the Year in Beltane. This is going to be a brief overview of the various Sabbaths. In future episodes, we will take a deeper dive into each Sabbath as they fall throughout the year, but we're going to be focusing more on Beltane as it's the next Sabbath within the Wheel of the Year at the time of this recording.
00:08:50
Speaker
So the Wheel of the Year is an annual cycle of seasonal holidays called Sabbats, consisting of the year's chief solar events and the midpoints between them. Before clocks, this was like the original way to tell the seasons or the time of the year. It was something that was relied on for survival. It was a sign of, you know, when to plow fields and start planting or when to harvest things.
00:09:15
Speaker
It also would tell them what to hunt or when to store food for colder seasons. So there are four solar and four seasonal events in the Wheel of the Year and they're linked with the year's changing seasons. Solstices and equinoxes are tied to astronomical moments. So where, you know, your typical holidays like Christmas or Easter are celebrated on a specific day.
00:09:41
Speaker
with the will of the year, these days tend to shift and they vary a little bit from year to year. I guess Easter wasn't a good example of that because that one is done on a Sunday, right?
00:09:52
Speaker
Yeah, July 4th or something. Yeah, July 4th. If you're American. Yeah. I don't think the British are celebrating. No, they don't. But yeah, so a way to kind of remember it is that you'll have a sabbat that occurs approximately every six weeks.
00:10:16
Speaker
They're primarily centered around food and sustenance each season and the gifts that it brings with it. If you're part of a coven, covens will often do rituals or customs that they practice for each one, while solitary practitioners can take this time to learn about each of the various Sabbats, like their color associations, their food, decor that ties into that Sabbath, any deities that are tied to them, and use it in your own practice how you will.
00:10:47
Speaker
So the lesser Sabbats, which are your solar holidays, are Yol, Ostera, Leitha, and Mabon. So your greater Sabbats, which are your cross-quarter days, are Embulk, Beltane, Lunasa, and Samhain. And where the will starts depends really on the person. Some pagans believe that Samhain marks the first Sabbath. However, some believe that it marks the end of the will of the year. So it really just depends on your own personal beliefs.
00:11:15
Speaker
So that is something that I ran into when I was researching the topic was where the actual wheel of the year starts. Because obviously like if you look at it, it's a wheel and it doesn't tell you like, here's day one essentially, or here's, you know, sabbat number one. And a lot of the articles, the majority of them seem to say Yule was the start or sound was the end, but there were like a handful of them in between where it was like, no, it starts with this one or that one. And I was like, I'm just gonna go with Yule because it was the majority rule.
00:11:45
Speaker
Exactly, yeah. So for the purposes of this episode, we are going to be starting with Yul as the first Sabbath that we discussed that we'll go through the wheel of the year in that order. So starting with Yul, Yul is the winter solstice.
00:12:01
Speaker
It occurs between December 19th and the 23rd in the Northern Hemisphere and between June 20th and 23rd in the Southern Hemisphere. It's the very first Sabbath in a new wheel cycle that is celebrated on the shortest day and the longest night of the year. The Celtic people have celebrated winter solstice since before the arrival of Christianity.
00:12:22
Speaker
Though many Christians have taken yule celebrations and adapted them into what is traditionally known as Christmas. Colors associated with yule are red, green, and gold. Some plants and herbs associated with yule are pine, fur, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and oak leaves. Basically anything that is in season during this time.
00:12:45
Speaker
For incense, you can burn cedar, frankincense, cinnamon, and pine. Some crystals that are good to use during this time would be bloodstone, emerald, citrine, or clear quartz. And then for food, mold wine, hot cider, seasonal soups, and nuts. So we do mold wine a lot in the winter months. You know I'm always, always making mold wine.
00:13:11
Speaker
using cloves and oranges and apples and stuff like that. For seasonal soups, it's good to use like potatoes, carrots, any of those root vegetables, like turnips and then mushrooms and
00:13:26
Speaker
cream and things that are going to give it kind of that bold, really rich flavor. It makes me hungry. I know. I'm hungry anyway. I came into this hungry. You use a good Yule soup. Literally.
Litha: Traditions & Symbolism
00:13:40
Speaker
I do love soup. I eat it all year round.
00:13:44
Speaker
So Yule celebrates the light returning. At Yule, the nights are the longest and winter begins, but it is not at its peak. However, the days begin to grow longer. As Tiffany mentioned, Yule has been celebrated long before the Christian celebration of Christmas, and many traditional Christian celebrations borrow from Yule. Yule celebrates family, love, and warmth.
00:14:05
Speaker
Evergreen trees were used in traditional yule celebrations and were brought into the home and decorated with lights and charms, which sounds familiar as the modern day Christmas tree. Gifts are exchanged, which again, celebrated today, and the yule log is burned through the night. Yule is associated with the element of the earth.
00:14:28
Speaker
in bulk, also referred to as candle mass, is celebrated on February 1st or 2nd of the year. It's the midway point between winter and spring. This is a season of the first lambs in many parts of the world. This is when you can see the first signs of spring and while still deep into winter, life begins to stir and animals begin to emerge from hibernation to see what's going on above ground. Modern day, this is seen in
00:14:56
Speaker
celebrations like Groundhog Day in the United States, where the Groundhog comes out, he looks at his shadow. Is it if he sees his shadow, then I don't really know because I don't follow the Groundhog situation. Yeah, it's like one way or the other. Like he sees his shadow and it's either what, like six more weeks of winter or six. Yeah.
00:15:16
Speaker
I can't remember. I think it's like if he sees his shadow at six more weeks of winter, if he doesn't see his shadow, then spring will come six weeks early or some shit. Yeah, I don't ever like pay attention to it. The only thing I know about Groundhog Day really is that the Groundhogs
00:15:33
Speaker
names traditionally has always been Punxsutawney Phil, which I think is hilarious. And then every time someone posts that the Groundhog died, but there's like 47 Punxsutawney Phil, so it's okay.
00:15:47
Speaker
Right? Yeah, it's fine. But just know that came from a pagan tradition. Yeah. This holiday is associated with early fertility and is the holiday associated with spring cleaning. So opening up the windows, cleansing your home, cleansing your tools that you use in ritual practice, and cleansing your psychic energy as well. And bulk is associated with the element of earth and the traditional colors are red and white.
00:16:14
Speaker
In bulk, it's traditionally about ushering in a productive farming season. It's dedicated to Brigid or I could not be pronouncing that right, so I'm sorry if I'm not.
00:16:25
Speaker
Please don't come at me for that one. And she is the goddess of healing, smithing and poetry. Your plants and herbs are blackberry, chamomile, cinnamon, snowdrops and witch hazel. And since to burn during this time would be vanilla, lily, jasmine and chamomile. Crystals to work with would be amethyst, turquoise, citrine and bloodstone.
00:16:49
Speaker
And then some foods for this time of the year would also be sunflower and pumpkin seeds, seeded bread, oats, and poppy cakes. So next on the wheel of the year is Ostara or the spring equinox. This occurs between March 19th and the 23rd. This is the time when the day is split equally between the sun and darkness.
00:17:14
Speaker
It's about spring occurring. So flowers are growing, trees are blossoming, crops are being sown. Christianity celebrates this as Easter with decorating eggs, symbolizing new life. It is the mating season for most animals. And this is a time when the God and the goddess are producing a child of promise in the like pagan tradition. Some pagan festivals will even choose a man and a woman to represent the God and the goddess.
00:17:44
Speaker
Some colors for this time would be predominantly pastel shades of pink, green and yellow, or white. Some plants and herbs would be narcissus, daffodils, honeysuckle, lilies, and lemon balm. Your ensigns for this time of the year will be rose, strawberry, sandalwood, jasmine, violet, and narcissus. Your crystals to work with would be
00:18:09
Speaker
clear quartz, rose quartz, agate, amazonite, and jasper. And then some food and drinks for this time of year. You're looking at eggs, kale, spinach, lettuce, seeds, and light breads. Outside of the flowers blooming, during this time of the year you see the birds returning, calves and voles are born, and the trees begin to grow back their leaves.
