Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
Naturalistic Traditions: All Things May

Naturalistic Traditions: All Things May

Last updated on: January 19, 2015 at 10:29 pm by B. T. Newberg

Naturalistic Traditions: All Things May 2015-01-19T22:29:03+00:00 B. T. Newberg

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

What can a naturalist celebrate in May?

This post is part of Naturalistic Traditions, a column exploring naturalism in Pagan ways. This column will cover seasonal celebrations, historical and contemporary movements, and ritual practices.

Natural cycles

May 4th is a Cross-quarter. That is, it is the midpoint between the previous equinox and the upcoming solstice. As such, it is one of eight stations in our planet’s annual journey around the sun.

For those in the Northern Hemisphere, spring is well and truly come and summer is around the corner. Flora is bursting to life even in the most northern climes, and fauna frolicks in the verdure.

Those in the Southern Hemisphere experience the opposite, as autumn passes into winter.

The lunar phases in May see the full moon on the 6th, and the dark moon on the 21st.

Neopagan traditions

In the Northern Hemisphere, this time is traditionally celebrated in the Neopagan Wheel of the Year as Beltane. According to Nichols (2009), the name derives from the Irish Gaelic Bealtaine or the Scottish Gaelic Bealtuinn, for “Bel-fire”, the fire of the god of light, Bel, Beli, or Belinnus. Nichols asserts that on this day, Druids kindled the “need-fires” on beacon hills, and these had healing properties for those who leaped through them. Cattle would also be driven between two such fires before being taken to their summer pastures.

Beltane is also reputed as a day of unabashed sexuality, visible in the phallic symbolism of dancing round the maypole and riding the hobby horse. Other customs include “beating the bounds” of one’s property by walking its circuit (Nichols, 2009).

Glenys Livingstone of PaGaian, a naturalistic tradition revering the Goddess as a metaphor for the Cosmos, recommends the ritual celebration of beauty, as in the following call and response:

Celebrant: “Name yourself as the Beauty, whom She desires – the Beloved. Speak if you wish, of the Beauty that you are, or simply show us. Let us welcome your Beauty.”

Each one: (wording as you wish … this is a suggestive, and presenting object or photo of Beauty,or describing, as you speak: “I am this Beauty”. AND/OR “I am the Beauty of … . I am the Beauty whom She (the Cosmos/Universe) desires.“ (Put your object or photo on the altar)

Response: Welcome, we saw you coming from afar, and you were beautiful. We saw you coming from afar, and you are beautiful. (Livingstone, 2008)

She also finds this a particularly appropriate time to use the well-known Charge of the Goddess as an invocation: “all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals.”

Jon Cleland Host of the Naturalistic Paganism yahoo group suggests making Maybaskets of flowers, running barefoot in the grass, washing one’s face in the morning dew, and writing romantic poetry.

Beltane can be timed to the Cross-quarter, or more traditionally to May 1st (May Day).

Civic and scientific traditions

Cherry blossoms in full bloom, by B. T. Newberg May 16th is Love a Tree Day. Yes, it’s a real holiday (what a great idea, eh?). Check out a list of the five best ways to celebrate Love a Tree Day.

On Carl Sagan’s Cosmic Calendar, which maps the entire history of our cosmos onto a single year, the universe has been swirling since the Big Bang on January 1st (13.7 billion years ago). Now, on May 11th, comes the formation of the Milky Way (8.8 billion years ago). The cosmos will continue to ferment until September, when the next big event is the emergence of our sun.

Many more days to celebrate can be found here.

And, of course, don’t forget Mother’s Day (May 13th)!

About the author

B. T. Newberg has been practicing meditation and ritual from a naturalistic perspective for eleven years and counting. After experimenting with Agnosticism, Buddhism, Contemporary Paganism, and Spiritual Humanism, he currently combines the latter two into a dynamic path embracing both science and myth. He is the editor of a community blog for naturalistic spirituality called Humanistic Paganism, which just published an anthology called Year One with over a dozen contributing authors. After growing up in Minnesota, and living in England, Malaysia, and Japan, B. T. Newberg currently resides in South Korea with his wife and cat.

References

Livingstone, G. (2008). PaGaian Cosmology. New York: iUniverse.

Nichols, M. (2009). Candlemas: The light returns. The Witches’ Sabbats. www.thewitchessabbats.com.

Columns

Holidays

Naturalistic Traditions

Previous Post

April 28, 2012

Beltane: A Picture Gallery

Next Post

May 2, 2012 Druid Thoughts: Beltain Without Ritual

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Lakeside Hearth Adventures in Wortcunning Alone In Her Presence Arts, Crafts & Cooking Birthing Hereditary Witchcraft Book of Blackbirds Book Reviews Born-Again Witch Cauldron, Sword, Spear, & Stone Cermony and Liturgy Columns Community Dandelion Seeds Dear Jasmine Druid Thoughts Editor's Picks Everyday Pagan Family & Household Practice Family Traditions Full Frontal Magic Gateway Goddess Guest Articles Happily Heathen Health and Wellness Hearth of Hellenism Heathen Woman Hills of the Horizon History Holidays Horse Goddesses Interfaith Interviews Irish-American Witchcraft Jewish Witch Lamp & Labyrinth Letters from Midgard Literature, Media, Film, Music Loop of Brighid Love, Sex & Relationships Magic or Magick Making Light Naturalistic Traditions Nature News Outside The Circle Pantheisticon Politics Prayers, Poems, Blessings & Stories Queer Femme Mystic Queer of Swords Recipes Ritual and Practice Science and Research Seekers and Guides Seeking the Grail Socially Responsible Magic Spear of Athena Star Made Witch Syncretic Electric Technology The Blooming Staff The Busy Witch The Cartomancer The Crow's Nest The Dance of Pagan Recovery The Hearth of Hellenism The Lady's Quill The Other Side of the Hedge The Path of She The Rantin' Raven The Witches Next Door The Zen Pagan Theology, Ethics, Philosophy Tree City Witch Urban Earthwitch Wayfaring Woman Witch on Fire Wyrd Words

Select a Month January 2026 March 2025 December 2024 June 2024 April 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 August 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Solomon David Moses Joshua