Post by dreamy on May 8, 2006 3:19:10 GMT 10
Beltane
DIANE MACLEAN
BELTANE was the most important festival in the Celtic calendar. It heralded the coming of summer, fertility and blended the usual Celtic preoccupations of celebration, supplication and appeasement.
Like most festivals, the key to the celebration lay with fire. The very name Beltane is thought to derive from the combination of the Gaelic word "teine", meaning fire and the Celtic God "Bel".
Fire was held to have purifying qualities, it cleansed and revitalised both the land and the people. So, on the first of May, the night of Beltane, Druids kindled fires in sacred places using nine different types of wood. The fires were almost always built on hills and a number of place-names in Scotland reveal their association with the festival, like Tullybelton in Perthshire (Tulach Bealltuinn - Beltane Hill) or Tarboltan, in Ayrshire (Tor-Bealtiunn – Beltane Hillock).
Later, as was common practice, the day, and some of the rituals, were taken over by Christianity. Beltane became the Feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross, and priests conducted outside services round a bonfire to bless the land.
Throughout Scotland the Beltane fires continued to burn until the 19th century. Whilst some had undoubtedly become the governance of the Christian Church, many continued as symbolic Pagan rituals.
Men and boys from a village congregated at a local hilltop where they prepared the ground for a bonfire. A big Beltane Bannock (or cake) was made and shared amongst the group. Pieces of the bannock were thrown into the fire with an exhortation to bless homes, cattle or individuals. One "unfortunate" would be left with either a misshapen piece of the bannock, or a piece that had been blackened with ash, and he was the designated Beltane Carline – or the sacrificial offering. In all the recorded histories of the Beltane fire the "sacrifice" was never carried out, but it is probable that during druid rites the unfortunate Carline was actually offered up to the gods.
The Roman historian Tacitus recorded Druid rituals for Julius Caesar and was keen to emphasise the barbaric nature of the ceremonies. It is likely that the Romans put a particular spin on the Druids, highlighting some of their more extreme practices in order to give credence to their push to suppress them. However many Iron Age "bog bodies" that have been found preserved in peat have shown some form of ritual killing – whether by strangulation or by having their throat cut. It does seem entirely possible that during Beltane humans were used to placate the gods.
Whilst post-pagan Beltane dispensed with human sacrifice, many other elements of the druidic ritual were still enacted. People danced and gambolled round the flames. Cattle were herded through to purify and protect them and then villagers jumped over the flames in order to gain the same protection.
Beltane has recently seen a revival in Scotland. The best known celebration takes place on Calton Hill on 30 April. A May Queen and Green Man, representing fertility and growth, cavort on the hillside with much merry-making. The main element is still fire, and whilst for some it will embody a "religion" that still resonates today, for many it represents a good spectacle and a fun night out.
This article: heritage.scotsman.com/diagrams.cfm?cid=2&id=41802005
DIANE MACLEAN
BELTANE was the most important festival in the Celtic calendar. It heralded the coming of summer, fertility and blended the usual Celtic preoccupations of celebration, supplication and appeasement.
Like most festivals, the key to the celebration lay with fire. The very name Beltane is thought to derive from the combination of the Gaelic word "teine", meaning fire and the Celtic God "Bel".
Fire was held to have purifying qualities, it cleansed and revitalised both the land and the people. So, on the first of May, the night of Beltane, Druids kindled fires in sacred places using nine different types of wood. The fires were almost always built on hills and a number of place-names in Scotland reveal their association with the festival, like Tullybelton in Perthshire (Tulach Bealltuinn - Beltane Hill) or Tarboltan, in Ayrshire (Tor-Bealtiunn – Beltane Hillock).
Later, as was common practice, the day, and some of the rituals, were taken over by Christianity. Beltane became the Feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross, and priests conducted outside services round a bonfire to bless the land.
Throughout Scotland the Beltane fires continued to burn until the 19th century. Whilst some had undoubtedly become the governance of the Christian Church, many continued as symbolic Pagan rituals.
Men and boys from a village congregated at a local hilltop where they prepared the ground for a bonfire. A big Beltane Bannock (or cake) was made and shared amongst the group. Pieces of the bannock were thrown into the fire with an exhortation to bless homes, cattle or individuals. One "unfortunate" would be left with either a misshapen piece of the bannock, or a piece that had been blackened with ash, and he was the designated Beltane Carline – or the sacrificial offering. In all the recorded histories of the Beltane fire the "sacrifice" was never carried out, but it is probable that during druid rites the unfortunate Carline was actually offered up to the gods.
The Roman historian Tacitus recorded Druid rituals for Julius Caesar and was keen to emphasise the barbaric nature of the ceremonies. It is likely that the Romans put a particular spin on the Druids, highlighting some of their more extreme practices in order to give credence to their push to suppress them. However many Iron Age "bog bodies" that have been found preserved in peat have shown some form of ritual killing – whether by strangulation or by having their throat cut. It does seem entirely possible that during Beltane humans were used to placate the gods.
Whilst post-pagan Beltane dispensed with human sacrifice, many other elements of the druidic ritual were still enacted. People danced and gambolled round the flames. Cattle were herded through to purify and protect them and then villagers jumped over the flames in order to gain the same protection.
Beltane has recently seen a revival in Scotland. The best known celebration takes place on Calton Hill on 30 April. A May Queen and Green Man, representing fertility and growth, cavort on the hillside with much merry-making. The main element is still fire, and whilst for some it will embody a "religion" that still resonates today, for many it represents a good spectacle and a fun night out.
This article: heritage.scotsman.com/diagrams.cfm?cid=2&id=41802005