Bealtaine

May 1, 2022

The Spring Equinox was the tipping point, but now it's Spring in earnest. The early Spring ephemerals have already gone to seed or died back, and the next round of blooming is underway. The grass is lush and it's time to mow again. Flowers of every color are showing up. Allergies are back for some.

Bealtaine (or Beltane) is the Celtic Spring festival on May 1, halfway between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice. The days are still getting longer - we're still growing toward our peak summer selves. There's a feeling of hope - looking ahead to a future harvest. This is youthful energy.

I've been thinking a lot about the theme of 'youth' lately. Maintaining a youthful appearance can be an unhealthy obsession, but what about cultivating and reconnecting with a youthful spirit? What would it be like to move through the world like your child self again? This is something I will ask myself over the next six weeks. I intend to embody:

youthfulness - curiosity - boldness
playfulness - ease

A lot of the ease and playfulness I experience happens in the garden. I like to 'visit' the garden every morning with my coffee at this time of year. I'm mostly just looking to see how things are growing and changing, but I inevitably start talking to myself or the plants. I pull a few weeds, or break off a few dead limbs. I curse aloud at the squirrels who've been scrambling across my seed trays, breaking or digging up my little plant starts. But then, I move on and admire some perennial volunteer that I forgot about.

That easy flow from one emotional state to another is a youthful way of being in my opinion. It's actually just a 'healthy' emotional flow, but I associate it with youth, because at a certain age, I stopped experiencing that flow. Hmm...just something to ponder.

Another way that I play in the garden is to set out broken pottery and other little artifacts. I often find broken dishes, marbles, glass, bones, and hand-made nails from the previous generations of tenants when I dig around in the garden. I like to let the stones and broken bits become part of the landscape.

The theme of the Bealtaine quilt it LIGHT. I love the long daylight hours of this time of year. The Summer Solstice is exciting because it's the longest day, but it's a little sad, too. After that, we're one the way back down, losing a few minutes each day. I wanted to focus on light now, because we still have six weeks to enjoy this expansion!

Color and light go hand in hand - I chose hand-dyed and found fabrics from my stash that match to colors I'm seeing around the farm right now. Various shades of green, blue, pink, and yellow.