00:18:33
Speaker
Ostara is associated with Venus, the goddess of love, and either Isra or Ostra, the Norse goddess of fertility. So next in the wheel is Beltane, which is also May Day or May Eve. It happens between April 30th and May 1st, and we're not going to dive into this one yet since it is
00:18:55
Speaker
the next holiday in actual life, not just in the wheel. So we'll talk about that one more in more detail at the end. And then next would be lethal or midsummer or the summer solstice. This happens between June 19 and the 23rd.
00:19:15
Speaker
This marks the summer solstice and the last day of the sun's strength. The days are warmer, everything is in full bloom, and the sun is at its peak as the day is at its longest. From this day on, the sun begins to diminish until its lowest point seen at Yule.
00:19:30
Speaker
Litha is associated with feasting marked by hand fasting and celebrating unions. And we see this in modern times in the summers because you see them punctuated by barbecues and weddings. This time of year, the veil between the worlds is thinner and mischief may be played by fairies. And there's an English tradition that young women are kept indoors during this holiday as not to be whisked away by fairies.
00:20:00
Speaker
This holiday is marked by love, flowers, purification, and fire, and it's traditional to hold a bonfire in honor of the waning sun. Litha is associated with the element of fire. Modern druids and others tend to turn their focus to Stonehenge this time of year. Your colors are gonna be red, gold, yellow, and orange. Your plants and herbs for this time of year are gonna be daffodils, dandelions, sunflowers,
00:20:29
Speaker
lavender, rose, sage, and rosemary. And since to burn would be rose, lavender, musk, orange, lemon, and sage, crystals to work with would be sunstone, citrine, calcite, yellow, topaz, and emerald.
00:20:46
Speaker
And then some common foods for this time of the year are like apple cider, ice cream, squash, carrots, and honey. You know, and I didn't realize until we started living in the UK, that squash like in the, the,
00:21:01
Speaker
states we like squash is a um what is it like it's like a butternut squash what is that type of vegetable it's like a root but not a root vegetable it's like a a gourd squash in the states is like a gourd but here in the uk it's like a juice isn't that weird yeah like straight up like they call it squash like we'll buy you know how like um
00:21:25
Speaker
I don't remember if I ever really saw this in the States, but like here, um, if you buy something from concentrate and then you add like mostly water and you add some of the juice to it, that's squash. And that's what they call squash here. Like they don't call it.
00:21:41
Speaker
What do they call the actual squash? Pumpkin. Everything's a pumpkin? Yeah, but they don't hardly ever, I never see spaghetti squash. I only see butternut squash and like pumpkin. That's so weird. I know, right? It was so confused. Not even like big yellow squash that are like zucchinis.
00:21:57
Speaker
Um, yeah, but they call it, they call zucchini something different. What do they call it? I know eggplant is aubergine. Yeah. And then zucchini is something else here and I can't remember what it is, but it's also French. It's so weird how like everything is something like they call it something different or sometimes they categorize it differently in different parts of the world. Yeah. It's interesting.
00:22:22
Speaker
It is really weird. Courgette. That's what they call it. Sorry. Courgette for a zucchini. Yeah. That's what a zucchini is over here is a courgette, which is the French term for zucchini. But yeah, it's just crazy. That is weird. Where did we get zucchini from though is what I want to know. Why do we call it zucchini? I don't know. And are we the only country that calls it zucchini? I don't know. It is weird.
Lunasa: The First Harvest Festival
00:22:51
Speaker
So next in the wheel, we have lunasa, which is also lamis. And this happens between August 1st and the 2nd. It's the first of the year's harvest festivals. The God transitions from the Lord of light into the Lord of death through sacrificing himself to the goddess. Your colors are going to be green, gold, light brown and yellow. Your plants and herbs are going to be grains, heather, basil,
00:23:19
Speaker
Blackthorn, Clover, and Ivy.
