Beltane, one of the greater sabbats on the Pagan wheel of the year is celebrated at the beginning of May. Beltane’s spiritual meaning centers on fertility, the rebirth of plants and animals, and the sacred union (hieros gamos) of masculine and feminine energies. This symbolism honors the midpoint between the spring equinox and summer solstice, celebrating the return of warmth and the awakening of life.
It is an ideal time for setting intentions and making short-term commitments—traditionally “a year and a day”—to align with nature’s creative force and vital sensual energies. These currents are personified through various deities and archetypal figures, including Cernunnos, Pan, Aphrodite, Kali, Freja, Aine, and Eros. The archetypal figure of the Green Man—a figure not tied to a single pantheon, yet widely associated with renewal and resurrection is central to much of the European folklore of Beltane.