Slainte!

We at Clann na Fhaoil-Choin have (after some unavoidable delays) celebrated the coming of Summer with our annual Bealtainne festival.

Bealtainne (bell-shinn) is an all day (and I do mean ALL day) festival for us. It starts at dawn with a brief ritual around bonfires, followed by breakfast. Yesterday morning was absolutely gorgeous with some good wind that lasted through the day and kept things cool. Of course, it also kept us busy keeping the fire going. We lit two fires using our sacred woods -- one in a large cauldron and one in a modern cauldron (three-legged firepit) -- and as the sun came up, the Righ captured the rays of the sun on my sword and fed the sun's energy into the fires. With the Bealtainne fires kindled, most of us went inside to start arranging breakfast while someone stayed outside to keep the fire burning. Our host presented the ancestor's plate, then all present had breakfast burritos.

People left and returned during the day for various reasons, but we always had at least one person tending the fire at all times. It was such a gorgeous day that the outside was as popular as the inside this year! Texas in May can be seriously hot and icky, so we were quite fortunate. Lunch was sandwiches, which is our standard festival lunch, followed by several games (including Munchkin) indoors and hanging out and chatting outside.

We wound up with three teenagers and four kids in attendance, and they enjoyed themselves a great deal, playing with bubbles and just goofing around. The adults did much sitting and chatting.

The second ritual for our Bealtainne is the fire leaping ceremony. The clann sacrificer chars a piece of bread over the bonfire and adds enough unscorched bits to equal the number of participants. The person who choses the blackened piece is responsible for leaping the bonfire three times to symbolically carry the tribe over and through the fire, which is appropriately built up just prior to the leaping. This year's leaper was one of the teenage guests, who leapt nice and high, extending our tradition of having never had a fire-related ER visit!

The final ritual consists of inviting the ancestors, recognizing the fey and land spirits, then telling the tale of the Coming of the Tuatha de Danaan. Once the tale was told, our host took her position and stood as the goddess of our land. She was flanked by a clann member and our fire leaper, who held a representation of the land's fertility (a 25 lb bag of bird seed). The other attendees formed two rows from the seed holders, and a clann member recognized the Righ asked that she step forward. The Righ then identified herself, approached the land goddess and knelt, driving her sword into the ground. The land goddess then recognized the Righ and used her sgain dubh to slice open the bag of seed, showering fertility to the Righ, the tribe and the land. The Righ then stands and embraces the land goddess, and they invite the tribe to feast.

As a sidenote, this ritual has a history of producing children, so persons capable of having children and not wanting them at the moment tend to steer clear from the seeds! The Righ generally sheds seeds for a day or two, and the pile of seeds remain in the host's yard. The seeds that survive the onslaught of birds over the next few days sprout and are left to grow until Samhuinn.

In another sidenote, the Righ really needs to remember not to wear a shirt with pockets for this ritual!

The feast included the obligatory three meats, a salad and squash and zuccini, and of course Cheesy Potatoes and several desserts. After the feast, a regular guest and friend of the clann jumped right on to the clean up and got a great deal done before anyone realized that she was cleaning, which was very generous of her and much appreciated. Later, people lounged around inside and outside, chatting and just hanging out.

As it was getting dark, the husband of our host brought out glowsticks for the kids, and they ran around in the deep dark and played tag until after 9pm. Eventually, everyone started packing up and heading home around 10ish, and by all reports, a good time was had by all!