00:23:23
Speaker
Incense for Lunasau would be sandalwood, mint, rose, and frankincense. And then crystals to work with would be citrine, golden topaz, amber, tiger's eye, and peridot. Food and drinks for this time of year would be breads, oats, honey, corn, and apples. And I feel like apples kind of show up in every holiday. Like it's like that one ingredient that you can almost see in every single one of them.
00:23:53
Speaker
It's like a white candle. It is. Yeah. That and rosemary. Yes. Lunasa marks the descent of the sun through autumn and into winter. And crops such as corn, wheat, berries, apples, as we've just mentioned, nuts and seeds are harvested. This sap is marked by making the first loaves of bread and canning preserves to last through winter. Lunasa is associated with the element of fire and water.
00:24:22
Speaker
So after La Naza is Mabon or the Autumn Equinox, and this is going to be between September 20th and 24th. This is also known as Harvest Home or to the Druids as Albun Elude, which means light of the water. Your colors for this time of year are going to be brown, gold, yellow, and orange. So think of everyone's like favorite fall colors.
00:24:49
Speaker
Your plants and herbs are going to be sage, rosemary, chamomile, and marigold. Chamomile is another one of those ingredients that tends to pop up in almost every holiday. I feel like it's like the majority of the holidays, your plants and herbs include chamomile. Your incense is going to be sage, pine, cinnamon, apple, again, and frankincense. Crystals to work with, citrine, amber, quartz, sapphire, and lapis lazuli.
00:25:18
Speaker
And your food and drink is rye bread, apples, we see it's that common thread again, apples, wine, potatoes, nuts, and fresh meat, which honestly, I hope all your meat is fresh, no matter what time of the year. It was very specific to fresh meat. And I was like, I don't really know when, like, opposed to what.
00:25:42
Speaker
I guess beef jerky, but then- Oh, maybe, maybe that's what it meant. At the same time though too, you can't just sustain yourself on beef jerky, like the hell. Yeah, so the rest of the year you have to eat jerky, but during your autumn equinox, you can have fresh meat. Fresh meat. Mabon is also the time of the year where most crops are harvested and put in for winter. The days are growing shorter and the nights are becoming colder. This sabbat has us turning inward and focusing our energy on our hearth and our home.
00:26:12
Speaker
Our ancestors would celebrate this habit by thinking the earth for the bounty of the summer season and what they've harvested that year. And Mabon is associated with the element of water. So next we have Samhain and this one we've actually talked about the pronunciation of this one before because if you look at it it says Samhain but it's pronounced Samhain and we both kind of had situations like Sam grew up with
00:26:38
Speaker
her dad being pagan and like she already knew these things, but she heard it said us Sam Hain in a movie. I on the other hand did not have anyone to teach me these things. So I read it as Sam Hain and I called it Sam Hain and possibly corrected me. But it looks like Sam Hain. It literally looks like Sam Hain. And if you're going by like English pronunciations of shit,
00:27:02
Speaker
It says Sam Hayne. Look, I'm very fanatic. If I see it, Sam Hayne. Until someone tells me any different. So if you hear my pronunciations and you're like, Tiffany has no fucking clue how to say anything, look, that's just me. That's my life. I do my best. So this happens between October 31st and November 1st.
00:27:26
Speaker
Samhain is the third and last of the harvest festivals. For some, this marks the beginning or ending of the Wheel of the Year, as we have mentioned, and it is observed throughout the world as either Halloween, All Saints Day, or Day of the Dead. This Sabbath honors death and the reality that harsh winters can bring, such as lack of food or shelter. Obviously, this hopefully isn't pertaining to anybody now, but this is how it was perceived with our ancestors.
00:27:56
Speaker
And it marks that dark time between now and Yule. It is traditional during this time to honor the dead and this habit can be both a celebration and a somber observance. Samhain falls when the veil is at its thinnest and jack-o'-lanterns were traditionally used to frighten fairies and spirits away. Samhain is associated with the element of water and with the element of earth.
00:28:22
Speaker
So the thing about jack-o'-lanterns, I like that little tidbit, but it's different from what I've read in research. I read that jack-o'-lanterns were traditionally burned to guide the spirit's home. Oh, wow. Yeah. It's so interesting, like the different beliefs and ties to things when you're researching these things.
00:28:45
Speaker
Samhain is a harvest festival that stretches back to the Dark Ages in Ireland. The Celtic celebrated Samhain from sunset to sunset. It comes from the Irish word that means summer's end.
00:29:02
Speaker
Your colors, they're gonna be orange, black, gold, purple, and silver. Your plants and herbs are calendula, rosemary, garlic, nutmeg, and sage. And since for this time of year, sage, frankincense, mint, cinnamon, and myrrh. Your crystals to work with are clear quartz, obsidian, smoky quartz, bloodstone, and onyx. And then food and drink would be meat, potatoes, parsnips,
00:29:29
Speaker
pumpkins, apples, spiced wine, and cider. So now we're gonna rewind a little bit and go back to Beltane.
00:29:38
Speaker
Beltane again, this is also known as May Day or May Eve. It happens between April 30th and May 1st. It marks the beginning of summer. So this is when you're seeing a lot of flora and fauna come out. You start decorating the house with these things like bringing flowers inside maybe. The fertility of the land represents the God's mature devotion to the goddess.
00:30:02
Speaker
His transition from animal lust to love and commitment. And then the maypole and the twirling of ribbons around it represent fertility as well and the spiral of life. That I got from a quote from that it was a thing done on the History Channel by James Brigden. Beltane is one of the four greater Sabbats.
00:30:24
Speaker
Its colors are going to be red, blue, green, and yellow. Plants and herbs to use during this time would be daffodils, hawthorn, dandelion, meadowsweet, paprika, primrose, oak, and rose. And then your incense for Beltane are going to be rose, frankincense, ylang ylang, peach, and vanilla. Your crystals to work with would be emerald, sunstone, beryl, malachite,
00:30:53
Speaker
and rose quartz, and then common foods for this time of year would be wine, sweet breads, elderflower, oats, and cakes. Many of the traditions that we see at Beltane were inspired by the traditions in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. The word for Beltane comes from the Celtic word for fires of bale, and nature is at its height of fertility and abundance during this time of year.
00:31:18
Speaker
Beltane symbolizes the meeting of the god Belenos and the goddess Belisama and they are Gaelic gods that represent youth, sun, and fire. Legend has it that after Belenos mated with the mother earth goddess and fertilized her bow chikawawa
00:31:36
Speaker
Belanose died and was reborn as a goddess's son, which kind of creepy, but a little odd. Beltane is the renewal of light. As Litha is associated with hand fasting, so too is Beltane as it symbolizes the marriage of the goddess and the God. And this is a very popular time for hand fasting. For those of you who don't know, hand fasting is a pagan traditional betrothal for a year and a day.
00:32:03
Speaker
where a couple would choose to stay together or part during this time. It involves vows and rings and involves tying the hands of the people involved with the figure eight. And this is usually done with a red cord or ribbon. And tying the hands together symbolizes that two people have come together. And then after the tying, there is the untying of the hands and the untying of the cord or ribbon symbolizes that they remain together of their own free will.
00:32:32
Speaker
Traditionally, livestock was returned to the fields during Beltane and the livestock would pass between bales of hay set on fire on their way from the pens into the fields. This is where we get the term bale fire.
Beltane: Fertility & New Beginnings
00:32:46
Speaker
And this whole process of returning the livestock into the fields with a bale fire was a magical way of protecting the livestock on its way to the pastures, which is pretty interesting. I had no clue about that until I started researching this.
