05/01/2024
Blessed Beltane 💚
WHAT THE IRISH DID ON THIS DAY!
The first day of May corresponds with Bealtaine, a festival celebrated in Ireland since pagan times, officially heralding the beginning of the summer.
Hiring fairs were held on the first day of May. Folk looking for work would arrive carrying a symbol of their skill - a spade, a hay fork, a reaping hook or a spancel which signified an expert milker. A spancel was a thick rope of twisted hair, about two feet long, with a wooden k**b fixed at one end and a loop at the other end, into which the k**b was thrust so as to fasten the spancel around the two hind legs of the cow. Women did all the milking, of course, except in monasteries. Anyway, I digress, back to Bealtaine.
Butter made today was believed to be the best base for salves and ointments. Everyone who visited the house was encouraged to take a turn of the churn, accompanied by a prayer such as ‘God Bless the Work', and holy water would be sprinkled on the churn and all other objects associated with dairying, including the cows themselves. Any herb picked at random before sunrise today was a sure cure for warts. Also, if you wanted to keep rheumatism away for a year, all you had to do was eat nettle soup three times during the month, beginning today.
Here are some other traditions/beliefs/sayings associated with Bealtaine...
~ Bonfires were lit to mark the coming of summer and banish the long nights of winter.
~ Rain and wind was expected and, indeed, welcomed. 'A wet and windy May fills the barns with corn and hay'.
~ Young women foretold the man they would marry using snails on flour to indicate his initial.
~ If bees were seen, it was a good indication. 'A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay'.
~ As I explained in my post yesterday, between sunset last night and dawn today it was safer to stay close to home but, if you did have to go out, a piece of iron in the pocket gave protection, also a spent cinder from the hearth or a sprig of mountain ash. A favourite prank of the fairies was to make a person lose their way by bringing down a mist and one way to protect against this was to wear your coat inside out. The disguise was meant to confuse them and offer a means of escape.
~ It was said that a child born on the first day of May had the gift of being able to see the faeries.
~ If you heard the call of the cuckoo today, to hear it call on your right brought good luck, on the left, ill fortune. If you heard it call from a church yard, it meant a death in the family and if you heard it before breakfast, a hungry year was ahead.
Finally there was a traditional saying, 'I wash my face in water that has never rained nor run and dry it in a towel that was never wove or spun.' That meant you should wash your face in the dew and dry it in the open air. It brought luck and also worked wonders for the complexion, making you look younger for longer. Now if you'll excuse me, there's something I need to do outside... 😉
Blessed Bealtaine, everyone! 🥰
(M) ☘️
