The first of May, a time to dance, to weave colorful ribbons about a maypole. A time to celebrate the uplifting, the fertile, the greening. A time to make love. Yet this year, I am as attuned to what is below as what is above ground. I am not alone in this as we navigate a global pandemic, either isolating or putting our lives on the frontlines of healthcare and infrastructure, navigating fear and loss as much as any pleasures we might find in this season.
I notice the young tree leaves pushing out of their buds, the white dogwood flowers lighting up the meadow through the woods. I eat violet leaves and flowers, the sweetness of Spring such pleasure on my tongue. See the morels I found? Their fruiting bodies, the pattern of crevices and p
eaks, mirror their fibrous underground web.
This year, as much as I focus on the abundance of the green ones around me, I focus on strengthening webs of connection: I seek out my own mycorrhizal network of humans, and look beyond to connections with all beings and all ecosystems. I connect from the Stars to the core of the Earth, availing myself of all the energy they offer, and channeling it out into the web of connections. I breathe Earth and Star energy, the life force that funds us, noticing how it fills and relaxes me, how I circulate energy back to Earth and Stars and All.
At the same time as those of us in the Northern hemisphere focus on the land greening and springing to life, those in the Southern hemisphere observe Samhain, the time when we reach through the veil to our Beloved Dead, visit the underworld, and prepare for the longer nights of Winter. I feel more connected than ever to my Reclaiming friends in Australia, Brazil, and New Zealand (settler/colonial names). Together, we come into balance. Spring and Fall embracing as we move towards Summer and Winter.
May your Beltane and Samhain be supportive and healthy. May your rituals and workings prepare you to move out into the new world—the just and regenerating one we’ll create together. Blessed be!