It’s the Friday before Beltane so here is my annual long article about Beltane with additions and modifications because this year is actually different from last, though its patterns are similar. What follows is a summary of some of the stuff I have written in answer to questions about pagans and their festivals. It includes a brief history of how the current NeoPagan ways of celebrating the old festivals came about. A sort of Wiccan history 101.

‘Tis a gift to be simple says the old song. And indeed it is. Most of us, particularly the younger generation are living in a world that continually gets more and more complicated and at a faster and faster rate as the years go by. We have become avid consumers whose lives are judged by what we have acquired and can play with, paid for or not. Prestige is measured by wealth, appearance or connections with celebrities.

As I post this it is just becoming April 8th in Japan because they are many hours ahead of us in the sunrise department. This is the date on which the birthday of the Lord Buddha is celebrated there. It is appropriate in the land of the Rising Sun that the solar calendar is used and the date celebrated is always April 8th.

As I post this it is just becoming April 8th in Japan because they are many hours ahead of us in the sunrise department. This is the date on which the birthday of the Lord Buddha is celebrated there. It is appropriate in the land of the Rising Sun that the solar calendar is used and the date celebrated is always April 8th.