00:33:01
Speaker
That is really cool. Beltane is a time for new beginnings and often it is traditional to jump the bailfire and witches in the past and in current day will jump the fire and make wishes for the upcoming months. Beltane feasts were held during the bonfires to honor the gods and goddesses and they would eat oatmeal cakes and drink coddle, which is a thick, sweet drink made of butter, milk and eggs, kind of like an eggnog as well as oats.
00:33:30
Speaker
And eggnog. So I would not like that at all. I love eggnogs with the addition of the oats. It sounds very stodgy to me and I'm not sure if I would be okay with it. So eggnog in and of itself is too thick for me. Like it really grosses me out. So adding oats to it makes it even grosser. And I love oats.
00:33:51
Speaker
Yeah. I love oats as well, but I just don't know if I could, you know, maybe I'm really intrigued though by this because it is also with this drink, it's simmered over the bonfires and it's usually alcoholic. So that, I might try it just because of that, but also to like alcohol and like milk. I don't know. Like unless you're drinking like a white Russian, like milk and well, I guess like Bailey's.
00:34:20
Speaker
Yeah, but like you can't drink very much of it. I feel like no, it would like curdle on your stomach. I feel like yeah. So, but I would be open to trying it, but at any rate, this has been our ancestors drink and Cotto was also poured on the ground during Beltane celebrations.
00:34:36
Speaker
as an offering to the gods and goddesses. Sexuality and sensuality is also associated with the Sabbath and our ancestors would couple in fields, hoping that the act would bring fertility to the soil and result in strong crops. And this was due, I left this part out, but I'm just going to tell you right now because I'm going to see a reaction.
00:34:57
Speaker
This was due to the fluids leaking into the ground. Our ancestors were pretty wild, let me just say that. Just think about that though, like here they are doing their coupling. These fluids are leaking into the ground and then they're planting plants that are growing out.
00:35:20
Speaker
And then we're eating the plant. Yes. So, you know, very fertile ground. So if you have some, an area of land that you really want to, you know, have great luck in fertilizing, maybe do it on the ground. Watch your fluids.
00:35:42
Speaker
And fertilize it. Sounds so terrible. Also, I mean, I had my suspicions about this one, but I didn't know the exact like history, I guess behind it, but the tradition of dancing around the Maypole, obviously we knew it originated from Beltane.
00:36:00
Speaker
The pole represents the male penis and the wreath set atop the male pole represents the female vagina. So I haven't heard that part, but I did. I have read before that the pole was like a phallic symbol. I hadn't heard about the wreath though.
00:36:18
Speaker
I yeah I didn't know what the wreath and so participants who would dance around the maple they obviously they take ribbons in their hands and they wind the ribbon around the pole and as they wind the ribbon around the pole the wreath descends.
00:36:33
Speaker
onto the pole to the bottom, which obviously we're getting a very sexual act. Yeah. So just FYI, you can take it from there. Use your imagination. But that's where Dancing on the Maple comes from. And it all has to go right back to bringing fertility into the land and having a great harvest season.
00:36:57
Speaker
Historically, Beltane was celebrated by decorating your doors and windows with yellow flowers or creating a Maybush, which is a bush decorated with ribbons and flowers. So how can you celebrate Beltane today? One super easy thing you can do is just go for a walk when it's sunny outside.
00:37:15
Speaker
Pick some dandelions, make a wish on a dandelion. You can pick some flowers and press them within a book to preserve their energy. And then maybe take those flowers once you've pressed them and put them on your altar, or just take the flowers that you've collected on your walk and put them on your altar.
00:37:32
Speaker
You can decorate your home with flowers, and you can also try making your homemade coddle or oat cakes. I might try to actually make some coddle just to see. Just to see what it sounds like. You'll have to tell me. I'll trust your judgment.
