Half-nude, red-painted revelers at the Beltane Fire Festival reenact an ancient, annual Celtic ritual heralding the May 1 arrival of summer—”Beltane” being Celtic for “May.” Revived in the 1980s, the festival is part of an effort by modern Celts to celebrate the lost cultures of their ancestors, who dominated Europe some 2,000 years ago. [National Geo]

Beltane kicks off the merry month of May, and has a long history. This fire festival is celebrated on May 1 with bonfires, Maypoles, dancing, and lots of good old fashioned sexual energy. The Celts honored the fertility of the gods with gifts and offerings, sometimes including animal or human sacrifice. Cattle were driven through the smoke of the balefires, and blessed with health and fertility for the coming year. In Ireland, the fires of Tara were the first ones lit every year at Beltane, and all other fires were lit with a flame from Tara.

Today’s Pagans and Wiccans celebrate Beltane much like their ancestors did. A Beltane ritual usually involves lots of fertility symbols, including the obviously-phallic Maypole dance. The Maypole is a tall pole decorated with flowers and hanging ribbons, which are woven into intricate pattern by a group of dancers. Weaving in and out, the ribbons are eventually knotted together by the time the dancers reach the end.

In some Wiccan traditions, Beltane is a day in which the May Queen and the Queen of Winter battle one another for supremacy. In this rite, borrowed from practices on the Isle of Man, each queen has a band of supporters. On the morning of May 1, the two companies battle it out, ultimately trying to win victory for their queen. If the May Queen is captured by her enemies, she must be ransomed before her followers can get her back.

There are some who believe Beltane is a time for the faeries — the appearance of flowers around this time of year heralds the beginning of summer and shows us that the fae are hard at work. In early folklore, to enter the realm of faeries is a dangerous step — and yet the more helpful deeds of the fae should always be acknowledged and appreciated. If you believe in faeries, Beltane is a good time to leave out food and other treats for them in your garden or yard.

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Anyone who starts to take an interest in the medieval texts relating to Ireland quickly picks up the idea that the country was divided into ‘fifths’. Indeed, the Gaelic word cuigeadh still means ‘fifths’ (singular coiced) and the modern-day Gaelic expression which translates literally as ‘the five fifths of Ireland’ refers to the political divisions of Ulster, Connacht, Leinster and Munster. Yes, you have counted correctly. There are only four ‘fifths’ in Ireland. The early legends subdivided Munster into east and west, but this is an artificial adjustment. The earliest clearly datable references to the cuigeadh relate to the kingdoms which emerged in the fifth and sixth centuries. At this date Ireland is considered to be divided into fifths but only four functional divisions are recognisable.

Ireland divided into four ‘fifths’ (adapted from Rees and Ress).

A region known as Midhe (perhaps meaning ‘middle’ or ‘neck’), which incorporated the royal centre at Tara, was regarded as having pre-eminent status and has for many centuries been popularly considered to be the fifth coiced. Yet, politically, from the iron age onwards, Midhe was under the domination of one or other adjoining kingdoms. Tara, with its impressive group of ditched earthworks and the Lia Fail (Stone of Density, used for the coronation of the High Kings of Ireland), indeed had enourmous prestige in the medieval literature yet, when the kings met annually (at Beltain), they did so at a natural outcrop known in recent years as Aill na Mireann, but probably traditionally as Carraig Choithrigi (the Stone of Divisions), which is situated near the less-impressive earthworks on the Hill of Uisnech. Furthermore, it is Uisnech, not Tara, which is the geographical mid-point of Ireland. For instance, it is claimed that a beacon fire on Uisnech can be seen over a quarter of Ireland [1].
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It is the most delightful land of all that are under the sun; the trees are stooping down with fruit and with leaves and with blossom. Honey and wine are plentiful there; no wasting will come upon you with the wasting away of time; you will never see death or lessening. You will get feasts, playing and drinking; you will get sweet music on the strings; you will get silver and gold and many jewels. You will get everything I have said…and you will get gifts beyond them which I have no leave to tell of.”

“ Thus it was that the Otherworld, the mystical enchanted land of many Celtic myths, was described to the warrior Oisin by the faerie-woman Niamh of the Golden Hair.

