Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Beltane 2013

We always celebrate Beltane with our local Pagan community. This year they chose to celebrate it on the 27 of April as the 1st landed on a Wednesday. Willowtree and Zed wanted to go in costume and decided that they didn't want to be the usual Fae you see at Beltane. Zed decided on the Horned God and Willowtree wanted to be the Deer Goddess. They made their own costumes and WOW did they do a good job!
Maypole cupcakes
I made some Maypole cupcakes to go with out Beltane picnic lunch. They were a huge success and we had a bunch left from our lunch so Bug took them around to the other fair goers and shared :)
 Beltane Fair always starts out with a parade, you can see Willowtree and Zed in their costumes.
Zed the Horned God and Willowtree the Deer Goddess
Their costumes were a HUGE success! The Edmonton Journal took a bunch of pics as they always feature the celebrations in the events section and this year Zed and Willowtree were chosen as the faces to represent our community. They were both thrilled as am I :) Willowtree was also approached by two different photographers asking her to do photo shoots and one of them represents a modeling agency in Edmonton that were very interested in her and would like her to come work for them.   
I love this pic so much we are having it framed to hang on the wall
Drum Circle
 Their are always lots of fun activities to watch and partake in. The drum circle is one of my favorites and is always very moving. The Knights of the Northern realms are always there showing off all the cool weapons and armor they have. They have displays and games plus you can fight the knights as well.
The Knights of the Northern realms
Watching the knights fight each other

Pool noodle jousting
 My camera started to act up and most of my pictures turned out blurry or overexposed :( Sorry but I picked out the best ones. I was very disappointed when we got home and saw the pics but we still had a blast and the blurry pics to remind us of our good times.
Zed playing hunker down with one of the knights
We learned to play hunker down from the knights many years ago and loved the game so much we added it to our annual Lughnasadh games. The Minions are pretty good at it.
Bug playing hunker down
Beltane 2013 ritual
 The Beltane ritual itself is always a big draw, it is so wonderful to see so many different paths come together in circle, very heartwarming and always makes me so grateful to be able to practice in freedom!! The main ritual is very Wiccan in nature and the opening rituals are a great blend of many traditions this year they had Witches, Druids, Shamans, Wiccans (a couple different trads), Voodoo, Reclaiming and Asatru
Maypole waiting to be danced around
 and then there are the vendors...they are inside and out and have everything a Witch could want!!

This year I finally got my Witch pendant. I have wanted one of these three years running and they are always sold out. So this year I was smart and contacted the seller before hand to make sure she set one aside for me:) YAY I love it!! I also bought one that looks like a Full Moon it is beautiful and will be made into a special amulet for Esbats.
My new Witch necklace

Getting ready to dance the Maypole
The Maypole dance is the highlight of the festivities. Everyone is laughing and having fun as they dance and weave around the maypole, smiles abound!
Dancing the Maypole

Zed and cousin Spencer dancing around the Maypole dancers

My BFF and I
This year I was blessed to have my BFF join us at Beltane she drove all the way from the other side of Alberta to see us :)
This is one of the pics from the Edmonton Journal article

and another of my Pagan babies

a pic of the article in the paper
hehehe Mama is so proud of her Minions.
one last pic...I love how this one shows our community coming together all joining hands to celebrate the same thing. We come from some very different paths but our love of the Goddess makes us one :) I hope your Beltane was as Blessed as ours was.

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