Merry Beltane 30/4/16 - Sifan's Green Grove

<body> <div id="header"> <span class="left"> <span class="back"><a href="lthread_list.php?webtag=SIFAN"><span class="image mobile_back" title="Back"></span></a></span> <span class="image mobile_logo" title="Beehive Forum Logo"></span> </span> <ul> <li> <a class="navigation" href="#"> <span class="image mobile_navigation"></span><span class="text">Show messages</span> </a> </li> <li> <a class="main" href="#"><span class="image mobile_menu" title="Menu"></span> </a> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="menu main"> <ul> <li><a href="lforums.php?webtag=SIFAN">My Forums</a></li> <li><a href="lthread_list.php?webtag=SIFAN">Messages</a></li> <li><a href="lpm.php?webtag=SIFAN">Inbox</a></li> <li><a href="lsearch.php?webtag=SIFAN">Search</a></li> <li><a href="llogon.php?webtag=SIFAN">Login</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="menu navigation"><a href="lmessages.php?webtag=SIFAN&msg=8.1">1</a></div> <div id="page_content"> <script type="text/javascript">  </script> <h3 class="thread_title"><a href="index.php?webtag=SIFAN&amp;msg=8.1">Merry Beltane 30/4/16</a> </h3> <div id="messages" data-navigation="8_1_1_10"> <a name="a8_1"></a><div class="message" id="message_8_1"> <div class="message_header"> <div class="message_from"> From: Si (SIFAN)<span class="message_time"> 2 Mar 2017 14:13</span> <div class="clearer"></div> </div><div class="message_to">To: ALL<span class="message_count">1 of 1</span><div class="clearer"></div> </div> </div> <div class="message_links"> <a href="lmessages.php?webtag=SIFAN&msg=8.1">8.1</a></div> <div class="message_body"> <div class="os-msgbody" style="width:861px;"> <p align="center"><font color="#ffcc00" face="Palatino Linotype,'Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif" size="6"><strong><font color="#ddca00">Merry Beltane!</font><font size="7"><font size="6"> <img alt="" height="150" src="http://people.delphiforums.com/SIFAN/Beltane2_CitadelDragons-o.gif" /> </font><font color="#ddca00"><font size="6">Merry May! </font> </font> </font></strong></font></p> <p> </p> <p>'Tis the eve of May, the very gateway to Summer!</p> <p>May is named in honor of the goddess Maia, originally a Greek mountain nymph, later identified as the most beautiful of the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades; and, the Pleiades star cluster rises just before sunrise on the morning horizon.</p> <p><img align="left" alt="" src="http://people.delphiforums.com/SIFAN/Beltane1-CitadelOfDragons.gif" />Beltane and May Day are parts of the same celebration, which commences at sunset on April 30, May Eve. As Samhain (Halloween) sends us into the dark time of Winter, Beltane marks High Spring opening the way to the long, bright days of Summer with a festival of flowers, fertility, sensuality, and delight.</p> <p>Beltane is also known as Walpurgis Night, Calends of May, Nos Galon-Mai, Whitsun, Tana's Day, Cetshamain, Floralia, Roodmas, feast of Saint Walpurga, Day of Summer. The name, also spelled "Beltaine", comes from Beal-teinne, which translates as "Bel's fire".</p> <p>In some places community purification customs included symbolic sacrifice of effigy knobs on the Beltane Cake (of barley) to the fire, or, in medieval times, mock sacrifice of the Beltane Carline (Hag) who received a blackened piece of Beltane Cake. In homes, the hearth fire would be lit at sunrise of May Day.</p> <p>On the old calendar, May 1st was the beginning of Summer (hence the tradition of celebrating Summer Solstice as "Mid-Summer"). In some Scottish traditions the celebration is on May 15; and, Meryt (Majik9) has mentioned an old, 1768, journal which says that some ancestors celebrated Beltaine on June 21. Still, in most places and traditions, some very old, Beltane begins at sunset on the evening before May 1st.</p> <p>With the beginning of the sun time half of the year, nature has matured and the emphasis is upon fertility. Some speak of the marriage of the Goddess (white) and the God (red), of the time of the Crone (new life entering and old life exiting), ... . Hence the May Pole twined with red and white ribbons and such traditions as jumping over "need fires", dancing clockwise around poles and fires, and broomsticks.</p> <p><br /> Remember, on Beltane the veil between the worlds is so very thin. It is an especially fine time for magick and for greeting the fae folk. Take care this night and be blessed!