Beltane
May 1
This sabbat is a celebration of life above all else. It is a festival of fertility to bring on the boutiful crops planted at the beginning of Spring. Some Pagans at this time used to jump up and down on broomsticks as if to show the crops how high to grow. Hence the myth about witches and broomsticks. The Maypole was also used to symbolise the union of the Goddess and God with the weaving of the ribbons in mock sexual union. The Goddess also enters Her "Mother" phase at this time. Like Samhain, contact with the dead and fairies is more easily achieved. The land represented by the Goddess is now ripe and fertile and the Young God expresses His Love for Her. This is a time of joyous reveling as the first flowers of Summer are gathered in Their Honor.
Recipe
Magical Fairy Fritters
1/2 cup sweet white wine
1 egg
2/3 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon sugar
1 cup honey
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Oil for frying
Beat the wine and egg in a medium bowl. Combine the flour, cinnamon, salt and sugar in a small bowl. Stir into the egg mixture. Let stand for 30 minutes. Combine the honey and nutmeg in a small bowl. Heat 1/2-inch of the oil in a frying pan until hot but no smoking. Drop the batter into the oil 1 tablespoon at a time; fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Dip into the honey.
Candles: Red, green, white, dark yellow
Incense: Passion flower, rose, tuberose, vanilla, jasmine, ylang, ylang, peach or musk.
Plants & herbs: Primrose, cowslip, hawthorn, rose, birch, rosemary, lilac.
Stones: Clear quartz, sapphire, bloodstone, malachite, garnet, rose quartz,
Animals: Goats, rabbits, honeybees, faeries, pegasus, satyrs, giants.
Altars: Eggs, flowers, a chalice, may baskets..
Goddesses: Aphrodite, Artemis, Flora, Mielikki, Ariwl, Cybele, Freya, Rhiannon, Flidais.
Gods: Cernnunos, Cupid, Frey, Puck, Beltene, Odin, Manawyddan & Pan.