May Day 2003
arranged by ---Shining Spider- 2003



The astrology of today:
Moon- new (7:15 am)


The myth of the May Day/Beltaine
May Day ushers in the fifth month of the modern calendar year, the month of May. This month 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. By Zeus, she is also the mother of Hermes, god of magic. Maia's parents were Atlas and Pleione, a sea nymph. The old Celtic name for May Day is Beltane (in its most popular Anglicized form), which is derived from the Irish Gaelic 'Bealtaine' or the Scottish Gaelic 'Bealtuinn', meaning 'Bel-fire', the fire of the Celtic god of light (Bel, Beli or Belinus). He, in turn, may be traced to the Middle Eastern god Baal.
This date has long been considered a 'power point' of the Zodiac, and is symbolized by the Bull, one of the 'tetramorph' figures featured on the Tarot cards, the World and the Wheel of Fortune. (The other three symbols are the Lion, the Eagle, and the Spirit.) Astrologers know these four figures as the symbols of the four 'fixed' signs of the Zodiac (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius), and these naturally align with the four Great Sabbats of Witchcraft. Christians have adopted the same iconography to represent the four gospel-writers.
Ritual:

I. Creating A Sacred Space
A. Cleanse space
B. Ground and Center
C. Call Elements
D. Cast Circle

II. Calling And Honoring the Divine
A. Chat: (invocation**)
We honor the energy of the elements within us.
We are earth. We are dark, we are heavy, we are substantial. We are grounded.
We are water. We are fluid, we are clear, we are vital. We are renewed.
We are fire. We are bright, we are hot, we are intense. We are passionate.
We are air. We are light, we are movement, we are open. We are changed.
B. Calling Divinity: ***
In this space we call the Lady and Lord.
Plainly we ask for their presence, their energy, their care
may they meld and rise within us energies restored
this union of self and divinity is our simple prayer.


III. Pathwork
A. A quiet meditation holding hands as partners for as long as needed.

IV. Spell work
1 white, 1 pink, and 1 red candle is lit. The white candle is for pure intent, the pink candle is for gentleness and the red candle is for passion. Together the couple lights the candle and expresses their goals for themselves, each other and their relationship.
V. Thanking
A. Poem: ***
Poem: Spring
Pink petals fall from the tree
buds turned to seeds
turned to developing fruit.
All things must grow
rapidly at times;
can you feel
the quickening of spring?

Thank you Goddess
of ripening life.
Thank you God
of youth and energy.
Thank you divine
everywhere you reside.

Pink petals fall from the tree
buds turned to seeds
turned to developing fruit.
All things must grow
rapidly at times;
can you feel
the quickening of spring?

Tonight lovers rejoice
in flesh, in love, in experience.
Tonight the faeries lure us
with their truth and their lightness.
Tonight the air will be sweeter than earthly scent
and the wind more comforting
than your smile.
Thank you divine
everywhere you reside.

C. Thank the elements
D. Break the space

Chant ** by Lee Lanning and Nett Hart Calling Divinity *** & Poem (spring) by Laura Craig Mason © 2003