Beltane

Beltane, or known as May day to some. Is the partner to Samhain. Both are closely interlinked by the fact that the veil between worlds is at it's thinnest. And whilst Samhain predominantly gives respect to death gods, spirits and defense against malicious forces through the disguises worn on Hallows Eve . When the Northern hemisphere celebrates Samhain, the Southern celebrates Beltane. Beltane is a fire infused celebration of the celtic god Bel.  It is a time of celebrating life and the coming summer. as well as celebrating the Fae, who are more active around this time of year.  So respect and offerings towards our Neighbors or fair folk ( a friendlier term for Fae) are fairly common.  Milk, bread and Honey are considered to be suitable for offerings.

Medieval depiction of Maypole dance

Mini Quarantine Maypoles
 which i put in my garden.
Intention & effort is the best way
 to practice.

You may have seen the hit Netflix show Sabrina- specifically a scene where there is a pole of ribbons that the Greendale Witches dance with for Lupercalia (Valentines day). This is called a Maypole and traditionally is used in Beltane celebrations . Made to be tall and brightly coloured for children and adults to dance around during Beltane celebrations.
It's common in Beltane for marriages and  sexual pairings to be -which is what the show 'Sabrina' showcases in it's maypole scene.

During Beltane, feasts and fire displays, are held with seasonal food such as berries, meats, breads and alcohol.  Altars are decorated bright candles- specifically green with seasonal wild flowers. For example like the Violets, Fruit blossoms and Marigolds growing in mine and my neighbors (my actual neighbours) garden.

My Offering Altar
(Before adding wildflowers)

You can choose to celebrate Beltane in multiple ways, what's been listed are a select few options. Since this is currently 2020 and my country has been in lock down since before Ostara. I myself made two miniature may poles using ribbon, dried rose stems, quartz chips and dried flowers which i placed in the soil by our fruiting apple tree and collected wild flowers that were in both my garden and along the street where i live.. i also repotted my cactus   I chose to use my garden path to my fence like a labyrinth- which was covered in my Ostara postin- so i could reflect before taking cleansing bath with a nice cup of tea and even made a rose tea lemonade which rests on my Altar near a Green candle.

If you'd like to see how a Maypole is used. Below is a Link to the scene within Sabrina from Netflix.

 Remember the types of witches in this show are identified as Satanist Witches and so their use of the Maypole for Lupercalia is used as per the storylines portrayal of those witches beliefs. They may not infact be accurate in the representation or celebrations of Satanist witches though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOfUW-8RCmg - Youtube Link
Have Netflix?  Have a watch. This scene is from season 2 episode 3.

If you think the example from Sabrina might be a bit too saucy, below is a link to the Maypole's dance being traditionally done by a group of students from a school who have been doing a maypole dance since 1929- every year. This is a fantastic example of the spirit of the dance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncIAdeQGxoo