This has been quite a life, thus far.
Beltaine falls at this time of year where the planet is juuust coming into ripeness and fullness. We are each of us, ripe and full with different things. Sometimes we are literally ripe and ready to conceive, and sometimes we are just at the point where we are ready to move forward into a new thing, something we have been dying to try but have not been ready to before now. New crafts, new recipes, a new activity….maybe finally step into the gym, or into a retirement….it’s all of those things, but they all have one thing in common.
It’s the EXPERIENCE of it, you see. The experience of trying something new.
When you try a new food, you smell it, look at it…you chew it and roll it around in your mouth to test the texture and taste…you experience that food in a different way than you do, say, a burger, because you don’t EXPERIENCE burgers anymore….you just eat them.
There is a quote from The Witch (an excellent period horror movie that is well written and acted, and not filled with silliness) which is, “Would you like to live deliciously?”
Imagine that you are a puritan, super suppressed, joy is limited to those things that involve your concept of God…how tempting, how liberating (how intimidating? How frightening?) is that question?
Pagans in general (and there are always exceptions, for there are so many branches of Pagan) experience Deity in every-day life. Sunrises, or the migration of birds, the smell of grass, the sound of water, the beauty of the bonfire. All these things are sacred to us, and sometimes we forget that we should be experiencing them in addition to just looking at them. There are things in our every day lives that can be experienced more fully….I often think about it when taking the clothes out of the dryer. I love the warmth, the smell of fabric softener or detergent, I use Patchouli laundry detergent, or Frankincense and Myrrh. It’s a job, sure, but it’s also a little interlude where I can bury my face in that smell and just enjoy and be grateful that this is in my world. When I was younger, I was too poor to afford fabric softener, and I often had to take my clothes to a laundromat. This luxury of doing clothes at home is lovely. Sure, it’s a chore, but it’s also so much better than my life before. I think of that when I do vacuuming, or when I am loading the dishwasher. My life has led me to this place where I know these things are luxuries, and I am grateful. And I experience them BECAUSE I am grateful, not just doing the chores.
My Beltaine wish for you is that you find your deliciousness, whatever it is, and you spend some time doing that. If you already know what it is, I wish that your technique of enjoyment spreads to other things, so you can live even more deliciously than before. If you are with a significant other, rediscover your partner (sensually or otherwise)….if you are alone, rediscover your Self. (Sensually or otherwise…You deserve that time, believe me.)
Life is Delicious…Savor and Devour it. Get the juice on your chin, the berry-stains on your fingers. Roll around in it, get the smell in your hair and clothes and skin.
As long as you are breathing there will be more, and someday you will breathe no more. Don’t disservice yourself by living with less. Always reach for more. Be a glutton for Joy.
Blessed Beltaine.