Beltane: The Witch’s Great Sabbat

Last updated on: April 14, 2023 at 11:55 am by Jessica Jascha

Beltane: The Witch’s Great Sabbat 2023-04-14T11:55:41-06:00 Jessica Jascha

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.

I don’t write often about Sabbats because I don’t really celebrate them as is common. I don’t follow a standard Wheel of the Year. And I could go the rest of my life without hearing about how Easter was originally a pagan festival called Ostara (no it’s not) or how Christmas was originally Yule (no it’s not). Christians celebrate their own holidays and the symbols of their holidays have their own meanings. This is regardless of how cultures merged over time, so no, they are not unconsciously celebrating paganism. Rabbits and eggs aren’t only about fertility. Trees aren’t only about resurrection. Beltane isn’t only about sexuality and fertility.

I’m a solitary witch in Minnesota. We just had snowfall two days ago. I felt the Spirit of Spring return in March, but the Spirit of Winter has a death grip in Minnesota. This is why I haven’t done any yard work, haven’t cut back anything that was dead. The dead protect the new growth that’s coming through when the temps went back down to freezing. Spring is a fickle season in Minnesota.

Beltane Celebrates Spring

I recognize Beltane as a seasonal celebration of spring, though May has seen tree-splitting snowfall where I live as well. The Wheel of the Year for me is seasonal and nuanced by the reality of the everyday. Particular dates don’t habituate the turning of the wheel for me. Autumn is the Season of Samhain. Winter is the Season of the Winter Solstice. Spring is the Season of Beltane. Summer is the Season of the Summer Solstice.

Spring is about hope and responsibility. It’s a season of promise. Life expresses itself in the commitment and work of growing. I celebrate in the food I eat (moving away from heavier comfort foods into lighter meals), the treats I make (I’m all about rabbit-shaped and flower-shaped peanut butter cookies), and by planning and eventually planting and tending my many gardens. I notice and give thanks for the return of the birds who sing me awake in the mornings. And I notice the new growth sprouting up and welcome the return of all these spirits.

Beltane isn’t Necessarily Romantic

The romance of Beltane doesn’t interest me. Excessive focus on sexual relations is especially disinteresting. There’s pressure for pagan women to be “sexually free” for the pleasure of men who have either low-key or overt expectations of getting laid. I’ve heard enough horror stories of those who have experienced predation and coercion at the hands of neopagan men at Beltane festivities and other festivals. As an advocate against all kinds of abuse, I would be thrilled to see the tides turn away from this and into a deeper understanding of and respect for consent and sovereignty. Beltane can and should be a time of sexual healing and affirmation for all those who choose to engage sexually (inclusive of all orientations), not an environment for rape culture to thrive in.

I’m not neopagan although I’ve used the label “pagan” in the past for simplicity’s sake. I’m not interested in resurrecting a dead religion or trying to reenact exactly something that may or may not have occurred in the very distant past, and I have no current need for fertility rituals. What I am interested in is what exists in the Unseen here and now, and connecting to these spirits from who and where I am now.

The Great Witch’s Sabbat

Since Beltane is the Witch’s Great Sabbat, it is a time when these connections can be made, felt, and fed in more accessible ways. Nurture these connections through divination, spiritual journeying, rituals, offerings, and magickal practices. Utilize the divinatory powers of fire and water with great results at this time as well. There are a plethora of witchy activities to indulge in that don’t center around the “traditional” Beltane celebrations.

I trust the Earth to do what she’s done long before humanity existed. I celebrate the fires of Hekate and the healing waters of the Lady of the Lake and how together they support and encourage life. Each season is an invitation to go deeper into the mysteries. Beltane is so much more than a fertility celebration. It is an invitation to take up the torch and light your own way, with thoughtful responsibility and respect, into the nebulous network of the Otherworld, and to come to know deeply the true Spirit of Spring.

If you like this blog, please subscribe below. Follow me on Facebook for more witchy content. Receive magickal teachings and mentorship by signing up for Practical magick lessons

Featured Image via pixabay.

witchcraft

a deeper celebration of Beltane

Beltane

connecting with the otherworld

divination

Hekate and Beltane

Rochester mn tarot reader

Rochester's Resident Witch

spirit work

tarot readings Rochester mn

the lady of the lake witchcraft

the witch’s Grand Sabbat

Previous Post

April 17, 2019

What I Loved and Hated about The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Next Post

May 1, 2019 It’s Personal: Working with Deities and Other Spirits

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category book reviews consulting Counseling dreams herbalism Magick psychic and astrology Sunday Reflections tarot tarot readings tarotscopes Uncategorized witchcraft

Select a Month June 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 March 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 May 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 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 June 2018 May 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

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz