Connection Letter
Where we explore Beltane, its beauty and its meaning.
Hello lovelies!
THANK YOU for being here, reading this and welcoming me into your inbox.
May Day is here and my celtic bones are singing the song of Beltane which means roughly translated, ‘bright fire’
Thoughts turn to hawthorn blossom, flowers, vitality, juiciness, openness and creation.
We head, day by day, towards Summer.
The heat, light and fire is expanding within and without, it grows and colours our days, drawing out the growth, the becoming and the beauty of many wild ones.
It calls to us all, shifting hormones, shifting ways of being, shifting sap. I feel it within muscle, bone, flesh and psyche. I want to dance naked, I want to make love in the dew, I want to create, sing and romp. I want to swim in sparkling brackish rivers with my dearest loves and nibble on flowers and vibrant greens.
I want to grow who I am into the world and let it be tasted.
The spirit of the green man and the fairy queen is said to be aroused on this day, and where they dance, the forest erupts in life.
Ferns are uncoiling, wild flowers colour the earth, birds sing with vigour, insects buzz, the trees open or scatter their blossoms and young greens reveal themselves as they open from tight buds. Life is oozing, stretching and reaching up from below, joyful, unrestrained, rambling and tumbling.
Beltane means fire, and the heat, light, inner fire and passion rises from soil, soul and loins. Us wild folk, human and more than human, have been slowly arising and awakening from the descent of winter, and now we step into life in fullness, nature calls to us with delicious melodies, welcoming us back with life, colour and fertility.
It’s a time to dance with our own fertility, that which grows new beginnings, new life and medicine into our days. It is time to really feel into what we want to put our fire, our vitality and our passions behind.
A teacher I once had, taught me and the other students there, a beautiful and heart warming ceremony for Beltane, this ceremony involved marrying yourself.
We were invited to create a wedding vow for ourselves by spending time alone in nature, and using nature as mirror and guide that may remind and inform us of how we could support ourselves to bring forth what we cared about and what we longed for. Honouring our own life journey by binding together heart, soul, mind and body in the common goal of backing the growth and experience our own beings so needed feel supported enough to grow.
We would weave crowns for ourselves with new mugwort leaves, dandelion flowers and seeds, hawthorn blossom, oak leaves, sorrel, bluebell, and cherry blossom. The Beltane fire was lit, and we were guided to speak aloud our vows, and then jump over the flames.
Marrying ourselves in this way, was a wonderful way to let ourselves know, that we were committing to supporting ourselves, partnering with all aspects for the greater good.
It was a tender and magical experience, and doing it in a group, helped to really create a never forgotten experience, rather than it be a thought I quickly jotted into my notebook.
Ceremony or ritual is something out of the ordinary, different from the everyday. It pushes us out of our comfort zone and into the learning zone, it often will be formed in a way that gets a person to meet their edges. It is in this way, that they inhabit our memories more easily. Carving a touchstone within our psyches that we can hold when we slip off the path, reminding us of the vows, the intentions and the feelings we felt at the time and in that way, they re strengthen our resolve.
I adore the ancient seasonal celebrations, for they ignite such gratitude and understanding of the earth we live on, the stages it is at, and the absolute necessity for those stages.
The seasonal celebrations are full with mirrors that reflect back at us our own inner journeys too. For we are deeply affected by the phases and seasons of the land we find ourselves in and they mirror closely our inner world. The seasonal aspects are also, I find, a wise mentor and guide on the journey of recovery and restoration.
One of the trees that was used in the ancient Beltane celebrations is the beautiful Hawthorn, so full of story and medicine.
The hawthorn is usually in blooms and blossoms on May Day, the fresh blossom is said in the old stories to smell of a fertile womans vulva, calling in all the pollinators into her open petals.
The blossom used to be gathered by the women and girls of the community early on May Day morning and they washed in the dew, a flowering branch for each household was brought back and given to each household to bless them with fertility and an abundant life.
Hawthorn is used as a medicine for the physical and emotional heart, bringing people back to that place within, that we must be aware of when making changes and growing into new ways. For the heart is wise and must be listened to when we venture forwards full of fire and passions, or when we are navigating new pathways.