</p> <p><b style="color:rgb(255,0,0);"><font size="4"><font face="'Times New Roman',Times,serif" size="5">Activities (Beltane - May Day)</font></font></b></p> <p>Dressing in bright colors</p> <p>Making a bouquet and hooking it to your doorknob</p> <p>Exchanging flowers and greens with those you meet</p> <p>Putting fresh flowers, especially red and white, all around the home</p> <p>Making flower wreaths, chaplets, and daisy chains</p> <p>Decorating your home with green budding branches</p> <p>Staging a mock battle with friends between Winter and Summer (hint: Summer wins this one)</p> <p>Plaiting and weaving straw, creating things with wicker, making baskets and fabrics</p> <p>Making a rope out of the tail hair of cows and dragging it in the May dew chanting "Milk of this one down, milk of that one up, into my own big pail" to ensure a good milk supply</p> <p>Secretly placing a May Basket on the doorstep of a friend</p> <p>Creating special areas in a garden</p> <p>Rolling in May Eve dew or washing face in pre-dawn May Day dew for health, luck, beauty</p> <p>Participating in a May Pole dance<br /> </p> <p><font size="4"><b><font color="#eebb00" face="'Times New Roman',Times,serif" size="4">Foods</font></b><br /><font color="#000000" size="2">Dairy foods, such as vanilla ice cream and egg custard; also, honey, oats, oatmeal or barley cakes, green herbal salads, all red fruits such as cherries, strawberries, and tomatoes, </font><font color="#000000" size="2"><font size="4"><font color="#000000" size="2">red or pink wine punch</font></font>. Teas of <font size="2">b</font>urdock, <font size="2">d</font>amiana, <font size="2">h</font>ibiscus, <font size="2">r</font>ose <font size="2">h</font>ips, <font size="2">d</font>aisy, <font size="2">s</font>affron.</font></font></p> <p><font size="4"><b><font face="'Times New Roman',Times,serif" size="4">Herbs and Other Plants</font></b><br /><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><font size="2">Primrose, yellow cowslip, hawthorn, roses, birch trees, rosemary, and lilac; also, almond, angelica, ash trees, bluebells, cinquefoil, daisies, ivy, marigolds, satyrion root, woodruff; hawthorn, whitethorn, quickthorn, and other thorny plants. </font></span></font></p> <p><font color="#ff0000" size="4"><b><font face="'Times New Roman',Times,serif" size="4">Symbols</font></b></font><br /><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><font size="4"><font size="2">May Pole, May baskets, <font size="2">f</font>lower <font size="2">c</font>haplets, crossroads, eggs, butterchurns, chalices, mirrors</font></font></span></p> <p><font color="#007f00" size="4"><font size="2"><font color="#d0d0d0" size="4"><b><font color="#ffcc00" face="'Times New Roman',Times,serif" size="4">Colors</font></b></font></font></font><br /><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><font size="4"><font size="2">Red, white, dark green, dark yellow; also, rainbow color displays</font></font></span><font color="#007f00" size="4"><font color="#000000" size="2"> </font></font></p> <p><font size="2"><font color="#d0d0d0" size="4"><b><font color="#cc0000" face="'Times New Roman',Times,serif" size="4">Gemstones</font></b></font><br /><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><font size="4"><font size="2">Sapphire, bloodstone, emerald, orange carnelian, rose quartz</font></font></span></font></p> <font size="2"><font color="#cccccc" face="'Times New Roman',Times,serif" size="4"><b>Incense and Scents</b></font><br /> Frankincense, lilac, passionflower, rose, vanilla</font><br /><br /><br /><font size="2"><font size="1"><font color="#000000" size="1">From ...</font></font></font><br /><font size="1"><b><a href="http://citadelofthedragons.tripod.com/beltane.html">Citadel of Dragons</a><br /><a href="http://www.thewhitegoddess.co.uk/the_wheel_of_the_year/beltane.asp">The White Goddess</a><br /><a href="http://www.paganspath.com/magik/celtic/bealtain.htm">Spring Wolf's Pagan Path</a><br /><a href="http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usma&c=holidays&id=2765">Witch Vox</a></b></font><br /> <center><img alt="Sig by Free" border="0" src="http://a222.homestead.com/files/SiFanfroggiefree_Dker.gif" width="160" /></center> </div> </div> </div></div> </div> </body>