May Day (Beltane)
2027-05-01 - 2027-05-02
When the gates of Beltane swing open on May 1, sunlight and blossom welcome the procession of the year into the green halls of summer. At Imbolc we rejoiced at the return of light; now we celebrate life, growth, love and sexuality: “the force that drives the green fuse through the flower,” in the words of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.
While the second part of Irish Beltane and Scottish Bealtuinn clearly means “fire,” from the old Celtic word tene, linguists are uncertain as to whether Bel refers to Belenos, the Gaulish Apollo, or is simply derived from bel, meaning “brilliant.” It might even derive from bil tene, or “lucky fire,” because to jump between two Beltaine fires was sure to bring good fortune, health to your livestock, and prosperity.
Gods of the Celts: Belenos
Belenos (Beh-ley-noss) was a sun god who may have been connected with the festival of Beltaine. His name means “bright” or “brilliant.” The Romans called him Apollo Belenos, after their god of the sun, but he seems to have existed as a Celtic god in his own right before this period. His cult extended from northern Italy and up through Austria and Gaul, where there were sanctuaries dedicated to him at healing springs, for the sun was believed to have marvelous curative properties when associated with water. A shrine to Belenos may still stand at Paimpont in the old forest of Broceliande in Brittany, Gaul. In the clearing, the sacred well known as the Fountain of Barenton bubbles up near an ancient dolmen stone. The old name of the sacred well was Belenton, probably a contraction of Bel-Nementon, the sacred grove of Belenos.
The Blessing of Fire
I’ll tell you of a special festival,
The glorious dues of May-day;
Ale, roots, sweet whey,
And fresh curds to the fire.
— Early Irish Calendar Poem
On Beltane Eve the druids and their successors assembled on high hills with a view of the rising sun. They came to raise the great fires that would bring the power of the sun to Earth and to sanctify and purify the whole community and their livestock in readiness for the new cycle. Fire was an interface between the human race and the divine, in particular, the elemental powers of the Upperworld who would determine the fate of herds, the flocks, and the growing harvest. Sacrificial offerings were cast into the fire to gain their goodwill, born skyward on flames like hands uplifted in prayer.
In later centuries the Beltane fires continued to blaze in Scotland and Ireland. An eighteenth-century account from the Scottish Highlands describes how every fire in the household was put out, and on the hill the fire for the great bonfires, known as the “needfire,” was kindled with the wood of nine sacred trees. Only the best men were fit to kindle the sacred fire. If any were guilty of murder, adultery, theft, or other major crime, the fire would not kindle or else it would lack its usual virtues. Three times three, three times nine, or even nine times nine men took turns twirling the stick, or “windle” of oak, which fitted snugly inside a hole bored in a well-seasoned plank of oak, the tree of the sun. As soon as sparks began to appear, they applied a piece of agaric, a fungus that grows on old birch trees and is very combustible. Birch, as we have seen, is a tree associated with new beginnings, purification and the spirit world.
The fire came like a blessing from the gods. From this magical flame the great bonfire was lit, and now shadowy figures emerged from their darkened homesteads below the hill, driving their cattle before them. They also carried provisions–a custard of eggs, butter, oatmeal, and milk, and plenty of beer and whiskey.
Some of the custard was poured on the ground as an offering to the gods and the sacred land.
There was also an oatmeal bannock upon which were raised nine square knobs, one each for a god or saint who protected their flocks and herds, and also for the particular animals that preyed on them. Turning to the fire, each person broke off a knob and threw it over his or her shoulder, saying, “This I give to thee, preserve thou my horses; this to thee, preserve thou my sheep.” And to the predators: “This I give to thee, O Fox! Spare thou my lambs. This to thee, O hooded Crow! This to thee, O Eagle!” When the ceremony was over they ate the rest of the food.
A nineteenth-century account from Ireland gives us a glimpse of the scenes that might have followed. The whole hillside came alive as the boys thrust brands of dried sedge and heather into the newly roaring flames and whirled them about their heads in imitation of the circling sun. Dances spun in a ring. Young men leaped through the flames to sain, or protect, themselves and their livestock, while old folk slowly walked around the fire muttering prayers. A man about to embark on a long journey or dangerous undertaking–or to do both by getting married–leaped backward and forward three times through the flames for luck. In some places two fires were built and the livestock driven between them to purify them from disease after the long winter inside. As the fire sunk low, the girls jumped across it to procure good husbands; pregnant women stepped through it to ensure easy birth; and mothers carried their children across the smoldering ashes. All celebrated the power of the sacred fire to purify the air of demon and disease, thunder and lightning, and anything else that might harm their hopes for the unborn child of the year’s harvest.
When the fire died down the embers were thrown among the sprouting crops for good luck, while each household carried some back to kindle a new fire in their hearth. When the sun rose those who had stayed up to watch it might see it dance for joy three times upon the horizon before leaping up in all its summer glory.

National Teacher's Day
2027-05-04 - 2027-05-05

Cinco de Mayo
2027-05-05 - 2027-05-06

New Moon
2027-05-06 - 2027-05-07, 2027-06-04 - 2027-06-05, 2027-07-03 - 2027-07-04, 2027-08-02 - 2027-08-03

First Quarter Moon
2027-05-13 - 2027-05-14, 2027-06-11 - 2027-06-12, 2027-07-10 - 2027-07-11, 2027-08-09 - 2027-08-10

Mother's Day
2027-05-16 - 2027-05-17

Full Moon
2027-05-20 - 2027-05-21, 2027-06-18 - 2027-06-19, 2027-07-18 - 2027-07-19, 2027-08-17 - 2027-08-18

Third Quarter Moon
2027-05-28 - 2027-05-29, 2027-06-27 - 2027-06-28, 2027-07-26 - 2027-07-27

John F. Kennedy's Birthday
2027-05-29 - 2027-05-30

Memorial Day
2027-05-31 - 2027-06-01

D-Day
2027-06-06 - 2027-06-07

Flag Day
2027-06-14 - 2027-06-15

Juneteenth
2027-06-19 - 2027-06-20

Father's Day
2027-06-20 - 2027-06-21

First Day of Summer
2027-06-21 - 2027-06-22

Summer Solstice
2027-06-21 - 2027-06-22
Midsummer: A Celebration of the Goddess Sunna For Northern Heathens, marking the Holy Tide of Midsummer is a joyous celebration of kith and kin, Gods, Goddesses, and nature.
Spring is waning. Sunna, Heathen Goddess of the Sun, drives her chariot through the darkening sky. On Midsummer Eve, Sunna’s strength begins to decline, and those who honor her gather to celebrate this passage. For the Reconstructionists of the pre-Christian religions of Northern Europe, this is the Heathen Holy Tide of Midsummer. Songs are sung, poems are read, libations and toasts fill the air. The day is Summer Solstice Eve.
Far from solemn occasions, Northern Heathen celebrations are about joy and abundance. The Heathen faith of Asatru embraces life, forging bonds of caring and connection with Gods, Goddesses, kith, kin, and local spirits, called wights.
Speaking to the local land wights, and seeking their consent to a gathering before it takes place, is considered common courtesy among Reconstructionists. In a secluded place before the gathering begins, a child is often chosen to place offerings such as porridge and butter out for the wights. These spirits were on the land first, and the gift of their consent deserves a gift in return.
In honor of the strength of light and warmth that are Sunna’s blessing, fire is a central part of the celebration at this Holy Tide.
A focal point is a bonfire set ablaze early on Midsummer Eve. Adding fuel to a Midsummer bonfire is said to bring good fortune, and celebrants throw in flowers and other burnt offerings-including little dolls of twisted straw that have been wished upon. Dancing, singing, and telling tales around the blaze are also traditional. Leaping through the flames for luck, health, good crops-or loving relationships-is common behavior at a Midsummer celebration.
Creating Sunwheels-flaming wheels rolled down grassy hills-are a traditional way of honoring Sunna’s waning days after the solstice. For those wary of the rolling flames, decorations in the form of a Sunwheel-an equal-armed cross inside a circle, made from wire, beads, pipe cleaners, Mason jar lids, almost anything you can think of-as well as Sunwheel-shape cookies and cakes can be safely substituted and hung on a Midsummer tree.
If the celebration is held by a pond or lake, celebrants often craft model Viking longboats, fill them with symbolic gifts, and then set them adrift and ablaze in reverence to the ancestors and their funeral practices.
Midsummer is an auspicious time for divination. Runes-mystery symbols provided by Odin, the All-Father-are often used for readings. Signs and dreams around this Holy Tide are given special respect, as are portents of birds, clouds, and other reflections of the Northern Way’s connection to nature. Joy and fellowship abound, nurtured by fine food and good company.
When the long day wanes and Sunna starts to dip behind the horizon, Heathen folk gather once again around the bonfire to stand in Blot (worship) to those they term their Eldest Kin. Those Gods and Goddesses of the Northern Pantheon are hailed in this ancient rite of passing a mead horn among those assembled. This act of sharing a hallowed drink forges bonds of caring and well being between the people and the Gods, drawing the mind and soul of man closer to the divine.
A vigil is kept through the night to greet Sunna’s return with the dawn. During this watch, the celebrants join in another sacred rite, Sumble. The mead horn is again passed, as praise, stories, and boasts are exchanged. Those assembled forge bonds of kith and kin with each other, deepening friendships and family relations with this holy sharing.
As Sunna’s chariot again appears at the dawning of the Summer Solstice, another Great Blessing has been celebrated. The Holy Wheel of the year has moved on.

