The Lusty Month of May; Welcome, Beltaine

Blessed Beltaine, one and all!

Hello, and happy May Day to all of my followers, friends...and anyone else who just happened to stumble upon my blog.

Today is the 1st of May, Beltaine, a Sacred and beautiful holiday of the Pagan denomination. It is known as the Opposite of Samhain(pronounced SOW-wehn), which is the time of year when the Veil between the worlds of the living and the worlds of the Fae are the thinnest. Beltaine is also a 'veil thinning' holiday, only the Fae come across to dance and make mischief and merriment for the celebration of summer to come instead of winter.

"are you gonna kiss me now or do i have to
lie to my diary"

Beltaine is basically a big "phew" in saying "OMG WE GOT THROUGH THE FROST, YAY!!!" and planting season is now upon us. It's also the time of The Great Marriage, in which God and Goddess marry in High Summer and proceed to celebrate all year. I think it goes without saying that this is a holiday of fertility.

In the Pagan community, sex isn't really the kind of thing you shame or put a value on in the sense of someone's virginity is a sacred thing. Sex is a sacred act, indeed, but it is done so with respect, versus restraint. It's not solely for the marriage bed, but a sacred gift, an expression of love, and not meant to shame one or another. Sex in the Wiccan culture, especially, is quite revered and celebrated, and seen is a natural and beautiful thing in which two(or three, or four, whatever) consenting adults can worship each other's bodies in their own respective ways...be that vanilla or butt stuff. Honestly, Pagans love banging. And there's nothing wrong with that.

I really love the anti-slut-shaming movement that's happening right now. It's always bothered me that virginity is solely a girl's issue in some respects. What if we treated boys' virginity like a girls'? My virginity was a societal constraint placed upon me, meant to hold me on a pedestal as if it increased my value, somehow, as a human being. I lost my virginity when I was sixteen to my long-term boyfriend. My first time was great; when I look back on that moment, I remember it being safe and loving and with someone I really cared about. I got this healthy attitude from my religion, which told me that it was just as important to them as it was to me, and that I should be respectful of both their body and mine. My religion taught me consent. My religion taught me respect, not shame. I'm not saying that my religion is better than everyone else's, I'm just saying that this is the correct path for me; I repeat: FOR ME.

We all choose our own path; I respect yours, so long as you respect mine. Respect yourselves, respect your bodies...and don't call each other sluts. Seriously, ladies, don't call each other sluts; it makes it okay for boys to call you sluts, which is fucking stupid because boys are encouraged to get laid and party, put marks on their bedposts...it's really not fair to our young men.

I digress.

I celebrate my religion with joy. I celebrate Beltaine with happiness. I celebrate life all around me, and one of the many ways I worship the Earth is by gardening. I love gardening! Gardening is like therapy, only instead of paying someone upwards of $300 per session, you get free tomatoes. It's very relaxing to have control and responsibility over another living thing. Here are a few pictures of my own garden!

My hand for scale

 Here's a purple potato plant; I've got seven in total! And the potatoes really are purple, too!

It's not grass; trust me

This is garlic, which is excellent for all things healing! Plus, it goes great with literally everything...even chocolate. No, really! Many mole recipes have garlic in them. This particular variety is called Spanish Red Garlic. I can't wait until July, when I can harvest them!

Hi, cutie!!

These are the sprouts for a variety of watermelon called Moon and Stars. Google the pictures of a Moon and Stars Watermelon, sometime! They're seriously magickal, and I could think of nothing better to be in a Witch's garden! I'm really excited for these ones to show up!

*bweoop*

This is the sprout of a Royal Purple Bush Bean. I actually planted the seeds for the beans sometime last July, but they never sprouted. I came out to my garden sometime last month and noticed a bunch of very similar-looking sprouts all in a row, all in the places I usually plant seeds. "What's this??" I thought. "Elementary, my Dear Watson!" piped back the little sprout.

"Good show, old bean!" I said. Then I fed it some plant food and we had a chuckle. They've sprouted all over, including in the crack in the driveway I remember spilling some of the seeds last year. No, really! They're growing in the crack of my driveway! (At least I think they are...the plant looks really similar. We'll know when autumn comes.)

I am the Tomato King! Water me and I shall grant you a Boon!

This variety of tomato is called Indigo Rose Tomato. It's said to be one of the healthiest varieties ever! I've never grown tomatoes of this size before, so it'll be interesting to see how I'll do! I'm used to the little guys...oh well!

Oh. My. Gods.

This is my pumpkin patch. The sprouts are large. I tried to get all of them in the picture, but I couldn't. Literally every single pumpkin seed I planted has sprouted. Do you know what's funny, though? I have no idea which is which. I saved all of the seeds from the pumpkins I ate and carved last  year, but they got mixed up in the drawer...so it's basically a mixture of Rambutan, One-Too-Many, or Long Island Cheese pumpkins....maybe. And I'll only know in the autumn. Oh well! I always did like surprises.

Do you garden? Post pictures of your garden below!

And Happy Beltaine!