When a Goddess takes a lover, he can be no ordinary man. Look closely and the forest will rise to meet him, the grass leaning upward to kiss the soles of his feet; the wind keening with desire against his back. In his eyes the beginning and end of worlds; in his hands the strength of ages.
In his time he has been called many things; King Stag, Horned One, the Wild God, Greenman, Lud, Osiris, Odin, Dionysus, Pan. Guardian of the trees, Walker of the Woodland Realm, Father of Time. Now tall as the mighty oak, now altogether its shadow; be still and you may see him; to be sure, he has seen you.
Be kind. If you can, speak softly to him, out loud; because in his heart he is waiting, as those who are in love often do. Waiting for the earth to warm beneath his feet, waiting for the sky to turn from grey to blue, waiting for all the secret signs she has awakened; waiting for the sound of her footsteps running, light upon the woodland floor.
And then will his heart be full. As she who is called Goddess, Rhiannon, Artemis, Flora, Queen of the May, Mistress of the Moon, comes into his arms once again. And then will the creatures of the forest make them a bed of flowers to lie upon, and keep watch for them this night; as the great fire of their passion sets the land aflame; igniting the seeds of the earth with life, and alighting in our own hearts those dreams that are of passion, adventure, creativity and above all else, love, in all its living forms.
And when at last the great fire disc Bel rises in the sky, and they have remade the world anew; the Goddess now abloom with life in her belly; the lovers will part once more to tend the great work they have begun, and go out again into the world.
But their longing for one another never dies, and ever burning on their lips are these parting words; “until the night we meet again.”
And this is why, at this time every year, the trees cloak themselves in flowers in honour of the union of the Goddess and the God.
And this is why, at this time every year, the people of the old ways light the fires of Beltane in honour of a passion blazing so dazzlingly bright, it ignites all life on earth.
And this is why we too, at this time every year, may find ourselves, at the strangest moments, dreaming new loves, and new ideas, into life.
Words: Ellie Brooks (Copyright 2019)
Image: Stunning artwork, used with kind permission, by Emily Balivet, check out her other beautiful works for sale here.