This year I attended my first pagan festival called Beltane. I have a friend who actually hosts the party at her house, she has for years now and it has blown up into a fun community event.
Beltane is a celebration of the seasons changing to spring/summer, usually celebrated on May Day (May 1st). I don’t know too much about the religion behind it but it does include fairies granting wishes, so with that said we called it the ‘Fairy Party’ when talking to the kids. I’ll link an explanation of Beltane here. I am definitely not an expert so I like to link you to the ones who are.
Helpful Tip: *When you google Beltane you get a lot of things including videos that show pagan rituals with lots of nudity. I have nothing against this but if you don’t want to attend a festival with your children where there are naked people make sure to research what you are going to first. Luckily what rituals that were performed at the Beltane I attended were all kid friendly. It’s great to find a Beltane that will be kid friendly and better yet incorporate children into the rituals.
Here are the main reasons why Beltane is great for the entire family.
The Wishing Tree
This was so fun for my kids and is focused solely on fairies. Fairies are said to wonder the forest and live under the Wishing Tree. On Beltane you are to leave a present under the tree for the fairies, Make a wish along with hanging a ribbon off the tree, and wait to see if the fairies bring you your wish. This is where you can have a lot of fun. The entire garden area was decorated as a fairy garden. My littles loved it so much and they kept coming back to the garden through out the day to watch over the fairies. By the end of the day the fairies brought all the children presents. It was very sweet.
May Pole
The May Pole has a lot of significance when it comes to May Day but what I can say about it is that it was a blast! First they had a small one just for the kids to start with. At one point there was even silly string and bubbles involved! Then it was time for the adults. I came along with all my mommy girl friends so we did it all together. It was so nice to let loose and giggle with my girls as we tried to figure out the May Pole and not run into each other.
New Cultures
If your upbringing was anything like mine it involved my own little world that was basically the block around my house. I had no real knowledge of other cultures other than my own. I knew they were out there but I had no idea how to be submerged in them. I craved an understanding of other ways of life but I never got to get an experience till I was old enough to make my own adult choices. I love that by bringing my children to this festival that I am already exposing them to a different culture at such a young age. I get excited thinking about all the fun memories that they will have and traditions that we are starting.
So if you are slightly disenfranchised with your normal routine and culture like I am then Run, don’t walk, to your nearest Pagan Beltane Festival! I guarantee you will be emailing me a big thank you afterwards and it will be your newest yearly tradition.
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Go get your Boho Fairy Goddess on!
-Namaste Bitches