The Beltane Festival Part 3!

[Miss Muffet]

Here is as much information as I could find on the Beltane Festival. I know, it's very long,:sorry: but there was so much that I felt was integral to the event. I hope you find the time to read through it as I'm sure you will find some (if not all) of it interesting. As it is too long for one post I have split it into 3 sections - origins and 2 character sections.

Every year on the night of April 30th, the Beltane Fire Festival is held on Calton Hill, Edinburgh. First organised in the mid 1980’s, the festival has become a much-loved feature of the Edinburgh calendar. Famous for its colour and intensity, around 15,000 revellers flock to share in the experience and join the procession. The origins of the festival are to be found in the Scottish and Irish-Gaelic Pagan festival of the same name. The name itself is thought to have been derived from a Gaelic-Celtic word meaning ‘bright/sacred fire’. It was held to mark and celebrate the blossoming of spring, and coincided with the ancient pastoral event of moving livestock to their summer grazing. It was a celebration of the fertility of the land and their animals. There was no fixed solar date (the tradition of solstices and equinoxes is later in origin) but it was usually held on the first full moon after the modern 1st of May. It has been suggested that the blooming of the Hawthorn was the primary signal for the event before centralised calendars were developed. The key traditional factor which was common to all Beltane festivals was the fire which gave it its name. Every fire in the community would be extinguished and a new, sacred 'Need Fire' would be lit by either the village head or spiritual leader. From this source fire one or two bonfires were lit, then the community animals would be driven through or between them. The belief was that the smoke and flame of the fires would purify the herd, protecting them in the year to come and ensuring a good number of offspring. The villagers would then take pieces of the fire to their homes and relight their hearths, and dance clockwise around the bonfires to ensure good portents for them and their families.

Please take the time to read parts 2 and 3 on the characters of the festival.

[Miss Muffet]

THE CHARACTERS :
THE MAY QUEEN – It is known that our forefathers very generally kept the beginning of May as a great festival, and it is still regarded as the trysting time of witches, i.e. once of wise-women and fays. The May Queen is known by other names - The Maiden, Goddess of Spring, Flower Bride, Queen of the Faeries and Lady of the Flowers. The May Queen is the stillness around which everything revolves. She embodies purity, strength and the potential for growth. She is the personification of the earth’s energy. In medieval Robin Hood plays The May Queen was Maid Marian and in May games she is the young village girl with a blossom crown who is attended by children bearing garlands and wearing white dresses. Folklorists associate her both with Flora, the Roman goddess of fruits and flowers whose festival, the Floralia, was on April 28th and Maia, Roman 'Goddess of Springtime, of Growth and Increase' whose very name may be the root of 'May'.
THE GREEN MAN - The May Queen's male Consort is sometimes simply called the May King, but is known by many names - Jack-in-the-Green, Robin Hood or the woodland faery Puck - Robin Goodfellow. In France he is Father May, in Russia he is the Little Leaf Man. He may also be called Green George, Wild Man or Wodewose.
In all places and times he was dressed in leaves, in ivy, evergreens and flowers, hidden entirely from view, a living spirit of the spring plant life. 'The Green Man', is a name coined in 1939 by Lady Raglan. She referred to the mediaeval images, carved in stone or wood and usually found in churches of a face with foliage sprouting from the mouth, nose and ears or a face composed entirely of leaves. The Beltane Green Man is dormant and inactive until 'he dies' at the hands of the Handmaidens who tear his garments from him - then he is 'reborn' with a wild exhilarating dance that celebrates his youth and the new summer.
WHITE WOMEN - The procession is led by the May Queen and her entourage: four Handmaidens (north, south, east and west) and a legion of White Warrior Women. The Handmaidens and White Women protect the May Queen and attend to her later in the evening in her otherworldly bower. They are the order and discipline to the red mens' chaos and misrule. White Women encompass many aspects of warriors, they provide an army of strength and protection to encircle and ensure the safety of the court at Beltane. Each White Woman is a part of a well-oiled machine, confident and unfaltering in her role, each a heartbeat, part of the rhythm of the ritual. By the time the year reaches it's end at Samhuinn, the White Women have shed their stoic, rigid front, after a summer of being wooed by The Red Men, they have aged to reflect the Hag aspect of the goddess, the Cailleach. They emerge dressed in shawls and bonnets and sing a lament to mourn the passing of summer, but it is also an affirmation of the year to come when they will once more be reborn with the strength to play their part in securing the cycle of the seasons.
THE BLUE MAN :grandpa: - The blue paint refers to the woad used by Celtic warriors, but the Blue Man himself has come to act as the elder rather than the warrior archetype in Edinburgh's Beltane Fire Festival. His role is both practical and spiritual. Queens come and go, the King is killed and reborn each year, but the Blue Man is constant. He keeps the collected wisdom of the Court, the knowledge of the ritual, and maintains the order nature requires. He leads the Court through a spiritual landscape primed with pitfalls to see the summer safely brought about with the death - and subsequent rebirth - of the Green Man. Those who play the part of blue men carry out a similar role in real life during the run up to the events. They visit each of the performance groups in turn to explain the rituals and the narrative of the performance. They offer support and guidance to both organisers and performers alike and encourage all involved to focus on the task ahead.
PROCESSIONALS :marchingb -From the first strike of stick on skin at the beginning of the procession, to the final frenzy at the Bonfire, the Processional Drummers of Beltane characterize the ritual space itself. Even those who cannot see the action are moved to pulse of the massed drummers. Drumming is one of the oldest known methods of obtaining trance states, altering consciousness to allow a glimpse of the divine, and so it is at Beltane - holding thousands entranced as the magical procession makes its way around the hill. Their rhythm represents the passing of time, the cycle of seasons and the underlying pulse of life itself. The processional drummers also take the appearance of the masked winter court drummers at Samhuinn, their thunder echoes around the walls of the Old Town announcing the arrival of the dark days. The summer revellers run in terror as the host approaches to claim the year as their own. They engage in a battle of noise with the summer court musicians as the winter and summer kings do battle with fireballs and broadswords.