June Solstice
2027-06-21 - 2027-06-22

Independence Day
2027-07-04 - 2027-07-05

Lughnasadh/Lammas
2027-08-01 - 2027-08-02
Celebrating Summer’s End The ancient customs of the Celtic festival Lughnasa, and how you can honor the holiday today.
Ancient Celtic Fire Festival marking the height of Summer and the first of the harvest. Anglo-Saxons called it Lammas, for loaf-mass, after the blessing of bread, made from the first harvest of grain.
Modern pagans celebrate the wheel of the year with eight seasonal holidays?the solstices and equinoxes and the cross-quarter-days in between. The ancient Celtic festival Lughnasa (pronounced loonasah), falling midway between summer solstice and autumn equinox, marks the end of summer and the beginning of the harvest. The Anglo-Saxons called it Lammas, for loaf-mass, after the blessing of bread, made from the first harvest of grain. Today, most pagans observe the holiday on August 1.
The 1990 play “Dancing at Lughnasa” (later a movie starring Meryl Streep) depicts the melancholy that underlies this festival, the sorrow at the end of summer, the sacrifice that comes with cutting the grain.
In ancient times, Lughnasa was also the time of an assembly in honor of the Celtic hero-god Lugh (nasad means assembly). The poet Cuan o’Lothchain wrote in 1007 that the purpose of the assembly was to provide corn, milk, good weather, and peace, and that Ireland will always have song as long as the assembly is held.
At the famous assembly in Leinster, Ireland, which was held in August every third year and lasted for seven days, a poem was written in 1040 to celebrate the fair. This description gives a flavor of what it must have been like:
Three busy markets on the ground,
A market of food, a market of live stock,
The great market of the Greek strangers
Where there is gold and fine raiment.
The slope of the horses, the slope of the cooking,
The slope of the women met for embroidery.
Folklorist Maire MacNeill wrote a book about Lughnasa, looking for clues about the origins of the festival from a variety of sources including a survey administered in Ireland in 1942. As a folklorist, I always look at the simple, earth-based folk customs that persist for the core themes of the holiday.
This holiday has many names, including Bron Trogain, sometimes translated as “earth sorrows under her fruits.” Other names refer to customs associated with the holiday like Garlic Sunday, Black Crom’s Sunday, the Last Sunday of Summer, the First Sunday of Autumn, Bilberry Sunday, and Garland Sunday.
Climbing a mountain is one of the most characteristic aspects of Lughnasa. People climbed mountains all over Ireland, often picking bilberries as they go, thus giving rise to the popular name of Bilberry Sunday. Bilberries are one of the first berries to ripen in Ireland (today, where I live in Seattle, we?re more likely to be harvesting the first blackberries). In some places, boys threaded the berries on grass stalks and make bracelets of them for the girls of their choice. In Cashel Plantin’ in County Armagh, these strung berries were brought home as presents and kept around the house for luck.
In County Mayo, people wore garlands made from the stalks of corn. In other places, the garlands were fashioned from flowers and left on mountain tops, along with other offerings such as wheat. At Gainmhe in County Donegal, everyone wore a flower going up hill and at the summit all the flowers were put into a hole and covered over, as a sign that summer was over.
Since many scholars believe Lugh was a sun-god, it makes sense that people would climb mountains and leave offerings for him in high places. But some believe the offerings were left for the fairies, who would be extraordinarily active on quarter days. MacNeill believes the practice of standing on a peak overlooking the landscape, keeps alive a passion for the land and its history.
Many of the customs of Lughnasa have slowly faded away over the centuries, but some traditions are still honored. It’s said to be lucky to harvest new potatoes on Lughnasa and unlucky to dig them up earlier. The farmers of Ballinrobe, County Mayo, said there were three things a good farmer should have left on Garlic Sunday: a stack of unthreshed oats, a stack of old turf, and a pit of old potatoes (thus showing his ability to properly allocate his resources).
It?s also traditional to have the potatoes for dinner on Lughnasa, often with bacon and cabbage, or in Colcannon (a dish of potatoes, mixed with butter or milk and seasoned with garlic, onion or cabbage).
And pilgrims still climb Mount Brandon on the last Sunday in July, circumambulating the ruined medieval church and the nearby well, under the watchful eyes of a sculpture of Crom Dubh, the Celtic god of harvest.
If you want to honor this ancient holiday, incorporate these Lughnasa traditions into your celebrations:
Hike to a mountaintop where you can overlook the land
Gather flowers and leave them as an offering to the sun god, or the fairies.
You could also bury them or burn them as a sign that summer has passed
Go berry picking
Enjoy new potatoes, or whatever you harvest from your garden
Dance and sing around a bonfire
