A Celebration of Sacred Sex
Beltane (April 30th) and May Day (May 1st) marks the awakening of the young God into manhood and the stirring of his passions by the Goddess and her vital, fertile energies that she has been working in nature.
The God and the Goddess fall in love and come together in sacred sexual union conceiving a child in their powerful fecundity among the flowers and grasses of the Goddesses creation.
We see the richly sexual metaphors in the May Day with poles and circles everywhere representing the male and female sexual organs: maidens dancing in a circle round the beautifully decorated and phallic Maypole, the crowning of the May Queen or the placing of circular ‘crowns’ on Hawthorn (May) trees.
While Morris dancers wave their wooden staves or swords in some traditions baskets or cauldrons are filled with foods traditionally made of two ingredients – the two things coming together to make a third.
Indeed, Mayday celebrations were banned in the 1600’s due to their laviscious wickedness and heathenism, generally a sign that there was Goddess worship afoot and that the Gods and Goddesses were being celebrated as equals.
How Does Beltane Fit In With Chinese 5 Element Theory?
Beltane actually means ‘Fire of Bel’. Bel is one of the most ancient Celtic Gods Belenus, which means ‘bright one’.So perhaps it is no surprise that once again we see the cross over of ancient cultures, systems of belief, and philosophy.
In one part of the world fire festivals celebrated the start of summer as Beltane or Mayday is celebrated with bonfires and in Chinese 5 Element theory April 30th marks the end of Wood phase and May 1st is when Fire phase begins.
So the burning of the wood to usher in the fire makes perfect sense across both cultures.
The association of Beltane with sex is also echoed in the Fire element in Chinese 5 element theory.
Sex and fire are synonymous and not just because of the King’s of Leon song!
One of the meridians associated with the fire element is circulation sex meridian and the associated body tissue is the blood vessels which of course expand and dilate when we are sexually aroused.
Interestingly, the super power of Fire is maturity so the celebration of the coming into manhood of the God is another crossover of cultures.
A more in depth blog dedicated to fire phase will be coming soon.
How Does Lilith Work With Us at Beltane?
When we work with Lilith we are working with sacred sexuality and eroticism and sexual power.
That Lilith refused to be dominated during sex with Adam which lost her to him (and sadly to us) and meant she walked away from her place in the garden of Eden demonstrates her unwillingness to give away her sexual power. Sexual power is something that we, as mortal women, have been giving away or having forcible taken from us and that we, as mortal men, have been hoarding and forcibly taking to the detriment of both.
Lilith reminds us that we can reclaim our sexual power and that through sacred eroticism and sex we can not only allow us to reach the pinnacles of sexual ecstacy but can also heal ourselves and open a channel to the divine.
Masturbation May
Sex in all forms can be sacred and the ultimate act of physical selflove is no exception.
Masturbation can be an act of worship to yourself but you could also dedicate your orgasm achieved this way to the Goddess, to Lilith, to the Divine. You could dedicate it to whatever you like really. A friend of mine sometimes dedicates her orgasms to the Spirit of Money as a way of showing her love and helping to remove her abundance blockages.
You can also use it as a method of tuning into your higher self. In the build up to and at the moment of climax we are open channels to our higher selves and to our divine purpose so it is a good time to ask questions and seek answers and solutions. It’s a common thing to say that someone will meditate on something, but how about we masturbate on something instead?
If you are not quite in the space at that moment yet to actively think about a question or problem that requires as answer you can try writing it down placing it underneath you; physically masturbating on it as opposed to mentally masturbating on it.
