This 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 and NeoPagan history 101.

Several of my Wiccan friends place a lot of emphasis on the stories about King Arthur and his times. Is there anything of any importance in these stories to someone who doesn’t think Arthur was real, or are they true?

The Early Christians knew what consummate allegory in their tradition was, and what was historically true. The later pack of scoundrels took out anything that decreased their power and insisted that the allegories were historical facts. Since the so-called history was spurious the spiritual reality of Christianity was obscured because faith was required of the devotees instead of knowledge that came from experience.