Beltane is coming! Get ready for the Maypole dance!

A custom of Bealtaine which has never died out is that of the May Pole. In many places in Britain, Ireland, and North America, children are still encouraged to grab the white and red ribbons and dance the old Morris Dances.

In the days of the old ways, the May Pole was made from the communal pine tree which had been decorated at Yule, with all but its uppermost branches now removed. The ribbons attached to its top are traditionally white and red, white for the Goddess and red for the God, or white for the Virgin Goddess and red for the Mother. The May Pole is a phallic symbol impregnating the birth canal being woven around it by the dancers. There are two thoughts on the symbology for the white and red streamers. One is that the red stands for the Sun God and the white for the Virgin Goddess.

The men, holding the red streamers, and the women the white, weave the birth canal together, representing the union of Goddess and God. The other is that the white, held by the women, stands for the Virgin Goddess, and the red, held by the men, stands for the mother aspect. Together the men help the virgin aspect meld herself into motherhood on the phallic pole. The dancers then do a Morris Dance, the Anglo name for May Day dances, which are rich with pagan symbolism. There are usually eight dancers one for each Sabbat of the year paired into four couples. The dances involve moving in circles and weaving under each other's inter- locked, upheld arms in mock sexual unions.

How to Make a Book of Shadows

First of all, What is a Book of Shadows? A book of shadows is just a journal or notebook kept by a person that is interested in wicca or witchcraft. This notebook is a personal collection of information made by the person studying wicca. The contents can be anything of interest--famous witches, history of witchcraft, various spells, rituals, invocations, and reference materials.

Some people just write the information down as they learn it. Some people like to type the information up and print it from the computer. Pre-printed pages can be found on the Internet for purchase to be added to your own personal notebook.

To start a Book of Shadows of your own, get a 3-ring binder and use it to organize your pages. Start a section for history and maybe another section for rituals that you find interesting and would like to try. Don't forget to add your own notes of your own about how things went when you tried your new-found spells!

If you'd like a jump start on creating your Book of Shadows, take a look at my online store Open the Book of Shadows for lots of pages on all kinds of topics!