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Post by admin on Apr 14, 2009 12:06:40 GMT 1
Two questions:
How do you know it's Beltane? Do you go by the calendar or the seasonal signs?
Also, what's everyone up to for Beltane? Anyone getting up early to watch the Morris dancers?
Rhiannon
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phil
Spends too much time here
Posts: 65
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Post by phil on Apr 14, 2009 19:29:43 GMT 1
It felt like Beltane at the weekend to me on bredon hill, so green and warm already. I watched jackdaws building a nest out of wool on sunday in the cliffs above lathkill dale in derbyshire ,just as warm but about 2 weeks later than bredon i think.
Where can i see morris dancers if i get up early?
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Post by admin on Apr 15, 2009 11:09:09 GMT 1
Several Morris sides dance on hillsides. I think it's a bit of potluck to find the hill they're on, or you could try contacting your local side. I know that about 8 sides meet up on May Hill but that's a bit of a trek, down to the A40 between Ross and Gloucester.
Rhiannon
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Post by Purplegoddess on Apr 15, 2009 18:37:07 GMT 1
I'm a Morris Dancer! (well in training). They are dancing at a festival in Kent on Beltain and I have my debut on 10th May with the Black Pigs. They have lots coming up in the Derbyshire/Notts area if anyone is ever in this direction and want to see them - most bookings are for the afternoon : )
Think we'll go up Alport Heights in Derbyshire near Wirksworth and Cromford it's really high up with standing stone and you can see for miles. We go by the calender but it was lovely and warm the other weekend up Brailsford on the edge of Stanton Moor where the 9 Ladies are - I don't think I even moaned about being cold whilst sitting watching the bats by the watchtower.
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Post by assoki on Apr 15, 2009 20:54:58 GMT 1
we go by the callender its so warm down here everything happens sooner ;D so warm today went to the beach without a coat in me t-shirt and sat eating ice cream ~yummy (don't ya just hate me) we might be going to watch the druids up by the long man (if can get the energy together to push Amy up the hill) xxx Pollie
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Post by scruffybrooky on Apr 15, 2009 21:22:20 GMT 1
This is a bit of a chicken and egg question for me, quite possibly out of my own ignorance. Rightly or wrongly I have always assumed that our ancestors realised that certain things usually happened at certain times in the year, and from this pattern of observation they aligned their stone circles, and such monuments, with sunrise on the days that marked these occurences. Therefore I assume it is a bit of both through time. That said the days which have been ascribed do seem to still function well, and even if the majority of trees are in blossom a week early, or late there is a lot to be said for tradition, and the folk memory inscribed on the collective unconscious. Further who am I to question the dates achieved by deep and personal observation of a people far more connected to nature than it is practical to be in modern times. If a drastic change in climate were to deeply affect our connection with nature, for example for the harvest to have to take place at a different time of year, then I would be forced to reassess. I am not one to do things just because that's how we've always done it. The nature of this path is fluid and adaptable, where necessary. Overall I am principally in the corner of the calendar, although I may not always be. I do however recognise the great importance in recognising what makes a date appropriate for a festival. Engaging in nature is how the wheel of the year, would seem to me to have come about. Engaging in nature is, for me, the best way to engage with the wheel of the year. - I liked this question. Did it show? ;D
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Post by admin on Apr 16, 2009 8:08:44 GMT 1
Hi Scruffy There is no doubt that the Equinoxes and Solstices are definitely 'calendar dates', but I find that the four Fire Festivals are moveable feasts, the actual day changing slightly each year as the weather changes. Beltane for me is when the May flowers, and it hasn't flowered yet where we live, though it has in other parts of the country. Rhiannon
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Post by moonsmith on Apr 16, 2009 18:40:31 GMT 1
If you are looking for some stability in these changing times then use the Ash tree.
Most of us know the old saying:
Oak before ash in for a splash Ash before oak in for a soak.
Well it has a basis [well well - science giving tradition a patronising pat on the head!]
Two factors affect bud break - day length and temperature. The Ash is more affected by day length and the Oak more by temperature. Its not that clear cut but that will do
So - A warm spring brings out the Oak early a cold one brings it out late. The Ash is more stable as [as far as I know] the day length isn't altering year by year. [i.e. the equinox remains equinoctual ;D]
Beltane? - Probably when the Ash has that green haze among its branches but in fact when a load of us head up the crag with a few bottles of mead and have a good time and a great ritual.
Enjoy it! Lets hunt down repression wherever and however we find it by having a bloody good time and honouring the procreative principle.
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Post by sleepyowl on Apr 16, 2009 19:50:08 GMT 1
I always go by the hawthorn blossom
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Post by poshfrock on Apr 16, 2009 20:19:10 GMT 1
I love the smell of the hawthorn flower, its musty and warm and wonderful.
I have to admit to doing a naughty and I pick a bit and put in into my car ( as i do with flowering raspberry) and when you open the door the smell is Arrrhhh
yep, its got to be mayflower to say beltane is about plus of course the odd pair of underpants hanging of the trees Posh x
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Post by sleepyowl on Apr 17, 2009 9:59:27 GMT 1
plus of course the odd pair of underpants hanging of the trees Posh x That could just be down to a windy laundry day or the area you live in ;D
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