Feeling a bit frisky? A bit ready to ‘rock ‘n’ roll’?
Well that would be the Beltane energy sneaking in.
Halloween vs Beltane
Many Aussies now embrace Halloween with great enthusiasm.
Traditionally Halloween celebrates the dying of the summer and the light, and the passage of the world into darkness and it’s perfectly suited to the closing down of autumn. Celebrated at the end of October, this fits perfectly with the Northern Hemisphere autumn. But south of the equator this coincides with Spring.
Which is why I just can’t manage to celebrate this festival of death in the midst of such a bountiful and exuberant Melbourne spring.
Instead, I turn to Beltane, the spring fertility festival which marks the beginning of the summer months. In the Southern Hemisphere this is a time for feasting and celebration and a great festival for lovers!
Celebrate The Light
If you live down in the Southern Hemisphere – Forget Halloween! We Southerners on the other side of the rock should be rejoicing the light not the dark today.
Beltane is about fertility and passion and life. It’s a time to welcome the abundance of the fertile earth, and a day that has a long (and sometimes scandalous) history!
Many Australians celebrate Halloween. But those in tune with the cycles of nature will be celebrating Beltane instead – the Spring fertility festival. While Halloween traditionally celebrates the dying of the summer and the passage of the world into darkness and is a festival of autumn, Beltane marks the beginning of the summer months.
This fire festival is a time for feasting, bonfires, courtship and welcoming in the light. It’s a time to celebrate our own creativity and a wonderful festival for lovers!