Queen of the May

Model
Scatter brush
Everything else from my own photographs and stock.


"She seemed to embody the spring within herself, the song of the river over it's stones, the wind through the sedge and the drift of willow leaves.She was the essence of flowers, the soul of the sunlit land, old as the maypole and eternally young.......
.........at the far end of the clearing,beside a spring of water that bubbled up between the stones, a woman stood. She wore a white dress,long and flowing,and a green sash circled around her waist.Her hair was black as night,softly curling and crowned with blossoms of the May. Once Owen had dreamed her out of thorns and flowers, but now she was real and he was filled with awe and wonder, not knowing who she was or what to say. Suddenly she turned and saw him there. Her smile was warm and she greeted him joyfully.
"Owein! You have come!" cried Bronwen
She made a pain inside him so strong and beautiful he could hardly bear it. He thought he would die before he could speak or touch her,crumble to pieces and melt away into the greeness of her eyes......."

From The Earth Witch by Louise Lawrence



Beltane

Beltane is one of the major fire festivals of the Celtic/ Pagan year and heralds the beginning of summer and fertility in nature. May was known as the "merry month" after it's association with fertility rituals, dancing and celebrating. The Earth is at it's greenest now....bright vibrant green leaves and an abundance of blossoms and flowers. The new spring carpet explodes in woodlands and the heady scent of bluebells and wild garlic can be caught on the wind. The hawthorn bushes are in blossom, also called May blossom, and is the traditional flower to decorate your head and your home at Beltane.


In olden days, suiters would hang a garland of May blossom on the door of the girl they wished to court. May eve and May day are the culmination of the fertile energies of mother nature...it is the marriage of the green man and the spring goddess. The Goddess, ( the earth) who we saw as a young girl at Imbolc, is now a fertile young woman and the God is a potent symbol of the sun's life-giving warmth.