Beltane – The Joy of Shared Fire

Figure: Beltane fires

In spring, the Celts would light two giant fires between which the herds would graze. Beltane, the festival of fertility when everyone was free to love whomever they wished. People made love in the fields, in the woods, under the moon. Not out of debauchery, but to bless the earth, to call for life, to celebrate the body. And it was a blessing for all, as well as a great benefit for a society that saw its internal tensions disappear as if by magic. One can also see it as a remedy against inbreeding, which is the scourge of puritanical and insular societies. Many peoples welcomed travelers by offering them bread and a bed… Everyone then returned home, peaceful, joyful, alive. There was no judgment, no ownership over the body of another, only the shared breath.