BELTANE
In Ireland, the first of May was called Bealtaine/ Beltene (pronounced Bel-ti-na), with the modern Irish spelling of Beltane. The meaning of the word Beltane is not clearly understood. While tene means ‘fire’ it is not known whether Bel refers to the Celtic god of light Bel or bel, simply meaning ‘brilliant’. It might even derive be bil tene or "lucky fire" because people jumped between the two Beltane fires for luck. In Gaul there was a god called Belenos who Julius Caesar identified with the Greek/Roman sun god Apollo. In Britain Bel was a sun god, but in Ireland Bilé was the god of the underworld, the father of Miled. According to the ancient Irish 'Book of Invasions', the first settler of Ireland, Partholan, arrived on May 1st; and it was on May 1st that the plague came which destroyed his people. Years later, the Tuatha De Danann were conquered by the Milesians on May Day.
In Celtic tradition, the night of April 30th was thought of as the darkest of the year, when evil witches flew out to frighten people, and spirits roamed the land. People tried to frighten them off by banging kettles, doors and ringing bells. They kept a vigil through the night with blazing torches and fires to keep them off. In Bavaria it was called Drudennacht or ‘Druid Night’ when witches flew into the Harz Mountains and met at the Brocken for a Great Sabbat when they danced for twelve days to drive the snow away. The barrier between the worlds in thin, and spirits cross into our world, or we may slip into theirs. Solitary hawthorns growing on hills or near wells were considered to be markers to the world of the fairies. Any human who slept beneath one, especially on May Eve, was in danger of being taken away to the land of the sidhe.
On Beltane eve the Celts would build two large fires from the nine sacred woods. People would jump over them for good luck, while cattle were driven between them to purify them and increase their fertility. The ashes of the Beltane fires were smudged on faces and scattered in the fields. As at Samhain, all the household fires would be extinguished and re-lit from the need-fire. Cattle would then be taken up to the summer pastures until Samhain.
The blossoming of the apple trees marks the return of the Summer Goddess, but perhaps the most significant herald of the season is the flowering of the hawthorn. It is said that the scent of the hawthorn is reminiscent of female sexuality, perhaps the sexual flowering of the Goddess, readying herself to receive the God. In medieval England the first of May was celebrated by going out into the greenwood ‘a-maying’ to collect greenery and hawthorn blossoms. Love chases were customary, and the fertility of the land would be ensured by sympathetic magic; any children of these 'greenwood marriages' would be named the son of the God, hence the surnames Robin-son, Hod-son etc.
In many areas a May Queen is crowned with flowers, and her male counterpart is Jack-in-the-Green, or the Green Man. She is covered in flowers; he is covered in ivy, holly, birch, poplar, fir greenery. Once they would have been appointed by the village as representations of the Goddess and the God and their coupling ensured fertility; in some places the king and queen are still called ‘the bride and groom’.
The may pole is a phallic symbol with obvious connotations of fertility and revelry. Throughout Europe there are long traditions of a stripped tree of birch erected in the village square or sacred site, decorated with ribbons and greenery. The dance around the maypole with some dancers circling sunwise, some widdershins suggests a dance of death and rebirth. It is also the cosmic axis, connecting the three realms. The hobby horse may also be the sacred steed which carries him there.
On May 1st the Padstow 'Obby 'Oss makes its annual appearance. The evening before, the village is decorated with green branches and flowers and the ceremony commences at midnight, when the townspeople sing the Night Song. The sinister black ‘Oss, led by the teaser, parades through the town to the accompaniment of drum and accordion. Now and then the drum falls silent, and the ‘Oss gradually falls to the floor, only to rise again. At midnight the ‘Oss dies, only to be reborn at the next summer.