Breathing in the May blossom penetrates my soul Breathing out my breath is fragrant with sunshine and hope. Leonie Baldwin
It is almost the end of May and the Hawthorn trees (also known in Ireland as the May) are finally coming into blossom. A sure sign that summer has come! Yet so far this May time there has not been much sign of summer weather. Myself and some friends celebrated the coming of summer with our annual Bealtaine (May) ritual on May 10th during which we invoked the summertime with our whole hearted singing of the Irish song associated with May time “ Thugamair fein an Samraidh linn“ (we bring the summer into ourselves) so no matter what the weather is like outside we can sense and celebrate the coming of the summer season in our hearts. Bealtaine is the second most important festival within the wheel of the Celtic Year, while Samhain which stand opposite Bealtaine is the most important festival… The positioning and significance of each of the seasons within the Celtic Year reflects much of the cosmology of the ancient people who created this calendar. From this we learn the importance of the journey that begins at Samhain Nov) a journey through the cold dark season, which eventually yields to spring and emerges into summer at Bealtaine. And we begin to understand that there can be no Bealtaine without Samhain, because both in the natural world and in our own lives we experience the reality that summertime always emerges from the darkness of winter. A quotation that I read somewhere says “ It is always summer in the grateful heart “ this appealed very much to me and I pondered what it might actually mean for me in my day to day life! It challenges me to constantly remember the many blessings present in my life and when I do this in a conscious way my heart swells and I feel the abundance of life flowing in and through me and isn’t it in essence what summer is ? This attitude of gratitude supports the blossoming of the many buds that are deep within us awaiting the right circumstances in which to blossom. I am reminded of the beautiful poem
St Francis and the Sow (by Galway Kinnell)
The bud stands for all things,
even those things that don’t flower,
for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing;
though sometimes it is necessary to reteach a thing its loveliness,
to put a hand on its brow of the flower
and retell it in words and in touch
it is lovely until it flowers again from within, of self-blessing;
My wish for you this summer time is that you will experience the fullest expression of unique self and that your many gifts will blossom into fullness either within yourself or in the world, so that you become a part of the wonderful explosion of life! May you relish the long days, may the sunlight brighten all aspects of yourself so that you become a shining one walking this earth.
Le gra agus beannachtai Dolores