#meitheamh

Áine, Rowan Kal, 2026, digital painting

. . .Beltane would have been celebrated at some point from May 20 up to the midsummer solstice on June 21!

That is a bit of a surprise, but the calendar itself is giving us clues that this is likely the case. The crucial central day of Beltane, SAMONIOS Day 1 has its notations swapped with those of DUMANIOS Day 1, the day of the summer solstice, linking these two days of Beltane and midsummer. These two months of SAMONIOS and DUMANIOS swap other days too, most significantly they also swap the days of their full moon. These two months are so intimately linked, almost as if we should consider them part of the same time event."

—"Beltane and its Relationship to the Summer Solstice" by Helen McKay

“Elvish singing is not a thing to miss, in June under the stars, not if you care for such things.”

“Magical tea” with fig leaves, fruits and leaves of garden strawberries, fresh mint, savory . As I child I couldn’t help but wait for the summer to come for one particular reason. To leave my home town and go [back] to my grandparents’ in the country. The more the time passes, the more I give myself an account of what exactly this kind of escape[s] had been given me. This year I came to the…