The Spiral Dance of Beltane

 

I was on the table with my favourite energy healer…it was early February when she said, “It’s so strange, all I feel flowing in your energetic field is Spring, but it’s too early,and stranger yet, all I hear is Beltane. Are you familiar with the Celtic holiday of Beltane?” she whispered in a joyful tone.

Haha, that comment brought a large chuckle out of me as I truly consider myself a Royal Beltane Queen. I went on to tell my practitioner about my sordid affair with my beloved Beltane. Years prior, I had written a Beltane story, that came to vivid life and went on to basically sever my marriage (at least in the present moment), as well, rock the mass consciousness of my coral sand community. I seem to be a specialist at rocking the boat! Her reply, “Who doesn’t like Beltane?”

My energy doctor, at that point in time, having had the privilege of working on my husband, had a larger than life “ah-ha moment”. She proclaimed that my “work” on Earth was to reinstall the Beltane codes, to bring back to life the pagan holiday long ago banned by King Arthur. Now that was truly funny, as deep down, I knew that Beltane was a large part of my work as a lightworker, and I am proud to say that I accomplished this very difficult mission. She agreed, she promised me, by this Beltane, May 2012, it would all make sense and my rewards would be forthcoming. She went on to proclaim that my husband was actually King Arthur, reincarnated.

And so without further ado… let us take a journey into the past to revisit a time when the seasons were becoming imbalanced, when the Earth holidays were still being honoured by the people, when they celebrated their Gods and Goddesses with creative, wild abandon, a time when the Old Religions were experiencing increasing pressure to cease and desist their sacred traditions.

England was at war intertibally, as well as with the Romans when King Arthur came to his throne. His royal advisor, Merlin, counselled him that the only way to unite England was to gain favour of the Pagaen folk whose religion was being driven out of existence by the pervading Christian thoughts of the Roman conquerors. Merlin was a Druid who honoured the Old Religion. The Pagaens were demanding that King Arthur honour the Beltane fertility holiday by playing the main male part of King Stag. King Arthur agreed to do so, hence making a promise to the people that he would always allow their form of worship.

King Stag is a ceremonial masked figure of high rank who welcomes in the energies of Pan, an Earth fertility God, while frolicking with the tribes chosen female counterpart, also a female of high rank in society. Unfortunately for King Arthur, the tribes choose his half-sister Morgaine, a priestess of the Old Ways, that year to represent the Divine Feminine, a fact King Arthur did not become aware of until the morning after the debauchery of the Beltane celebrations…only after a wild, lascivious evening of lustmaking and a returned sobriety did King Arthur come to understand the enormity of his actions. Mortified by the tribes choice, King Arthur grew to have a deep disdain and regret for Beltane. This remorse was increasingly amplified by his wife Gwendolyn, and her extremely pious, Christian morals. Eventually King Arthur, under undue duress and pressure succumbed to his wife’s demands and outlawed Beltane, going back on his promise to the pagan tribes, therefore cementing Britain’s path as a Christian nation.

Interestingly enough, and, as the Fates would have it, Gwendolyn fell in love with King Arthur’s favourite knight, Lancelot, who also shared Gwendolyn’s affections. (Funny thing, attempt to ban a sacred energy to the far recesses of ones mind and it will only rear its feiry head up larger than life.) This sordid love affair was witnessed by all King Arthur’s loyal & trustworthy men, by all of the members of the royal court & household and the affair was exagerrated, through rumour, far and wide, in the kingdom and lands known as Great Britain.

King Arthur had one brave knight who dared to speak the truth of this matter to him. That knights name was Mordred and he was the Beltane child of King Arthur and Morgaine. Mordred and King Arthur fought over this unspeakable revelation. King Arthur’s acceptance of this twisted love affair spoke volumes about Christian hypocrisy and it was this very situation that tore his kingdom apart. King Arthur killed Mordred as Modred fatally wounded King Arthur… father and son killed one another. The knights scattered. Gwendolyn retreated to a nunnery. Lancelot was never seen again in the Kingdom. And Beltane remained an outlawed celebration, a mere memory in our minds. Pan, now, is called the Devil.

The old codes, the sacred holidays, the turning of the processions, the Earth’s powerful seasons, the Medicine Wheel: nothing natural can be ignored, nothing powerful can be buried, nothing sacred can be banned. We are all here to honor one another’s diversity, to celebrate each others differences and to bow down to the power of the unknown. We need Beltane, as the earth needs the sun, for our very Spirit cries out for the renewal of Summers’ jubilation” (Christina Aubin).

Ostara, Spring Equinox,
Beltane, May Day,
Litha, Summer Solstice,
Lughnasadh, Early August,
Mabon, Autumn Equinox,
Samhain, Halloween,
Yule, Winter Solstice,
Imbolc, Early February

All exists in an unbroken spiral… forever and ever, demanding our attention, our worship and our celebration to the one omnipotent Mother, our Earth! Get out your masks, light a fire, ignite your passion, allow your body to lead the way, after all, we are deep into Spring and Pan is in the house, as he ought to be!

I was born to the boom boom of a Caribbean parade… I am guessing that has instilled an inate need to celebrate at a crazy party!
Navajo

http://mayasoma.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/beltanes-deadwood-divorce/