The Manx celebration of Beltane/Beltain/Bealtain, known locally as Yn Voaldyn, was an important part of the rural calendar that still has customs associated with it. It was a time when the fertility and safety of households was celebrated.
#WyrdWednesday 🧵
Some superstitions suggest that if you listen closely to the crackling sounds of a fire, you might hear whispers or murmurs from the spirit world. These whispers were believed to contain messages from witches or other supernatural beings 🔥
#WyrdWednesday #LegendaryWednesday
#May by Eugene Grasset, for La Belle Jardiniere, #artnouveau calendar, 1896. #May 1st #1stMay #May Day #Beltane #spring #May Day2024 #WyrdWednesday #LegendaryWednesday
The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea In a beautiful pea green boat. They took some honey, and plenty of money, Wrapped up in a five pound note.
~Edward Lear (1867)
art by Chris Dunn #wyrdwednesday
#WyrdWednesday
Our ancestors believed that Beltane was a time when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead was at its thinnest, allowing spirits to cross over and mingle with mortals.
🍀🔥🍀Before the Beltane bonfires were kindled, all local hearths would be doused and afterwards relit with brands taken home from the sacred fires, to bring protection, good fortune and fertility into the households.
#WyrdWednesday #LegendaryWednesday
People were keen to please the fairies, known in Gaelic as the aos sí, who were believed to be particularly mischievous around Beltane and Samhain. The fairies were “supposed then to possess the power and inclination to do all sorts of mischief
#WyrdWednesday 🧵
Beltany stone circle, near Raphoe, Co. Donegal. 64 stones c. 2100-700 BC? Linked to marking sunrise & sunset at Beltane/Bealtaine & other 3 celtic agricultural festivals? May also have lunar orientation, yet to be calculated. Name of site linked to Beltane. #WyrdWednesday 🌄
Never regret thy fall,
O Icarus of the fearless flight
For the greatest tragedy of them all
Is never to feel the burning light.
~Oscar Wilde
#wyrdwednesday #bookchatweekly
Dancing around & jumping over bonfires are Beltane customs meant to welcome the sun, cleanse the community of the winter months spent indoors, & purify them of harmful influences. Couples also leapt fires together to pledge themselves to each other. #WyrdWednesday
At Beltaine, the ancient Gaelic used bonfires and their ashes for protection: for people, for livestock, and for homes. People and animals would walk through fires to ward off spirits, and houses were adorned with fire-like flowers and ash, all in prep for growing. #WyrdWednesday
the works crew don't relish the return of summer - it can get damn hot down there in the sewers below town ...and sometimes receding water levels reveal sights better not seen
#WyrdWednesday #BledbrookeTales
Though the alchemists are most famous for trying to turn lead into gold, that was merely a step towards their ultimate goal - the potion of immortality. They felt spiritually purifying lead to become gold would help show them how to spiritually purify human bodies.
#WyrdWednesday
In ancient Greece, the aquamarine was thought to have tumbled from a mermaid’s treasure chest. The blue gemstone was believed to be blessed by the sea god Neptune, and said to provide protection and bring good fortune.
art by Edmund Dulac
#wyrdwednesday #bookchatweekly
MAY DAY marks the Celtic festival of BELTANE; half way between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. The veil between our world and the shadow world will be extremely thin and it's exactly half way to Halloween🎨Rheam 1903 #GothicSpring #MayDay2024 #WyrdWednesday