Hawthorn with their big beautiful thorns, was, and still is known among some, as the midwife of the forest, protecting other types of baby trees from being nibbled on. They are natures original tree guards. Hawthorn is a tree of protection and a tree that reminds us at this time, that to grow well, we mustn’t forget the need for boundaries, so our hearts and tender new shoots feel safe and supported, able to grow without being eaten alive or squashed.
Hawthorn just like rose, which are both are medicines of the heart, teach that to feel safe to be in our hearts, boundaries are essential.
I love to gather the leaves and blossom and dry it for teas, or I make a comforting and settling tincture by filling a jar with leaves and blossom, and covering to the top with brandy and leaving to infuse for four weeks. After that time, I strain, and bottle into tincture bottles and have 30 drops when needed in a little water.
But there are so many plants available at this time to gather for teas or turn into a beautiful medicine, or create crowns and garlands with. There are so many ways to look into the heart of both our inner and outer nature at these points within the year, or to offer gratitude to this beautiful and wondrous wild spirit within all.
I have just finished making some dandelion flower face cream and I’m delighted with its soft buttery yellow colour and fresh smell. Making it feels like an act of love towards myself, and also an act of love towards this wonderful abundant being and the land that grows them. Its not what we may think of as a ritual or ceremony, but to me, this practical use of the land and the wild herb’s is a ritual that grows huge gratitude and love.
May Day can be celebrated in so many ways. Here are some of the ones I love.
Go out and fall in love with the flowers, the blossom and the vibrant greens. Smell them, eat them (if you know what they are), draw them, press them or write about them.
Light a fire, and let its heat, its passion and its energy inspire your inner fire.
Fire jumping - jump the fire and call out your intention for your journey.
Making flower crowns, to celebrate the plants and to celebrate your own sovereignty
Make seed bombs and plant them all over the land
Make hawthorn tinctures and/or teas.
Gather fresh Oak leaves and make wine.
Gather with friends for a wild meal.
Find time alone to feel into where your longings and your passions lie.
Commit to your own growth and deep longings
My first article in Resurgence and the ecologist magazine came out a few days ago, if you haven’t seen it, here is a link to it - The Golden Misfit
Episode 13 finds Knepp Wildland at dawn, which is a pretty early start in the middle of May! Joined by Sideshow Dave to find some of the star songsters of the Wildland. Listen out for iconic bird species and enjoy listening to their songs.
Why Women Grow is a much-needed exploration of why women turn to the earth, as gardeners, growers and custodians. This book emerged from a deeply rooted desire to share the stories of women who are silenced and overlooked.
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In this May's episode, oak trees are finally in leaf and they investigate Maytime traditions, make elderflower mead from Finland and anticipate a total lunar eclipse
Setting boundaries by Hailey Magee
Hailey Magee is a certified coach, educator, and writer who helps individuals worldwide shatter the self-abandonment cycle, set empowered boundaries, and break the people-pleasing pattern.
I have loved Hailey’s content on Instagram, she says things really clearly and seeing as Beltane has threads of boundaries in it, inspired by the hawthorn, I thought you may like to read some of her stuff.
I will be sending an email tomorrow with the next date for our May online Gathering.
Thanks again for being here and I hope May brings you the beauty your heart needs.
As The new month is just about to begin, I would really love to hear if there is anything you would love me to offer on this substack offering.
Much warmth and wild goodness to you
Brigit x
This was wonderful to read Brigit, thankyou! I just gathered with a friend with a candle on the beach and we jumped over it, to mark Beltane and declare our intentions for this season. I have a question for you! (or anyone reading) It's something that's been bothering me for a year now. I want to gather with community in this way, celebrate the seasons and the Earth, but while I have friends who are interested, they never commit or gather. I find myself alone, all the time, wishing I coukd share these moments. Have you experienced this? Was there a time when you were coming into Earth connection, and felt like you were the only one? I'd love to know 😭 if I should be patient, if I should keep asking my friends, or if I should be spending this time alone...i don't know how to find my tribe. Sending lots of love out to this whole community xxx
I love it when I am in the company of other Hawthorn lovers. Thank you for your writing and your in-love-ness with the natural world. Like Hawthorn- it is a balm for my heart ❤️