Beltaine Ritual Announcement

Date: Saturday Walpurgus Night ( Saturday, April 30, 2016

Location: Living Table UCC

4001 38th Ave S

Minneapolis, MN 55406

Time: Gather 6:00pm, Ritual at 7pm

Springtime! It’s finally that time of year when the birds are singing and bees are buzzing (hopefully). It’s the time when we call upon the Lord and Lady to bless us and make us fruitful. Please join us for a fruitful Beltaine which celebrates the Heiros Gamos, or Sacred Union. This is also the occasion of our Church’s annual Beltaine Lottery to select the spiritual leaders for the next turn of the Wheel. All WiCoM members and their vouched-for students/guests (age 18+) are welcome to attend.

Arrive as early as 6:00pm for teaching of songs and dances. “The legal stuff” at 6:30 pm. Ritual start at 7:00 pm. No “Pagan Standard Time.” As before, we will be clothing optional at this ritual, and there is no childcare available, so please leave the wee-ones at home for this evening. We expect to have our typical downstairs location, where we will celebrate the May and again ask the Gods to select leaders

for us in the following year.

What to Bring:

• Food and/or drink to share for the feast

• Your own, non-disposable place setting (Earth First!)

• Drums, rattles, guitars, zithers, lutes, or any other portable instrument (and yes, your

voice counts)

• A Sense of Joy and Reverence

Also Encouraged:

• Fresh Flowers for offerings, banquet table, and/or adornment

• Spring-like apparel (if needed)

It is also our tradition to take this opportunity to ask for boons, and to offer your service to The

Gods by electing to present one (or more) of the rituals. About the Lottery: As detailed in the newsletter, any member in good standing (dues paid) who is at least a first degree and has previously attended a WiCoM Beltaine ritual is eligible to stand for the lottery. Additionally it is strongly recommended that the candidate has experienced a “drawing down” at least once.

How to participate in Beltaine

by Rev. John Stitely © 2014

If you are going to attend Beltaine you might want a bit of a refresher on Church Tradition and Practices. This will be the 39 th time that the May Team will pass the power of this office to the following year. (Okay that includes all the times it was done by the Minnesota Church of Wicca, from whom we descend – but it’s still an unbroken line.) If that isn’t the oldest Lineal rite in the country, it is a contender. By attending you are a part of that line. We hope that those of you who are able will offer your selves for the Lottery. We will discuss that more below. But for all attendees there are some general rules and some customs we would like to see honored. First, you cannot attend unless you are a WiCoM member or vouched for guest. If you have people to vouch for you need to let us know at least 24 hours before the start of the ritual. And, as standard practice you must attend with the person you are vouching for. No one may attend that is not at least 18 years of age. This is frankly a silly rule but for one thing – it keeps us all from being arrested. The barrier is because of some reallystupid laws (in my not so humble opinion) that may not and do often do not aim at telling the difference between social or ritual nudity and sexual activity. Be that as it may, we are not going to jail so minors are not allowed. For what it’s worth, sorry about that.

Eligibility, Duties, Rights Etc. of the May Team

To stand for the Lottery a person must:

1. Be a first degree initiate or recognized equivalent.

2. Be a Voting Member of WiCoM in good standing. (Good Standing is defined as having paid your dues before the ritual starts (Yes this year Estelle will take you money at the last minute before the ritual but that IS the deadline) — or having performed at least 5 hours of work for WiCoM that is recognized by the Executive Committee).

3. Have attended a previous WiCoM Beltane.

4. Cannot hold a similar office in any other church or organization. All members who are eligible are encouraged to attend. It is strongly recommended that candidates have experienced a drawing down, and if in doubt about this topic, the individual is encouraged to talk to an Elder— preferably their teacher.

Sky clad

As noted above some people may be sky clad. That is the Beltaine tradition and we would encourage those who are comfortable to do likewise. At the same time, nowhere is it a requirement that you take your clothes off. This is a personal decision and should be done as a sacred offering.

There is a tradition in this church that the selected May Team be invested while sky clad. While encouraging participants to honor this tradition, it has been decided by the May Team last year and continuing this year that if individuals are selected by the Gods AND who have a powerful objection to being sky clad, that person’s choice will be honored. This decision has been made because of the existence of qualified candidates who refuse to participate for this reason. We are sure that the participation this year will be used as a baseline for the next year’s May Team to evaluate this decision.

Responsibilities of the Office

The May Team must perform a Great Rite for the fertility of the next year. Regardless of what others may tell you, this Great Rite is EQUALLY acceptable if done symbolically or in True. The choice is the consensus of the parties. And in case anyone doesn’t understand that it means both parties MUST agree if it is to be done in true (actual sex); otherwise it is to be done symbolically. Sexual coercion has no place in this or any other ritual.

The May Team must perform the next Beltaine Ritual and Lottery.

The May Team are responsible for seeing that all the sabbats are performed. They have a right to perform those they choose or may delegate the responsibility at their discretion. It is up to them alone to determine and coordinate who will perform which Sabbat.

This implies that they can be as involved as they choose with the ritual year and have the right to supervise the ritual content (subject to the possibility of inheriting the whole ritual depending on the response from the delegated ritual team). On paper, at least, they have huge authority and control over the majority of the churches public activities. Insofar as this differs from above they also have the right to plan and lead any church ritual. In that vein, the May Team may chair any or all Church meetings at their discretion.

The next is a big one (Power is never free from responsibility)

— If a member of the succeeding May Team cannot finish their tenure in office, the previous member must replace them for the remaining term. If there are not six (three male & three female) dues paying members who stand for the lottery, the May Team will retain the office for another year. This means that the office is a two year commitment, though in all likelihood involvement will be for one.

The May Team are the unofficial mentors of the next May Team They May be requested by the acting HP/HPS of any Church ritual, to play the part of the God/dess.

It is the duty of the Green Man and May Queen to act as an advocate and give voice to

members that are either dissatisfied or otherwise unable to attend or do not feel that

they have a voice in WiCoM meetings. It is also the duty of the May Team to serve to

provide comfort, compassion and spiritual advice to those Church Members who seek it.

Privileges

The May Team have the great privilege to serve our churches members in the Name of the Gods. The May Team may, at the end of their tenure solicit membership in the Council of Elders. The May Team may host events such as the May folk Open House, Picnic or Brunch and sponsor appropriate activities.

The Green Man may appoint a Summoner and the May Queen a Hand Maiden to aid them and delegate such powers and duties as they wish to these individuals ( By definition they can only delegate the powers that they have themselves.)

It is a common and useful custom for those who wish to perform rituals in the next year, to make that proposal to the new May Team after the ritual. It is nice if they are given a bit to eat, ground and center. It is also the right and worked out fairly well for us if the May Team takes all the proposals home and thinks about it over a few days. Its nice to know who wants to do the rituals but you owe it to the church to put on the best cycle you can and being thoughtful and patient gives you the chance to think.

Clearly you will want to accept as many offers as possible because you want people to be involved. But three people may want Samhain and you can only give it to one. You may be missing an Imbolc. With a bit of politeness you can offer it to one of these groups who would do a nice job on it. Dare to wait is my advice, You are free to take it if you want, and conversely. . .

The minimal requirement s of these offices would require the Team to appoint ritual teams for the calendar, take their gifts home and show up the next Beltaine to perform the ritual. We have had some who have done even less.. To do so little is offer little respect for the Gods and the Church. If you are called to serve, We encourage you to offer your full service, and the best of your abilities, to the Gods and their Church.