00:37:49
Speaker
And then be like, but I, I ain't trying that shit because it's going to taste like shit. But I'll make the oat cakes all day long. Yeah. How about this? You make the oat cakes, I'll make the coddle. I'll make the coddle. And I wish we were closer to celebrate together. Exactly. Yeah. Then we'll have a zoom belting celebration. Yeah. Yeah. Perfect. That's what we should do.
00:38:06
Speaker
Another way to celebrate is you can create a bonfire, or if you don't have a space for a bonfire, like myself, I do not have room for a bonfire in my little tiny backyard, I'm going to light a fire pit and make wishes for what I would like to see for the upcoming year. You can decorate your altar with flowers, like I mentioned, and use what's currently blooming where you live.
00:38:29
Speaker
Whether that be just a bunch of dandelions, if that's what's blooming where you live, clip them and put them on your altar. Dandelions are a great symbolism of Beltane. Other examples of, I'm sorry go ahead. Dandelions are a, dandelions are kind of an underrated flower I think. I know like
00:38:47
Speaker
Um, I'm actually learning a lot cause I just started the herbal academy, but dandelions can be used in anything and every piece of the plant is edible from the flower to the leaves, to the stem, to the roots. You can use every piece of a dandelion. So don't look them over. Exactly. Yeah. They're amazing. They're great. They're great. They're, they have so many like different nutrients in them. Like you can make wines with them. You can cook with them.
00:39:15
Speaker
I saw a lot of recipes like sauteing them.
00:39:19
Speaker
So I'm definitely going to try that this summer. I went out in my yard yesterday and I didn't really see any, I keep waiting. I'm like, please grow up. I'm ready to pick you. Exactly. Yeah. We've just started seeing them here in the UK. So the last two days that we've been on walks, I've found a few dandelions and I've snipped them and brought them back and I have them on my altar. And I know it's a little bit right now cause we're recording this in March. I know it's a little bit too early for belting, but you know what? They look beautiful on my altar. So I don't give a shit.
00:39:48
Speaker
I love dandelions. They are cute and especially too whenever like just making the wish on a dandelion that is such a witchy thing to do and it's something that everybody does. Like I was taught that as a kid to you know my my super Pentacostal mom at the time like taught me how to do that and it wasn't like she wasn't doing it from a witchy space but it's so funny to see
00:40:11
Speaker
how many elements from paganism or witchcraft are used in people's everyday lives and they just don't even realize it. Other flowers that might be blooming where you live are bluebells and tulips and violets. So really, like we mentioned before, celebrate with what you have available to you.
00:40:32
Speaker
And just having that intention, it'll work out. And a couple of additional herbs that you can use outside of what Tiffany had mentioned are mint, dill, lemon balm, and rosemary. These are also great herbs to use in your Beltane celebrations. And these are herbs that most people have in their pantry, where I know the ones that I listed earlier, some of those might not be
00:40:55
Speaker
like paprika, of course, but you might not have meadow sweet or primrose on hand. So those are kind of better everyday herbs. So we'd love to see how everybody else is celebrating Beltane.
Listener Engagement & Teaser
00:41:10
Speaker
We're going to post pictures, of course, of how we are going to be celebrating, but we'd love to hear from you. So feel free to tag us in any pictures, videos, anything on any of our social media platforms. And that tag is at Get In Witches.
00:41:22
Speaker
Or you can even email us the pictures at we'redoingwitchcraft at gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you all.
00:41:35
Speaker
That's it for this episode of Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft. You can find our source material for this episode linked in the show notes. If you love this episode, we would be forever thankful if you leave us a five-star review on wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you really love the show and want more Get In Loser content, check out our Supercast link provided in the show notes or search the Supercast website for Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft. There you can purchase a membership to our podcast and obtain exclusives
00:42:05
Speaker
like getting episodes early, shadows on the show, access to our Ask Me Anything forum, our monthly newsletter, a promo code for merchandise, and more. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at Get In Witches, or email us at we'redoingwitchcraft.gmail.com. Check us out next week where we will sit down and discuss which talk and the toxicity of social media influence on witchcraft. Until then, blessed be, witches.