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The May Bush, May Flowers, May Pole and May Bough are all Bealtaine traditions still to be found scattered through the Irish countryside come the 30th April (May Eve) and 1st May (May Day). Here are some more authentic Irish traditions for the Summer Fire Festival.
✨ Post by Lora O’Brien
You might call it Beltine, Beltane, Beltaine, or any other variation of the word, but in Ireland it’s Bealtaine, as that is still the Irish language word for the month of May. It’s a little insulting to hear folk say they use Beltane because it’s easier to say/spell… that’s coloniser talk, so it is.
So Bealtaine is good enough for me.
The turning of the year from Winter Darkness to Summer’s Light was and still is marked with the Bealtaine traditions of flowers, fire, and fucking. (Maybe I should have said fertility? It’s also an ‘f’ word, so the alliteration would stand, but fucking just felt more honest.)
There’s also all sorts of lore from the Fairy Faith in Ireland.
It is said that it is wrong to sit on the grass May Eve and May Day. It is said that if you wash your hands in the dew May Day you would be able to rip any kind of an knot. On May Eve the people shake holy water in the garden and on the cattle. It is said that on May Eve the horses can talk. One night a man stayed in hide to wash his horse. At twelve oclock the horse went down on his knees and said, “May God help me what ever journey I have to go with my master” and the man fell sick immediately. It is that if you set on (on) the grass May Eve the faries would come that night and carry you away.
Dúchas – The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0497, Page 127
Luck and protection, health and happiness are the themes of our Bealtaine traditions, and everything done as an individual or as a community focuses on these important drives.
Originally we had two seasons, Summer and Winter, Sam and Gam in sean ghaeilge (old Irish). These were the times when everything changed – people, herds and flocks moved from winter to summer dwellings and pastures.
Work focus changed. Women got pregnant at this time to ensure that come the third trimester they could be safely tucked up with indoor jobs beside the fire, preparing for a Spring birth with fresh foods available for essential sustenance. So, fucking in the fields was not just for fertility fun folks, this is a serious scheduling issue right here that has become an integrated part of our Bealtaine traditions.
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This year, I will not go out and get pregnant. Even in previous years it seemed like an extreme adherance and a step too far – but a few years ago now it moved to being physically impossible for me. (Yes, I am officially a Granny, and loving it!)
Having entered my late 40s, I will wash my face in the morning’s dew. Hey, I’ll take what I can get with regards to ancient Bealtaine traditions to impart a fresh faced glow. The sun’s rays piercing water, shimmering on a liquid surface this morning gives the blessing of beauty to those in the know.
Or so they say.
Some people make a May bush on the first May morning. If you wash your face in the dew on the first May morning you will have a nice complexion. If you clean a well on the first May morning it will be clean the whole year round. It is unlucky to bring the blossom of a whitethorn into a house during the month of May because if you do some one may die in the house. some people say that if you skim the well on the first May morning you will be able to take the fritter from anyones churn you like. Some people tie a bunch of Roan-tree leaves to their cows tails so that she will have milk the whole year round.
Dúchas – The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1008, Page 045
There will be flowers strewn on my doorsteps, front and back, and on May Day a small group of us from a local group will likely meet and visit an ancient site for a picnic. I will probably do my usual clean up of said site, if there’s anything round it that shouldn’t be round it.
My Nana told me a story years ago about a cousin of hers in County Clare, who would go out on May morning with rotten eggs, and mix them into the soil of her neighbours’ fields. Bealtaine is a time for magic and mischief, and if you don’t look out you’ll be on the receiving end of all that.
When a farmer was prospering and his cattle thriving some enemies of his used to come along and put meat in his hay. Then when this hay was given to the cattle they died; or a dead hen used to be put in the neighbour’s fowl-house. Bad eggs were put into wynds of hay or into the hay barn. if those eggs got into the cow house and if a cow met them when eating the hay they were sure to sling their calves. Sometimes bad eggs were put into the gardens and there was sure to be a bad crop in the field.
Dúchas – The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0510, Page 089
So my protective fires will be lit, my boundaries and thresholds re-walked and reinforced, and I’ll do a general magical tidy up round the house and neighbourhood as a solid part of my own personal Bealtaine traditions. Checking the fences, as it were. I pity the May Fool who tries to cross here uninvited *summer smiles*.
All will be well for the turning of the year, and as it should be. I wish you that and more, mo chairde.
Bealtaine shona dhaiobh, chun solas is beatha a fháil. Beir Bua!
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