Intentional change this Beltaine

by Michelle Lasley

Michelle Lasley is a mother, wife in Pacific Northwest learning to balance green dreams with budget realities.

April 21, 2021

Introduction to Episode

Beltaine, the third fertility festival, and the Sabbat that ends the Time of Dawning and welcomes the Time of Light. Let’s make intentional change this Beltaine.

Podcast Episode Summary

Let’s make intentional change this Beltaine. In this episode, I reflect on what Beltaine has meant and then I invite us to consider what it can mean for us as we move towards a future with changing climates.

I did not review the story of the God and the Goddess, but for you, dear reader/listener, this is the time where the Maiden becomes Mother, and the god grows. You can see these changes in our seasons as well, wehre we are in spring fever, planting our gardens or watching nature bloom and grow up around us. Blossoms are shedding and becoming leaves, summer is rapidly approaching. We are aging in our year.

A note on climate change. In this episode, I reflect how fire season has started earlier than before. Our fire seasons have extended beyond just California and now last nearly the entire summer. Communities are in danger. Our ecosystems are in danger. It is up to us to co-create a future that works for all of us. So, this Beltaine, in this last fertility festival, let us work towards bringing seeds and new ideas of how we can co-create a future that will work for all of us.

The Path of the God/Goddess

Recommended Resources

Learish, Jessica. “What Is A Maypole? A History Of The Fertility Rite.” Bustle, May 1, 2016. https://www.bustle.com/articles/157383-what-is-a-maypole-and-how-is-it-used-a-brief-history-of-this-pagan-fertility.

Starhawk, Diane Baker, and Anne Hill. Circle Round: Raising Children in Goddess Traditions. New York, NY: Bantam Books, 1998.

Wigington, Patti. “A Brief History of the Maypole Dance.” Learn Religions, June 25, 2019. https://www.learnreligions.com/history-of-the-maypole-2561629.

For more information about Michelle, Balance Shared, events, and projects, please visit www.michellelasley.com

Transcript

Hi. This is Michelle Lasley with balanced shared a space where I truly believe we are better together. In today’s episode, we discuss the sebata beltane. beltane is also known as Mayday. This is the third fertility festival in the Wheel of the Year. And that lies right here in the time of dawning. So we’re actually celebrating the end of the time of dawning. And when you think about where we are, we traditionally look at the first of May as kind of the middle of spring. But I’d like us to invite a new thinking. Let’s think of this as the beginning of a summer, the time of light begins now. This is a good time to communicate with the spirits, especially nature spirits. So like sound when the veil is considered to be thin at beltane. spring fever is at its peak here. So at the time of this recording, our backyard is a lush full of dandelions. And I have had the opportunity to sit outside a couple of times in the past week or two, just to enjoy the sunshine and feel the warmth on my skin. And we have these big fat bumblebees that are bumbling along on all of the dandelions, right. So like spring fever, or Magnolia has lost its blossoms. The maple tree in the front on the neighbor’s side has started to get it to new young leaves that bright light green color is found everywhere. And also like to take a more somber note here. This, at the time of this recording, it’s April 20 2021. This episode is going to drop in a couple of hours. And we have had a very warm and dry month here in the Pacific Northwest. Last week, we had luscious, beautiful weather it was we had 80 degrees on the weekend. And we have 70 degrees scheduled for this week. And unfortunately, what came with that were dire warnings to not burn anything. Because fire season has already started. I moved to Oregon in 2003. And that following March, so march of 2004, we had 80 degrees for an entire week. And that was considered on seasonably warm. Most of the fire seasons that happened were smaller, kind of constructed compared to how they are now. And what has happened is that they’ve grown so much bigger, so much larger and last so much longer. My family’s first experience with that was in 2013, when we took a trip down to California, and it just hasn’t stopped. towns are literally destroyed. Because of these wildfires and how out of control they get. I wanted to mention this because our climate is changing. I had a conversation with my grandmother before she passed away, she passed away in 2013. And she too had noticed that the harsh, harsh winters that they were so familiar in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan had gotten milder. And on one hand, you know, there’s an appreciation for the milder it’s not as scary. You might not be so closed up in your home when there’s a blizzard and when that happens. But on the flip side here with the with the beautiful weather that we have, it comes with a price and that price is that we’re not getting the rain that we need. I was conversing with a friend and she said, you know, you’ve heard the saying for for Western Oregon, right? So for the very wet Pacific Northwest, that it doesn’t stop raining until July 5. I’ve shared this many times, right? Like we consider that we have nine months of rain here. And it’s gotten slower. We have more sunny days in June and April and May. And it’s not as drenched and dreary. We need this rain to keep everything lush and green in Yes, we have our drought in the summer. And yes, we have lots of things to learn and evaluate when it comes to forest management and how to do it in a way that’s sustainable and honoring traditions of the past and merging with new traditions that we make. And that’s what I’d like to invite us this beltane I talk a lot about co creating a future that works for all of us. And what that really boils down to is living an intentional life. So getting in line with your purpose for right now, what you should be doing so that you’re in line with your values, your moral compass, and then you’re executing that on the daily basis. And you’re showing up with compassion and kindness with those around you, so that we can find those third options. When it comes to what are we going to do as a collective? When we evaluate our built environment and how we want this to look, what are we going to do as a collective when we look at fire season, and how we want to honor traditions of the past, preserve the humans that are living here now, and doing this in a way that can work for seven generations in the future. So as we consider that the veil is that as we consider an invitation to live in intention, as we observe our changing climate, this beltane this fertility festival, let’s get centered in on harvesting new ideas that can help us co create a better future together. Balance shared is produced and edited by me Michelle Lasley, the instrumental music grass by Silent Partner is from the YouTube Audio Library. If you’ve enjoyed today’s episode, leave a review, especially on Apple podcasts. If you’ve loved the messages of CO creating a better future and digging into ourselves, maybe you’d like to become a supporter. Email Hello at Michelle lasley.com to get your sponsorship guide. Thank you for listening to this podcast. This is Michelle Lasley with bounce shared a space where I truly believe we are better together.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

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