Fae Friday: Beltane Lady

Mother of Hermes! and still youthful Maia!
John Keats

These days, flowers blossom in reckless abandon, and colors grace my sight. When I open the front or back door, the world is filled with the scent of jasmine–mysterious, sweet, and tantalizing. New ideas germinate in my mind. Vivid stories appear on the page. Springtime energy abounds.

The month of May promenades onto the green landscape, adorned with brilliant hues of purples and pinks—and all the vibrant, pristine colors of spring. She is decked out aplenty. April welcomed the heat early here in Central Florida, with the respite of a few lovely, chilled mornings. The blessing is that summer’s humidity is yet to come. So good tidings, May, come and give wings to our spirit with your fruitful riots of color and scent.

The Pleiades (Elihu Vedder)
Elihu Vedder [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
May’s namesake, Maia, participated in the Roman pantheon as well as the Greek. Her mother, Pleione, protected sailors from the dangers of the deep, and her father, the Titan, Atlas, saved humanity by carrying the burden of earth on his shoulders. Maia’s name relates to mother, grandmother, or perhaps wise one. She was the eldest of seven divine sisters, represented by the Pleiades in the splendor of the night sky. Seeking sanctuary from the attentions of Zeus, the king of the gods, Maia secluded herself in a remote cavern. However, Zeus followed the lovely woman to her dim starlit abode, resulting in the birth of a son, the fleet footed messenger god, Hermes, known as Mercury to the Romans.

Back Camera

Maia, daughter of Atlas, shared the sacred bed of Zeus
and gave birth to Hermes, renowned herald of the gods.
Hesiod, Theogony

The Romans depicted Maia as a goddess of spring and the fertility of nature. They celebrated her powers of sexuality and regeneration. Fire served as her element. For centuries people celebrated May 1 by dancing around the maypole, a colorful way of honoring springtime in all her regenerative glory. On the Wheel of the Year, the corresponding holiday is Beltane, a cross corner day falling halfway between Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice. Maia is a Beltane Lady.

Maybe you are watering your garden and encouraging it to flourish. Maybe you are writing that different story you never thought you’d write. In whatever ways you honor nature, spring, and the rebirth of light and energy, Maia sends you mesmerizing aromas and vibrant blossoms to sparkle up your life. What do you love about this time of year?

 

Cheers & Happy Reading!
Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic in Romance

By Flossie Benton Rogers

Paranormal romance author who loves to shake the edges of reality.

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