The Midwife of Summer at Bealtaine is the deep growth that has happened beneath the surface as we rested deeply through Winter, from Samhain to the Winter Solstice through Imbolc and the Spring Equinox. We let ourselves rise rooted with a gentle ease into the light half of year at Samos. We do not leap into Summer when we follow the wisdom of our ancestors through the Celtic Wheel of the Year, we unfold gently as we cross the threshold. In the Celtic tradition, Bealtaine is the moment the Sun God returns in his full strength to embrace the Earth Goddess. This union is what makes the land fertile. Without the sun’s heat (Masculine/Yang/Samos), the earth remains frozen. Without the earth’s receptivity (Feminine/Yin/Giamos), the sun’s heat would simply scorch the soil.

1. The Sun (The "Rise")

Belenos represents the Fire of Purpose. This is the part of us that wants to be seen, to create, and to act. It is the "Light Half" of the year where we take our internal ideas and give them a physical form.

2. The Earth (The "Root")

The Goddess represents the Womb of Possibility. This is the "Dark Half" we are leaving behind. It is the deep, dark, fertile space where we aren't "doing" anything—we are simply being held.

Bealtaine is the third Earth festival in the Celtic Wheel. It is a fire festival where the fires are lit on the hills around the country of Ireland to welcome the return of the Sun and the light half of the year as the feminine yields to the masculine. The veil is thin, the portal to the otherworld is open, the hawthorn is blooming, and the "Great Marriage" of Earth and Sun is happening, the sacred union of below with above. Physically, our bodies may feel the urge to do more, stay up later to enjoy the longer evenings and "bloom" alongside nature.

At this sacred threshold the invitation is to rise, this is the energy the sun invites with the lighting of the fires on the hills and the igniting of the fire within. It is the outward expansion, and the visible growth of what you were nurturing in the Winter, the seeds that you planted in the fertile soil of your heart. In the darkness of Winter through the quiet practice of the inward journey, the silent replenishment was happening beneath the surface. The root of the feminine, Giamos, the Yin is the soil, the union. For a tree to stretch its branches toward the May sun, the Samos, the Yang, its roots must go just as deep into the cool dark earth. To Rise rooted is to move into Bealtaine without leaving your soul behind.

In our modern world, we often try to 'Rise' without 'Rooting.' We treat Bealtaine like a starting gun for a race, like a sprint to an end goal rather than a slow, steady sacred invitation to expand. When we rise without roots, we experience the 'flash in the pan'—a burst of energy followed by exhaustion."

At Bealtaine it is a reminder that to rest is the foundation of growth. As we honour the fires on the hill we also tend to the hearths in our home and in our hearts. As we rise rooted we bloom with the wisdom of the soil still in our bones. We move from the feminine dreaming of winter to the masculine doing of summer, but we carry the stillness with us as an anchor.

If you feel the call to rise, but your soul is still craving the deep quiet of the root, join us at Sunday Soul Sanctuary. We will rest through the threshold together, ensuring that as you step into the light half of the year, you do so with a full heart and a steady spirit. We will practice Yoga Nidra as Rooting: this is how Divine Sleep allows us to tether ourselves to the earth. We will journal as Rising: this is how putting pen to paper gives our internal fire a direction to flow. We will honour the turning of the wheel at Bealtaine in Knockrose on Sunday 10th May. All the details are available here.