Beltane is a fertility and fire festival, also known as May Day.
There are many ways, both as groups and as solitaires, to honor this holiday.
If you happen to have children you'd like to include in a ritual, this one from about.com might be a good starting point : Hold a Family Abundance Rite for Beltane.
If, on the other hand, you're solitaires and perhaps empty-nesters, like Draco and I, you could do something more elaborate, or more simple.
Draco and I don't tend to have a lot of time to do things, so setting up elaborate rituals is almost always a frustrating experience for us, so we tend to celebrate in more mundane ways. Here's an idea of what the holiday will be like at The Lair.
Naturally, Draco has already heard that they will most likely be working late today (of course). Things like this almost always seem to happen on our holidays.
I have already showered and done a cleansing ritual for myself and have put on a very vibrantly colored shirt to honor the coming colors of spring. He will do his when he gets home.
I will spend my day cleaning and taking care of my plants. I do have seeds I'd intended to plant today, but of course, I forgot to buy pots and dirt, so that will have to wait.
In honor of financial fertility, I intend to do at least a little work on my business, Dragon's Lair Crafts.
Tonight, since we can't have a bonfire where we live, I will light candles all over the house, burn some of our favorite incense, and dinner will be eaten at the table where I have already placed some of my house-plants. Conversation well be about our hopes and dreams for our future as a couple and what things we would like to see grow between us.
I will have some small pieces of paper on hand where we can write our wishes and after dinner, we will burn them in my mini-cauldron that sits on my alter. Tomorrow, I will offer the ashes to the universe and The Fates.
Since we do live alone, all of this will be followed by some intimate time between us as we celebrate our own sex rite and the energy will be offered to the universe to help fertilize our wishes.
Afterwards, we will enjoy cake and tea (since I also forgot to buy a bottle of wine) while we ground our energies.
That's it. Tomorrow I will offer the ashes of our wishes and do some more cleaning, including a complete smudging of the house.
In Paganism, especially if you are solitary, it doesn't have to be elaborate or fancy, and you don't even need a lot of tools. You and your intention are your greatest tool!
I wish you all a very blessed Beltane from The Lair!
Drakina
