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DRUIDISM >>
CEREMONY
Beltine means “the fires of Bile” (pronounced as Bill) and refers to a ritual of purification. The month of May is called Bealtaine in Gaelic and it marks the first day of summer. This was a specifically Gaelic holiday and many of the other Celtic cultures also celebrate a springtime festival known by a range of names. As Samhain marks the end of summer of the old year and the start of winter of the new year - Beltine marks the end of winter and start of summer. In the past (still observed in Ireland in the 19th century) on the first day of Beltine - cattle were driven between two fires for protection from disease and then they were let into pasture. History associates Beltine with the arrival and departure of Partholon, then the arrival of the Tuatha Dé Danann and then the Gaels. As it is the start of summer - everyone reckoned it to be a great time to start an adventure.
Beltine is also called Bealtinne, Beltine, Beltain, Beal-tine, Beltan, Bel-tien, Beltein, Bealtuinn and Bealtaine, Mayday, Walburga, Galan Mai, Shenn da Boaldyn and it is celebrated or honoured across the world.
The "Beltine" festival or Eightfold Day is sacred to Bilé. He is the “first father” of the Gaelic Celts in Ireland - the Sons of Milé, the Mileasians from northern Spain. Bile is the patron of sheep and cattle. Bilé is the Irish equivalent of Belenus - the ancient Celtic pagan god in Continental Europe and in Britain. The Welsh called him Beli, the husband of Don (Danu) He is the god of the underworld and his name has a root syllable “bel”, which means "to die". Bile means "sacred tree" in Gaelic. The steel swords of the Mileasians won the wars against the bronze swords of the Tuatha De Danu. Danu (also Don) was wife to Bile and mother of Nuada and Dagda. These two late bronze age / early iron age Celtic cultures overlay and use the temples of a much older tradition that Druidschool refers to as the “Quartz Stone Age”.
Ireland’s Druidschool honours Beltine by a twin fire ceremony usually on Tara at 8 to 10pm and this is open and free. We use two similar fireboxes with one sitting on a square base (male) and the other firebox sitting in a round base (female). The round base firebox is the one we also use for the “Riual of Protection” on Tara every Full Moon. The Dark Moon Grove will also visit Cnoc Lugh and honour the Sun’s alignment over the volcano - this ceremony is closed to the public.
But like so many other things from our deep history the truth lies underneath the written word of the monastic scribes. It is not possible to fix the date of Beltine as May 1st because there were no calendars at the time. The current calendar in use by the “white civilised” world was only agreed fully in the 1800’s. Before that date there was utter confusion and no system of dating days of birth for annual celebrations was available for anyone. Details on this system of False Time available here.
The Timing for the Celebration of Beltine as given in Irelands Druidschool is explained in depth as fixed by sidereal or measurement of the passage of the stars. In its most basic - there were no clocks, no calendars and the passage of time was measured in Ireland by the penetration of a sunbeam into designed passages in stone cairns to exactly light up a section of a stone with carvings upon it. This happens even today so the ancestral calendar is still accurate. The same solar alignment that determines the correct time for Beltine is also the exact same alignment for Lughnasa. This means if you were to stand on top of Lyons Hill when the Sun rises at 10* of Leo (Lughnasa) and 10* of Taurus (Beltine) and look 60* east of north you would see the sun rise over the Lambay Volcano to shine on to the foundations of a ancient ceremonial temple on the summit of Lyons Hill.
This is one of Eightfolds of the Solar Year of the Tuatha De Danann and Samhain and Imbolg share the same alignment to Sliabh na Callighe, Beltine and Lughnasa share the same alignment to Cnoc Lugh (Lyons Hill), the two Equinoxes share the same alignment to Summerhill, the Summer Solstice has its own alignment to the Hill of the Fair Gods and the Winter Solstice has its own alignment to Brú na Boinne or Newgrange. All these alignments for the Eightfold Solar year have the fulcrum or pivotal point of the leaking energies from the volcano being wrapped back into the solar wind. This is earth magnetism and landscape healing at an extraordinary level.
This knowledge was lost or so it seemed but the Gods and Goddesses and the Guardians of the sacred temples await true seekers with whom they share freely.
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