Please continue to part 3 if you would like to complete the character information.

[Miss Muffet]

AIR POINT - The first of the four elemental points visited is Air. Air Point represents the elemental nature of wind and air - gentle and ethereal, but also powerful and dangerous. Air is often seen as symbolic of cleanliness and purity, but has a hidden power as seen in nature in gales and storms.
EARTH POINT - Earth is the second of the elemental points visited by the procession. Earth point features aspects of the earth in nature: mother earth, growth, spring and shelter are all elements of earth. Earth is also often seen as one of the most primitive of the elements, as it is the base on which all the other elements exist.
WATER POINT :scubadive - Water is the third element visited by the procession. Water, like air is a mixed element, both nurturing and caring, and needed by all life, but also powerful and violent in storms and the oceans. Water Point represents the different aspects of water, and also focuses on water's role as a cleansing and purifying element.
FIRE POINT :flamed: - During the performance, the element of fire is mainly used to symbolise cleansing and the warmth of the sun at spring. Fire with its raw, untamed nature shows the power and danger of fire and the sun, the source of all life. The role of fire is one of chaos joined with order. In the real world, fire seems chaotic to the inexperienced person, but patterns emerge within the ritual showing a mythical understanding and respect within the performance.
THE RED MEN:stirthepo - The Red Men are the Lords and Ladies of Misrule and Beltane is their night of mischief - the ‘World Turn'd Upside Down’ - the one night of the year where fools become kings. The Red Men represent the archetypes of the mischief makers, Pan-like figures who live for the moment without a care in the world or any inhibitions to repress them. These mischief makers have this one night each year to make merry, tempt, seduce, carry out acts of foolishness and wantonness and inspire the revellers to forget the next day and abandon themselves to the excesses of the night. At Samhuinn, having endured a summer of debauchery and merry making, The Red Men appear deformed, walking with sticks and suffering from blindness and clumsiness. Their 'ageing' is in step with that of the other court characters. Their whole lives lived in just a year in our own world. The Red Men are often misconstrued as being demons or devils, but far from this they are simply a personification of the need in all of us to let loose and go wild just once in our lives. Their very reason for existence is simply to 'throw a spanner in the works', to divert the path of fate. But despite their best efforts, these random agents are always thwarted, often with comical results.
RED BEASTIES :snaredrum - The Red Beastie Drummers are the musical breath of the Red Men. With their strong, flowing, earthy rhythms they amplify the Red Men’s spirit of playful chaos and seduction to the whole Hill. The Red Beastie drummer has a preference for organic drums such as djembes, surdus, dharbukas and shakers, contrasting and complementing the snares, toms and kick drums of the more orderly and serious Processional Drummers.
NO POINT - Caricatures of the Beltane characters, the 'No Point' puppet crew roam free within the crowd at Beltane, poking fun and entertaining those out of sight of the main action. Apart from being a simple in-joke and an amusing play on words, the No-Pointers provide an important interaction with the crowd on the hill, before, during and after the procession. They also show off the impressive talents of the puppet makers, demonstrating just what can be done with an small bundle of wicker. Often they will make guest appearances at other events as they are in keeping with the promenade spirit of carnival and have been a feature of large public performances throughout history. Used in many religious festivals they are usually effigies of deities or figures who have somehow wronged the community. In many European countries, during the celebrations of saints' days these effigies are filled with fireworks and set alight, exploding in a show of colours. Our puppets also usually end up being given a ceremonial cremation, once they deteriorate too much to be used anymore.
TORCHBEARERS :bubble: - Torch Bearers are an important, trusted group. They dress from head to foot in black, blacked out their faces, cover their hair, essentially they are protected from fire and other elements. They are keepers of the boundary between ordinary space and that of the procession. The torchbearers role is both to light the action and, with the Blue Men, to manage the spectators.
STEWARDS - Stewards also occupy an important role, and are a crucial link between the performers and the audience. They help to manage the crowds, protect the procession and ensure that a good time is had by all. Stewards liaise with performers, the production team and the audience, and ensure that everything runs smoothly, while still enjoying a fantastic view of the procession themselves.

Many thanks to all who took the time to read this 'essay', I hope you can use this information or have at least learned something new - I know I have.