I'm Irish and grew up with the Supernatural legends around Halloween (very different to the US Halloween), witches a sense that on Halloween, the boundary between the human world and the spirit world was lessened. As an aside, I have come to believe that November being treated as the "month where we remember our dead" in Catholic tradition is closely related to the proximity to Halloween. When I encountered Walpurgisnacht and the traditions associated with it throughout Eastern Europe, from Scandinavia down through the Balkans, I was both astonished at the similarities to Halloween, yet unsurprised. In ancient Celtic tradition, there are two (not four) main seasons - Summer and Winter. (Yet Inbolc (1st February) and Lunasa (August) were also "Times of transition".) So Bealtaine (the correct "Irish" spelling) and Samhain were seasonal twins, both marking beginnings and endings. Someone needs to do a video on these parallels.
Thanks for the information! I'm in the southern hemisphere, so watching Beltane videos makes me more aware of the Beltane-Samhain axis. I really like this channel 🤩
There should be a heritage month for NW/Celtic/Gaeilge/Gaelic/Doric/European history month. The amount of traditions, home languages, and cultural beliefs that has been lost to Euro Americans-is sad. We all need to learn more about ourselves and one another❤
The Kelts originated in Central Europe and spread west. Although the Irish were Kelts, they were the last of the Kelts. The first lived in what we now call Slovakia, Austria, Czech Republic. The core of our Keltic culture was nature and how to be in harmony with nature and each other. Although there were religious practices, it was less a religion than a cultural manifestation of how to live in this Universe. May Day was my Slovak grandmother's favorite holiday. The history of this Spring festival went back farther than our recorded history. Even during the Russian/Communist occupation of this region, many families continued with the historical traditions of the old ways.
Interesting, not exactally abou Beltane, but the harvest festivals, at Brasil is the largest tradition, even than carnival, called June's party or St. John's party, and or saints like St. Peter and St. Anthony. For example the Maypole its called St. John's pole.
It's not Bell-Tayn. It's a Celtic festival with roots in Ireland where is it pronounces Byaal-tinneh.. The custom was to pass livestock between two fires to protect to protect them from disease.
The maypole was probably all of those things throughout history. Or, it was conceived as a fun celebrating thing to do and used whatever other reasons to legitimize the whole thing
If the Maypole had 'Celtic' origins then we would expect them to be present in Ireland, Wales and Scotland. But, except for those areas of English influence, they are completely absent. So, not 'Celtic' at all. The quote from JA MacCulloch @ 2.27 is a typical Victorian/Edwardian flight of fantasy (his book was published in 1911) - Sir James Frazer's 'The Golden Bough' (first published 1890) being the most famous example of such unsubstantiated speculations about the origins of our traditions. As Steve Roud says in his 'The English Year' treat any description of an English custom that uses the words 'sacrifice', 'Druid', 'earth goddess' or 'vegetation spirit' as complete nonsense.
He never said the Maypole was an old "Celtic" custom. Beltaine is Celtic however. Re-watch from 11:31 for conclusion, including the part about we don't know where the Maypole came from, but the modern Mayday is likely a combination of Beltaine (Celtic) Floralia (Roman) and Mayday (Germanic).
@@1cruzbat1 It may have not have come across clearly but I was referring to JA MacCulloch's theories which were given prominence in the video. As to the English May Day traditions I don't see many references to Beltane fire and rowen tree rituals or the Roman Floralia festival in them.
@@Wotsitorlabart I agree I wouldn't rely on anything written during the Victorian era for anything but romanticized fantasy. Including MacCulloch and especially Frazer's 'The Golden Bough'. I'd also include Margaret Murray, Jacob Grimm and Lady Raglan. But there are still people who cling to those beliefs. Actually I took issue with some of Roud's work too. Prof. Ronald Hutton would be my go to, along with newer discoveries and etymological work. The history is not settled nor will it ever be because it goes back to prehistoric times. Also traditions and beliefs continually evolve. But I do think this was a pretty good video. Maybe not the title...
@@1cruzbat1 Reading Hutton's 'Stations of the Sun' and it's interesting that he notes the 'Celtic' Beltane fire festivals of Ireland, Wales and Scotland are also found in the Germanic areas of mainland Europe in Sweden, Norway, Saxony, Bohemia, Austria etc. But they are not found in those more low lying areas historically seen as being 'Celtic'. The common denominator being not culture but animal husbandry - transhumance. So was Beltane ever celebrated in fertile England? It would seem not.
@@Wotsitorlabart I agree. They did however celebrate at the same time (or around the same time) with bringing in the May which included many of the same traditions, gathering flowers, wearing and sharing flowers/greens, the morning dew traditions and maybe a night when the enthusiasm of youth was more tolerated. But everything was very regional. To this day in Ireland what happens at 'Beltane' varies from county to county. Maypoles happen at Midsummer in Sweden because of the climate difference. Modern day Ireland has May bushes in some counties and Maypoles in others. People were more isolated in past times. And the further you go back the more variances you will find in their celebrations. Calendars have even changed. Twenty years ago the Hallstatt culture of Austria was noted as the first Celtic culture. I don't know if that's still the case. People evolve, traditions evolve, religion evolves, even history evolves as we uncover more evidence. There is no static absolute 'Beltane' that existed forever even for the Celts.
I like these earth/pagan celebrations bring people closer to the elements and the natural ways that humans lived for a million years before the coming of the sky God . We need to heal the earth by honoring the power of the elements. Or we are toast
Hallucinogenic plants are part and parcel of old religions and culture. But we aren’t supposed to know that our ancestors were smarter than us modern humans.
Beltane? Modern Gaelic (Irish) spelling: Bealtaine, meaning May. [Pronounced in approximate English phonetics: B[y]owlteneh, three syllables, with a slight "ya" sound after B.] "Taine" relates to Gaelic "tine", meaning fire. The Irish Early Christian patrons employed scribes, not ethnographers, because they wanted to read heroic fiction and romances about their forebears; they didn't want the dry facts of pre-literate pre-Christian and no longer comprehensible history. If your spirit rebels against the idea that history can be simply lost, ask someone under seventy how to use a slide rule, or log tables. I believe that by the time some scribe wrote the legend of St Patrick relating how the lighting of the Christian paschal fire superseded the ritual lighting of fires at Bealtaine, the worldview of Bealtaine was lost. I've lived over seventy years in Dublin, Ireland, and I've never seen a "maypole". Think Virgil, not Thucydides, when considering ALL ancient Irish writing. It's fiction! However, there is hope for pre-Christian Irish history: DNA research has reduced the number of clearly identifiable invasions from six in the Leabhar Gabhála, to three!
@@IslaSkye123 Thankyou. The National Folklore Collection goes on my to do list. Meanwhile, unless further information proves me wrong, I suspect maypoles are a Scandinavian & German thing -- not Celtic. It would be interesting to compare a distribution map of maypoles with one for medieval Saxon settlement in Ireland. [Medeval Saxon was still spoken in South Leinster 200 years ago.]
@@ciarandoyle4349 Ronald Hutton in his book on the British ritual year - 'Stations of the Sun' notes that they only occur in Ireland and Scotland in those areas of English influence and language. Not 'Celtic' in the slightest.
