Let me preface this post by saying that BD, my other half, celebrates all the sabbats and lunar phases with me when we remember to, but we're not a coven, nor are we romantically involved. When you consider that Beltane is known, at least partially, as a sabbat dealing with sex and love, it's one of the harder sabbats for me to celebrate as a solitary. But I still manage to celebrate every year.
Today, I'd like to share how we celebrated Beltane this year.
This year, BD and I decided to go up to our favorite local lighthouse, Point No Point in Hansville, WA. It signals the point where Admiralty Inlet joins with the greater Puget Sound. There are two main sections of beach at the lighthouse, which we call rough and lee. Rough is located south of the lighthouse because it has stronger waves, which make it the better side for beachcombing after a storm. And there's a beautiful view of Seattle and the Space Needle on that side. Lee is located northwest of the lighthouse, because it rarely gets the rougher waves and is where most people will swim and splash in the water. This side has a great view of Whidbey Island. It's also where we tend to see more of the pinnapeds, dolphins, and fish in the water.
When we got to the lighthouse, the weather was absolutely beautiful and only slightly overcast, but we could see the rain falling over on Whidbey. When we first drove into the park, I could see a pair of pinnapeds out in the water. I'm pretty sure they were harbor seals, rather than sea lions, for two reasons: it's usually harbor seals up there, and BD's been the only one to see the sea lions when we're there. We brought a picnic lunch, which we ate on the lee side. Our lunch attracted a pair of very cheeky, flirty gulls and a chatty crow. We really wanted to leave them something, but chose not to give in to the temptation, as we didn't want to contribute to the local wildlife expecting to be fed by us humans. The gulls were less than ten feet away from us, flirting away for the food. The crow was cagier, which isn't exactly a surprise, and not nearly as chatty as they normally are for us. I'm guessing it was because of the bald eagle we heard flying around behind us in the wetlands. While eating, one of the harbor seals came back and we got to watch him swimming and hunting down toward the point, then we lost sight of him.
We were actually surprised to see how strong the waves were on the lee side, as that happens so rarely when we're there. Based on the size and intensity of the waves, we figured that we would be better off not venturing too far down the rough side. We did a little beachcombing to the point, where we left a couple of offerings that we've been needing to leave [including a rock from the money bowl where we put our change to get lottery tickets with and/or donate to charitable things], then decided at the last minute to head down the rough side for a little while. I think it was the flock of beautiful migratory geese that changed our minds.
For such rough waves, the Old Man [aka Poseidon] wasn't doing His normal routine of trying to get us soaked. I was rather surprised by that, but was still wary. There are crazy sneaker waves along that beach, and a couple of drop-offs that are a bit scary. Plus, it's the Old Man's domain, and I'm <i>always</i> careful around his domain. I managed to dip my fingers in 9 relatively consecutive waves that came up to the shore, so that I could do the blessing on both my and BD's foreheads, like we always do. BD started heading back, but I lagged behind to have a little chat with the Old Man and His daughter, my two main deities. I've been working on ways to modify and deepen some of my spiritual practices, but have been having issues, so I made yet another vow to continue to find a way through my blocks and issues. I know my vow was accepted because the waves suddenly calmed on the rough side for just a bit, and it began to sprinkle.
We headed back to the car, grabbed the flowers we'd picked from our yard, and tossed them into the water on the lee side as our offering to the Old Man: dandelion, azalea, rhododendron, apple blossom, a hosta leaf, a pansy/peony [I can't remember which it is atm & love them both], and a couple of other flowers that I'm blanking on atm, as well as a bit of long grass and moss. Only the pansy/peony was washed back up onto shore while we were there.
On the way home, we got hit by a deluge of a storm, including 2 separate rounds of hail hitting the car. We laughed that the routine remains intact, as we always seem to have that kind of horrid weather when we come home from Point No Point, regardless of the season and weather otherwise. It was another sign to me that the Old Man and His daughter accepted my vow.
Now I just have to figure out how to get through those issues so I can work with Them and any other deities that chose to let me work with them. My state of spiritual flux has been a source of varying levels of concern for a while now, as I've gotten a bit more complacent than I'd care to be. Once my year of daily tarot readings is over, I'll begin looking into other things that may help with this issue.
And yes, what BD and I did for Beltane this year is rather typical of our sabbat celebrations, even if it didn't involve bonfires or any of the other typical celebrations and accoutrements people associate with Beltane.
-- Sadie
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