We celebrate Beltane (Beltaine) on or around the first day of May.  Beltane is the Pagan holiday of fertility.  Its rituals include dancing the Maypole, jumping the Belfire, crowning a May King and Queen and drinking from the Maybowl.

Beltane celebrates the union of masculine and feminine.  That is not to say that it is specifically a holiday for the heterosexual, or for those who are actively partnered.  Although it is the holiday of fertility, its magick is not reserved only for those who wish to have children.

The message of Beltane is integration.  Just as the ribbons of the Maypole entwine with each other, so must we weave the different aspects of ourselves together to create a productive whole.

Within each of us is yin and yang, passive and aggressive, creative and analytical.  If we can meld these aspects together, we are able to live in balance.  From that balanced place, we are fertile.  The fertility we seek may be about generating health, energy, money, art or any other creation we desire.

The Charge of the Goddess expresses both the joy of Beltane and the union of opposites.

"Let My worship be in the heart that rejoices, for behold, all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals.

Let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you."

The importance of this integration is clear throughout the lessons inherent in tarot.  So many Major Arcana cards speak of integration, including the High Priestess, the Lovers, the Chariot, Temperance and the World.  The four suits of the Minor Arcana point the way to integration as well, with Air and Fire as the masculine energies, Earth, and Water as the feminine.

With the springtime, we celebrate new hope, new possibilities and new beginnings.  At Beltane, we joyfully own all that we are, and weave it together to create that which we desire.