May Day 2020 - Sun, Water, Moon and Willow

​Tomorrow is the first of May, but the “May Day” starts tonight at Sunset. The ancient celebration of Beltane (Bel is the Sun God, Lord of life and death) officially starts the summer half year in the Celtic calendar. And it will finish in November with Samhain. For people who like to meditate, reflect, connect and re-bundle their energy, tonight is a good night to do some Vigiling. 

​In these times of the ancient festivals, there is a lot of extra collective energy ‘in the air’ – and you can use it for your own purposes, as an individual and with your community. This positive change energy comes from the change in nature, from the ancestral lines (these ceremonies have been celebrated for thousands of year) and from the communities around the world who still celebrate them now.
So – what can you do with the May-day energy? It is a strong Water and Fire energy; the Water can help you clean out all the remaining ‘dust’ of the winter half year. Open your windows and your heart, connect to the spirit of water, and just let it flow through your metaphorical ‘dusty corners’. Then you can use the power of the Fire – the Sun - to get some warm and light energy into your space, your body and mind.

In the old days, the villagers would light the community fires after sunset on the 30 of April – after all the family fires had gone out or were lowered down. So, if you have been working a lot on keeping your own fire burning – if you have given a lot with your own fire to others in these difficult times; now is the time were you can sit and relax and connect to the symbolic community fire. It is mended by the ancient Firekeepers, so you can just surrender to their caring energy.

The tree of this time of the year is the Willow; the Celtic tree of Enchantment and Mysteries, a feminine tree connected to the Moon. A tree that can help us with intuition, clarity, inspiration and new Vision. So, if you like to vigil for part of the night; Connect to Sister Willow and ask her for support. One gift of the Willow: it can re-grow from the smallest stick that is put into the Earth (and funny enough, it does not matter which side of the broken stick you put in the Earth; its drive to re-grow is very powerful and it just produces roots from every part of itself). So – here is your power of renewal and regrowth. Connect to Willow to harvest some of it.
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And for those of you with medical interest: Bitter infusions with Willow Bark have long been used as a remedy for chills, rheumatism, colds, and fevers. The active ingredient of these ancient remedies is salicylic acid. It was isolated in the 19th century from the Willow bark and from the herb Meadowsweet. 1899 this substance was synthesized as acetylsalicylic acid and given the name “Aspirin” by the pharma company Bayer… since then it became the world most widely used synthetic drug.