birds, flowers and art-Beltane 2013

we are so blessed.
this season especially fills my heart with deep gratitude.
beauty surrounds us.
this life is a great work of art.

birds love our land. they feast and nest and survey from the tops of our branching fences.

patting a stunned hummingbird on the deck, noticing its gentle warmth
and the color change of its feathers.
I get to sing to it.
We sit with it until it flies, first to the hyacinths in the sun and then away.

the cycle of flowers unfolds like petals.
and then get knocked down by the wind.

 

  this particular May has been superb, complete and total.
Days now long and past bedtime,
it is daylight way too early to actually get up.

this post has been a whole month in crafting spending so much time in the vibrant present
that is the May.
It is way to long and should be many posts but that is the summer.

the only way to keep up is to roll.

Summer, full on summer. DO it now.

Notes from the month are below in backwards chronological order beginning with now
and going to then:
it all started with the May, like an exhale, and passing through to the green pastures beyond.

Maybe it was that big full moon
as we approached this May that sent us through to the summer dimension

 

 
Our first need fire was started on Bryan’s birthday. Perfect bright sun has been a theme.
 
The smoke in sunlight mimics flame as if calling the real fire which comes in a gentle flash  and then suddenly ablaze with spirit.
And then contained though strong, even doused with protective water so we could leave and fete Bryan and come back to its warmth which burnt all night and came back to life in the morning.

then we tried to ignite the central
directional fire circles
but they were not ready to flame
though the sun was strong

 

then there was the fire during ritual in the nemeton in the bilé in the cauldron.
It takes more that just the light and the magnifier, it takes intent and patience.

then finally, after ritual proper, after dancing and undancing the maypole, after snacking and eating, after friends left and before friends arrived, Bryan carried the embers from the cauldron from the nemeton to the center fire circles. thinking it would not carry to flame he walked away, turning back to catch the smoking branches quickly turn to fire- large giant fire.

 

quick kid was able to take rapid-fire shots before it burned down as quickly as it started.

then again taking embers and lighting each of the directional fires.
Keeping the flame alive and moving.
First all smolder unsure if to take flight
and then like the flower emergent from bud
the east and west fires burst to life.
they burn almost away when, as if on cue,
the south and north fires ignite.

          

And finally all fires burned down, sun setting, food eaten and dishes washed,
more folks come to gather, to sit by the fire,  dark but still warm

dancing the Maypole

   




our ritual sacrifice
 

          
what is hard to remember is everything.
pictures as recreation or creation of themselves.
this green always seems as if it was.
                            
it must have all been from the need fire and the tending of the fires, the venerance of the flame.
the focused beam of sunlight and patience. focusing energy as one and crafting intent.

maybe it was the flowers.
 
I can’t remember if we first saw the Baltimore oriole just before or after ritual but by now we see them everywhere. Bugs are constant. Frogs, turtles, and bunnies are around.
Nature is noisy 24/7 now.

trees that were just budding then are now
full leafed and dark green.
they sway gentle and inviting
in this heat after the frost after the heat after the frost that has been this month.
from the photos I remember

that we had to raise the maypole twice (because the Hawthorne crown flopped to the side ensnaring the ribbons).
and the day grew warmish and warmisher.
 


     
     
the fires, all started from the sun,
were special and kind and startling in their balance of strength and containment.
  
Now it is mid-May and their is earth under my fingers and it is hot. Everything is super green. And everything needs more water even though it just rained two days ago.

the Hawthorne finally blooms

Summer.
Beltane is summer, or the doorway to summer. We pass through from Spring and the beginnings of flowering trees scenting the air and with a languid blink it is summer.
It smells like summer outside, air heavy with soon to rain and plants stretching hourly. Flowers are now crowded by taller plants. Thunder rumbles loud and ominous.
You cannot see the forest for the trees.

We got the Maypole up the morning of ritual
with a crown of hawthorn cut to clear
the Jersey City I-Beam bridge to the woods then just beginning to leaf with moss still
sun dappled.

         
                         
Now, once again, it is as if there was never gaps in the trees, lone branches and neighbors' houses visible. Always this greenness, this growing and blooming, this behindness in the garden and weeds to pull. Rapidly moving cycles

Our Beltane ritual was simple and gentle and beautiful and lasted days. Flowers everywhere.
First it was the 1st and then by Bryan’s birthday  we started building fires and assembling sacrifice. The Maypole came down from the stone wall and the hole was uncovered.

Flowers ringed the house with color and fragrance. The distraction of days; keeping prep at a minimum. Ease and gentle opening. Wandering as gardening, languid meals in the sun. The need fire. Focusing the light to flame.
first fire

 
second fire attempt



fire rekindled
           
today it rains, a summer’s rain.
the cat insists on being outside and everywhere is green and lush. Flowers are in constant bloom and will be until Samhain.
We have arrived.

The May is a season more than it is a month.

We start the May with buds beginning and our long perfect spring of cool weather and rain.
 
      
 
omens from ritual:
from the Ancestors-Ehwaz, the horse and the rider, what gets you where you are going, the vehicle partnership
from the Spirits of Nature & Place-Gibor, giving and the giver, recipricocity and sharing
from the Gods & Goddesses-Berkanu, birch, beginnings, birth
for the season-Othala, sacred enclosure, what is set apart and protected and held safe

EGBO