In Irish myth, the Otherworld was created as the domain of the divine race of the Tuatha de Danaan following their defeat by the Milesians (Ireland’s fifth and last race of invaders). The Milesians, it was decided, would rule the visible part, while the Dananns took possession of the invisible regions below ground and beyond the seas. This Otherworld was accessible through lakes, caves and above all the Sidhe or faerie mounds, the countless prehistoric burial mounds such as those of the Boyne in Co. Meath. Continue Reading »

They are one of County Clare’s oldest residents but there are fears that the feral goats of the Burren are under threat from rustling. In the latest incident 50 animals were removed early on Saturday, and campaigners believe they are most likely destined for the meat trade. Goats have a close association with the Burren, and it is thought that they were first introduced by Neolithic farmers 4,000 years ago.

Many of the animals loose on the Burren are more recent additions, imported dairy stock abandoned by their owners in the 1970s during changes in farming practice.The wild population exploded causing problems for farmers by damaging boundaries and spoiling pastures. Continue Reading »

The cat, whether wild or domestic, is sacred to the Goddess in Celtic tradition, appearing in Irish, Welsh and Breton folklore. But it is in Scotland that is found a particularly powerful connection. A number of Scottish clans held the cat as their totem animal: those of MacIntosh, MacNeishe and MacNicol the domestic cat, and the MacBain the wild cat. The cat-people, a Pictish tribe known as the Kati, lived in Caithness, the ness or promontory of the cats, and in Sutherland in Gaelic is the Cataobh - cat country.

In Ireland and almost certainly throughout the Celtic world, the skin of a wild cat was used by warriors. An ancient Irish bard speaks of Talc son of Trone, who is called the cat-headed chief since his battle-dress included the skin of a wild cat, with its head attached to his helmet. The Irish Yellow Book of Lecan describes warriors wearing cats’ heads, one of whom was noted as a Gaelic champion and one of the Irish kings was called Cairbar cinn chait - Carbar of the cat’s head. Although the cat was used by warriors, as was the boar, raven and bear, to invoke the avenging and protective power of the gods, it was still considered an animal associated with the Goddess and the feminine. For this reason both positive and negative attributes of the cat can be seen in folklore and tradition. As an animal clearly of the Goddess and in close contact with the spirit-world, the cat has been the victim of extraordinary persecution and cruelty. Her ability to see and work in the spirit-world makes the cat an ideal ally for any shaman and it was due to the Church’s fear of such powers that many thousands of cats were tortured and put to death by burning in baskets in both Britain and France.

The cat as a creature of the Goddess was often perceived as somehow ‘unholy.’ It was considered unlucky to see a cat as the first animal of the year unless you were a MacIntosh or of the clan Cattan (whose chieftain is called The Great Cat). The goddess Brighid, who is known in Irish tradition as ‘the daughter of the bear,’ had a cat as a companion. In Welsh tradition the goddess Ceridwen in her manifestation as the great sow Henwen gives birth to a wolf cub, an eagle, a bee and a kitten. Unfortunately this last grows into the Palug Cat - one of the Three Plagues of Anglesey - that is killed by King Arthur and Cai only after a lengthy struggle.

Another tale that shows the fierceness of the cat and its role as a guradian can be found in the Irish Voyage of Maelduin, one of four spiritual tales called immrama, meaning mystical voyages. In this tale, the Druid Nuca teaches Maelduin how to build a magical boat in which he plans to avenge the murder of his father. He and his companions almost reach the murderers’ island but winds blow them out to sea and they are lost for three days and nights.

They then come to a series of islands, many of which are presided over by animals. The first is the Island of Giant Ants, the second the Island of Many Birds and so on until they reach the tenth - the Island of the Cat. There they discover a ‘noble hall, a king’s fit dwelling.’ Food and drink is in copious supply and there are soft beds and golden benches for them to rest upon. In this great hall lies treasure: silver brooches, gold-hilted swords and wide torcs. But no one is present except a ‘quick, hungry cat poised on a pillar.’ Against Maelduin’s wishes, his foster-brother tries to steal a gold necklace but in a moment his body is turned to a pile of ash by the ‘fiery paw of the wondrous cat.’ The cat is seen here in her role as guardian of Otherworldly treasure.

The cat teaches respect and caution. She is sensual and will accept affection only on her terms. She is proud, independent and capable of observing both this world and the next…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kellas_Cat