Bathing in Beltane's Sacred Fire and Beyond

May 1st has long been an exuberant day of celebration, honoring the fertility of the land, people and animals. In Earth-based spirituality, it is one of the 8 holidays on the "Wheel of the Year", and is known as Beltane.

Mike Nichols, a Pagan-focused writer, offers a literate and expansive essay on the day, observing in part:

"May Day ushers in the fifth month of the modern calendar year, the month of May. This month is named in honor of the goddess Maia, originally a Greek mountain nymph, later identified as the most beautiful of the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades. By Zeus, she is also the mother of Hermes, god of magic. Maia's parents were Atlas and Pleione, a sea nymph.

"The old Celtic name for May Day is Beltane (in its most popular Anglicized form), which is derived from the Irish Gaelic 'Bealtaine' or the Scottish Gaelic 'Bealtuinn', meaning 'Bel-fire', the fire of the Celtic god of light (Bel, Beli or Belinus). He, in turn, may be traced to the Middle Eastern god Baal.

"...This date has long been considered a 'power point' of the Zodiac, and is symbolized by the Bull, one of the 'tetramorph' figures featured on the Tarot cards, the World and the Wheel of Fortune. (The other three symbols are the Lion, the Eagle, and the Spirit.) Astrologers know these four figures as the symbols of the four 'fixed' signs of the Zodiac (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius), and these naturally align with the four Great Sabbats of Witchcraft. Christians have adopted the same iconography to represent the four gospel-writers..."

The Beltane Society offers a succinct explanation of how the purifying "Need Fire" ceremony was held in Celtic celebrations.

And according to most of the visionary new thought leaders whose sites I frequent, May 2006 is destined to be a grand month of purification, resurrection and heart-expansion for all of us worldwide. Patricia Cota-Robles says, in part, that during this mystical month of May, "We will remember that we came to Earth during this Cosmic Moment with but one desire, to do God’s Will. We will understand that we volunteered to be powerful Instruments of God during this critical time and that we have been training for aeons of time for this mission. We will also remember that we promised to be the full manifestation of Divine Love while serving the Light in this embodiment.

"During the holy month of May, Mother Mary will assist our I AM Presence to expand the Chalice of our Immaculate Hearts, which cradle our Immortal Victorious Threefold Flames. The expansion of the Chalice of our Immaculate Hearts will allow our Heart Flames to finally be brought into perfect balance.

"As this occurs, our Heart Flames will blaze forth as a great Transfiguring force of Divinity within us. We will become aware of the Presence of God in every cell and atom of our Beings. This will pave the way for the integration of the perfection of our crystalline Solar Light Bodies into our physical, etheric, mental and emotional bodies.

"Functioning within the frequencies of our Solar Light Bodies, we will be able to consciously magnify the Divinity within ourselves and all Life until our up-reaching consciousness conducts the substance of Divine Love, Healing, Prosperity, Peace, Joy and Happiness into the world of form. All of this will further prepare Humanity and Beloved Mother Earth for the influx of Light that will fill the voids with the patterns of perfection and assist in transforming this blessed planet into the Garden of Eden she is destined to be."