Three Rituals for Beltane
Beltane is a cross-quarter holiday on the Wheel of the Year that honors the return of summer, the return of the fertility of the Earth, and the element of fire. It’s a nature-based holiday that many of our ancestors celebrated for a long time, and now we get to carry that tradition forward. Like Samhain, Beltane is a time when the veil is thin. This holiday is a particularly beautiful time to connect with nature spirits, as well as any other beings you’re wanting to create a connection with. At Beltane, we honor the goddess as part of us. We honor the body, pleasure, sensuality, and sexuality. We bask in the fiery energy of the sun and the fertile energy that’s present. In this blog, I'm sharing three rituals and suggested tools for Beltane that you can work with to honor this sacred holiday.
Beltane is a cross-quarter holiday on the Wheel of the Year that honors the return of summer, the return of the fertility of the Earth, and the element of fire. It’s a nature-based holiday that many of our ancestors celebrated for a long time, and now we get to carry that tradition forward.
Like Samhain, Beltane is a time when the veil is thin. This holiday is a particularly beautiful time to connect with nature spirits, as well as any other beings you’re wanting to create a connection with.
At Beltane, we honor the goddess as part of us. We honor the body, pleasure, sensuality, and sexuality. We bask in the fiery energy of the sun and the fertile energy that’s present.
In this blog, I'm sharing three rituals and suggested tools for Beltane that you can work with to honor this sacred holiday. Keep scrolling to watch a video and read more!
Page featured from the Goddess Discovery Book V2
OPTIONAL RITUAL TOOLS FOR BELTANE
Feel free to add any of the symbols and tools outlined below to your Beltane rituals or altar. They each correspond with the energy of Beltane. They are not necessary and should be viewed as optional layered energy in your rituals.
Cards featured from The Ritual Deck.
Crystals: Rose quartz, garnet, pink tourmaline, rhodochrosite, emerald, malachite, and moonstone
Scents and plants: Sandalwood, ylang-ylang, lilac, angelica, jasmine, and rose
Candle colors: Pink, orange, and red
Element: Fire
Tarot: Empress
Rune: Berakno
Goddess: Venus/Freya
Tools and Symbols: Cowry shell, flowers, and anything that represents pleasure and creativity to you
Learn more about these rituals for Beltane with Eryn by clicking the video below.
PLEASURE RITUAL FOR BELTANE
This is one of my favorite pleasure-based rituals, and there’s no time like Beltane for it! You’ll need:
An oil that you’re comfortable using on your skin, like coconut oil or sunflower seed oil (feel free to mix in any essential oils that intuitively feel good to you as well! Ylang Ylang, rose, and sandalwood are great options.)
Music (optional)
A journal (optional)
If you’re using music, take some time to create an intentional, sensual playlist. What songs make you feel really juicy and embodied?
When you’re ready, get yourself into a cozy space, turn your music on if you’re using it, and start to anoint yourself with the oil. Take your time to gently massage the oil into your skin. Keep your breath deep and full, giving yourself sensual touch and really letting yourself receive it.
As you breathe and anoint yourself with the oil, really tune in to the sensation of this touch. Try to stay present and tap into feeling good. We are generally so touch-starved in our lives, and giving ourselves loving touch can be really special.
At some point, this ritual might move into some organic, embodied movement. Or it may not! Feel free to follow whatever feels right here, but keep tuning into your senses and breathing deeply. Some mantras or affirmations might arise organically that you’d like to offer yourself, or perhaps you start to just rest with your hands on your belly and heart.
Close this ritual with a few loving breaths, reach for your journal and hold some space for yourself to process your experience and think about your relationship with pleasure.
SELF-LOVE RITUAL FOR BELTANE
Traditionally, folks would jump over fires at Beltane to strengthen a bond, increase fertility, and/or attract a partner. Any and all of those intentions are beautiful, but I’m most interested in connecting with our own love for ourselves at this time. For this ritual, you’ll need:
A mirror
A candle with a very stable base (rather than a traditional spell candle, try to use a votive or a short candle in a glass container. You’ll understand why as you keep reading!)
When you’re ready, soften into a cozy, ritual space. Place your hands somewhere on your body to ground and open your circle, and find your breath. Drop into meditation, and start to breathe into a simple phrase: “I love you.”
Notice what starts to happen in your body as you keep telling yourself this (silently or out loud). You may find yourself entering a trance. You may feel a rush of loving energy, a flood of shame, feelings of inauthenticity, or something completely different. Just notice, with compassion, how your internal world shifts as you continue to meditate on this phrase. If another phrase around love comes up for you, you can start to work with that as well.
Follow your intuition and follow the threads. Perhaps a specific version of you or a part of yourself you feel ashamed of arises to the surface. Can you give that part of your self love, too? Perhaps a critical voice comes up, judging you and your practice. Can you be with that part of yourself, too, and give it love?
Stay with yourself, breathing into love, until at some point you feel ready to open your eyes and gaze into your mirror. Look into your own eyes. Drink yourself in. Tell yourself what you need to hear, what whichever parts of your shadow and self have come up during this ritual need to hear - that you love them regardless. That they could never do anything to lose your love. That you’ll never abandon yourself. Speak the words out loud and feel their power.
When you feel complete, close your ritual by lighting your candle and taking a sacred moment to jump over it (staying safe, of course! If you don’t have a safe candle to do this with, you can place something else there like a candle oracle card from the Ritual Deck and jump over that). As you jump, feel these promises of love solidified. Feel more love move into your body. Feel your declarations of love rise into the Universe.
And so it is.
EMPRESS RITUAL FOR BELTANE
The Empress, ruled by Venus, is an archetype of love, creativity, pleasure, and receptivity. This card speaks to the fertility aspect of this holiday, reminding us of our capacity to birth - whether that’s babies, a new world, art, a creative project, purposeful work in the world, or something else. Birth can be so many things beyond and outside of the birthing of humans, although of course, you can work with that here as well!
For this ritual, you’ll connect with your inner Empress and embody her energetically. All you will need is your Empress tarot card and your journal! If you’d like to add any crystal allies to this practice rose quartz, emerald, moonstone, or rhodochrosite.
Empress Card from The Starchild Tarot
Create a soft and cozy ritual space for yourself. Spend some time gazing upon your Empress card. Take this archetype in. How does it land in your heart, your body? Notice how you feel and any thoughts, ideas, or associations that come up (feel free to jot these down in your journal if that feels good). What is your unique connection to the Empress?
When you feel complete, close your eyes and enter into meditation. Invite in the version of you that is the Empress. See them appear in front of you in your mind’s eye as the most embodied, Venusian version of you.
Take this version of you in and ask them any questions you have for them. You might ask them what you’re ready to birth at this time, what you need to release to step into this version of you or anything else that lands on your heart. Take your time and be in connection with the Empress - which is already inside of you.
As you feel complete, thank this version of you and close with a few deep breaths. Open your eyes, and take some time to process your experience in your journal. What will you take away from this ritual? What are you going to change, release, embody, step into? Write it all down!
Which ritual will you be working with for Beltane this year? Let us know over on Instagram! Check out the Wheel of The Year Guided Meditation Bundle here and more rituals for Beltane here.
