Beltane, Eroticism and Sacred Sexuality

Earth’s Sexy Holiday

One of the lesser-known celebrations, which are part of the earth-based spirituality cycle of holy days, is Beltane, which happens these days on May 1. Originally, Beltane was a Gaelic festival honored in Ireland, Scotland and on the Isle of Man.

Typical celebrations today include bonfire gatherings on every hill, boughs hung over doorways as a sign to maidens living within that a certain young man is interested, the rather obvious symbolism of dancing around and decorating a Maypole and, of course, rowdy parties which conclude with plenty of sex and giggling in the bushes—in the theory that all that lusty energy will help motivate the Earth to bloom and grow abundantly.

Sacred Sexuality

Another important Beltane tradition is referred to as the Great Rite, which, along with Hindu tantra, is the most powerful example of sacred sexual practice known today.

During the Great Rite, a King and Queen bind themselves to the land, or a priestess and priest, as part of the celebration at a sacred site, blend their energies sexually while connecting with the energies of the Earth’s ley lines or vortexes. They do this to help create abundant crops and to further the health and well being of the nation, the community and the land, both wild and cultivated.

As the masked scene in the movie The DaVinci Code showed, the event is often, but not always, witnessed by fellow celebrants. In ancient times, the community as a whole witnessed and participated vicariously as the King and Queen blessed the land and their lives via the sacrament of sex.

But Sex Is Just Sex, Right?

Sex as an act of service or devotion can be quite different from romantic sex or eroticism.

There is no question that an intense sexual experience, whether or not there’s love present, can actually cause changes in your biochemistry, igniting cells, chakras and your energy field as a whole and, as a result, often triggering significant transformation in your life. Sacred sex, however, usually activates profound transformation not only for you personally, properly directed it also can have the same intense effect on the world around you.

A Beltane Meditation

If you would like to work with the Earth’s energies to support and further renewal and recovery from recent disasters like the Gulf Oil Spill, or the earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, Taiwan and Japan, you can use this meditation, which is based on Great Rite experiences. You can do it alone or with a partner or group, adding the dynamic of actual sexual union or not. It’s very powerful and effective, however you choose to enact the experience.

Preparation & Celebration

This will be most effective if you can celebrate this Earth’s awakening moment outdoors at night, and if you have a crackling fire and, even better, if you’ve done a Maypole dance and other fun spring rituals. If that isn’t possible, it’s good to imagine all those things as a beginning to your meditation.

If you do this with a partner, it would be helpful to practice the steps at least once before you do an actual Beltane celebration. It’s important to do this in a space which is sacred to you, whether you create it yourself or visit a spot which feels magical or full of life and energy.

If you choose to do this alone, then work with your own inner masculine and feminine energies, called animus and anima in psychology. If you celebrate with a partner, then awaken and raise your sexual energies with foreplay, but stop just after entry. Remain linked, but before continuing, begin belly breathing together. After the breathing rhythm is established, imagine that you are sinking into the earth, becoming part of it. Remain quiet until you can feel or imagine the Earth’s energies moving through you like a powerful river, and then begin to move in a sacred dance of joining, feeling the currents move out further and further as the energy rises. You can imagine these currents going anywhere you would like to send healing and renewal.

Once you have connected with the place or places where you would like to send energy, allow the Earth energies to direct your sacred dance until they and you reach an ecstatic peak, releasing the huge currents of energy as you experience physical release. It usually feels first like the energy being pulled out, like water receding from the shore, and then rushing back in like a wave breaking.

To complete the celebration, be sure that all residual energies are released back into the Earth, and then share food, drink and gratitude—joyfully.