Photo copyright Jasper Schwartz for Beltane Fire Society
Beltane Fires Burning
In my younger years my Beltane was often a wild affair and was celebrated with fire - just as a fire festival should be! Yet my vision of Beltane, and the wheel of the year in general has changed over the years. I now I look upon Beltane as an ebb and flow of many different forms of desire.
Beltane on the Ancestral Mothers of Scotland wheel is marked by sacred desires and unspoken yearnings - those long far off callings that speak to us through time. I often feel they are longings that call to us of home, and home looks different for every woman, home becomes apparent when we take time for ourselves wrap ourselves up in our sealskins and then we’re recharged ready to engage again - with family, our community and with our role we play in the world.
“Jude’s depth and breadth of experience and knowledge as a woman, artist and scholar indigenous to the lands of the Ancestral Mothers inspires trust in the authenticity and wisdom of her teaching and guidance around the Wheel. Discovering Jude and her work has greatly enhanced and expanded my search for the path to my personal Ancestral Mothers and traditions. ” - Ann Harrison
A Primordial Landscape - Looking over to Jura from Oronsay
The Wise Woman Cee-al
Each festival on the Ancestral Mothers journey around the year is represented by an Ancestral Mother - Bear guardians, Goddesses, Bean Feasa (Wise Woman), priestesses - they take many roles but are women who honor Her in her many forms.
Cee-al is the figure of Beltane, her story comes from the nomadic mesolithic peoples off the west coast of Scotland around 6,000 BCE. They traveled from island to island following the natural rhythms and the natural harvests of the land and sea. Cee-al’s role was to know when to move, to know those signs in the landscape to ensure they moved at the right time. She also has a deep relationship with seals and is a guide to women who seek out their sealskins, to women who wish to feed their ancient longing.
A Years Journey Around the Wheel
The course introduces the Ancestral Mothers of Scotland through folklore, art and imagination and honors the energies of the seasons through simple gestures of ritual, art and in creating an altar which helps you focus on the elements of the festival you wish to work with.
