Beltane Family Tradition

One of my very favorite family holiday traditions is the May Branch for Beltane. A person selected as the May Queen carries a branch with paper or cloth flowers for participants to choose, to use as talismans of protection for their home, car, school locker, workplace, etc. 

This year we had the cutest May Queen EVER with my 3-year-old granddaughter Willow.

A person selected to portray "Death" carries the old May Branch out of the "village", with participants casting their negative emotions and energies into the poppet representing Death, before he is burned. This year, we had the handsomest Death ever, my 16-year-old grandson, Shad.  Whoever manifests Death has to be careful to ground those energies rather than becoming "ridden" by them. 

Both of my kids, Rhiannon and Brandyn, have portrayed Death, while Rhia was also a May Queen in the past. I hope the tradition endures for generations.

This tradition was briefly portrayed in the 1970s movie The Wicker Man, but since it was a horror film, they made it seem spooky. It's not. The May Branch and carrying out Death is a happy, life-affirming, joyous rite of spring.

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