Sluggy's Pages!

Volume 2, Issue 3 - Beltaine 1997

Welcome to Sluggy's Pages. This is Shining Lakes Grove's kids' page. It comes out eight times per year, with information and activities for the young folk and their parents. We encourage you to send us any seasonal stories, poems, art, games or puzzles for us to include in this newsletter. Editor is Mama Moon: (313) 439-0434 or send mail to: 38 Neckel Ct., Milan MI 48160.

Maze

Help drive the cows through the bonfires for Beltaine.

May fact

When a boat in distress calls "Mayday, Mayday", they're not calling the Sidhe folk out, they're hollering "help, help" (m'aidez, m'aidez) in French!

Lore Corner

• Did you know that Beltaine means "the fire of Bel"? Bel is the source of our "bíle" - the pole represents the sun's light brought down to earth to help create life.
• The maypole is an ancient fertility dance from England.
• The Hawthorne is also called the May Tree, and it's only allowed inside the house on Beltaine. It's the faeries' tree and when it's found alone on a hilltop, it is believed that that's a fairy mound.
• The word "sidhe" is Irish for "hollow hill", so when we call the little people the "sidhe folk", we are calling them "the folk of the hills".
• In ancient times, a special fire was lit on a hilltop at Beltaine. That fire, called a "need fire" was lit from the sun's light or from friction, not from a taper candles (there were no matches) or with flint and steel.
• The cattle were driven between two fires to purify them from bugs and evil spirits as they were sent out to sumer pasture.
• Jumping over the Balefire reminds us that long ago in times of stress the people might sacrifice animals or even a person to the gods. The designated sacrifice was the person who got the burned cake out of a batch. (It was burned on purpose.)
• May apples have fruit beneath their leaves, which ripen around Beltaine. They are poisonous at any other time, but when ripe, the deer love them. Look for their umbrella-shaped leaves in the woods.
• It is considered bad luck to attract the attention of the sidhe folk or to refer to them as "fairies", so they've been called "the good neighbors" (hoping they will be), the wee folk, the folk of the hills, etc.
• Within the flowers of a fruiting plant are the beginnings of the fruit. When the blossom has dropped off, the fruit begins to form. So if April showers bring May flowers, May flowers bring summer and autumn fruit.

Ana's Play House

You can make a terrarium out of two empty soda pop bottles. What's a terrarium? Its name means "place to see the earth" - just like a "planetarium" lets you see the planets, and a "solarium" lets you see the sun's light. Here's how to make a simple one:

Take a pair of empty two liter bottles. Cut the top off of one and the bottom off of the other. Into the bottom that you cut off, put some good black dirt, such as from the woods. Plant in it some little ferns and other forest-bottom plants. You might find an interesting small rock or two, and perhaps a stick. Drip some water over the earth. Find some small animals who like to be under plants or rocks, such as earth worms, beetles, millipedes and centipedes, and give them a home there. This is going to be your little world. Now turn over the bottle whose top you cut off, and put it over the dirt-filled bottom. The larger bottle will slide into the smaller part with a bit of effort. Keep it in a sunny spot.

When the terrarium is working, the animals get all the nutrients they need from the soil, their oxygen from the plants. The plants get the carbon dioxide they breathe from the animals and their food from the soil. If it's working right, there will be a bit of mist on the walls, from the sun heating up the water in the soil. If it gets too dry, take off the top part and sprinkle a bit more water over the plants.

Beltaine Word Search

R A I B T R I L L I U M

B N E E U Q Y A M M O U

C A T T L E N D A A H S

S C A L I L A A Y Y S I

L U G H P I M N A P W C

I G N I S L A C P O Y S

D A I S Y Y Y I P L A T

O E A R I N I N L E D E

F E A S T I N G E A Y L

F U S H I A G V I N A O

A B O N F I R E S G M I

D U B D E R Y E L L A V

Circle the left-over letters to spell a Beltaine message!

------- -------

• ana
• a-maying
• arin
• bonfires
• cattle
• daisy
• daffodils
• dancing
• feasting
• fushia
• hyacinth
• lily
• lilacs
• lugh
• mayday
• mayapple
• mayqueen
• may pole
• music
• redbud
• sing
• tulips
• trillium
• valley
• violets

(Answer at the bottom)

Family Traditions for Summer Solstice

Midsummer is the longest day of the year. You can usually find the times of sunrise and sunset in your local newspaper. Being the sun's day, the last day before it begins its descent, you may want to try and get up early enough to see the sunrise. Consider camping out on a high hill-top the night before, to ensure that you get a good view of the sunrise, or spending the day together hiking and picnicking in the summer sun.

Between Beltaine and Midsummer is the time to plant the seedlings you started after Spring Equinox. Your local farmers market probably has lots more plants. Shady spots are good for herbs, sunny spots are good for vegetables and most flowers. When the flowers are blooming, you could pick one of your favorites and press it. Place the flower between two sheets of wax paper and place it in a thick book. St. John's Wort is a useful herb which is especially sacred to the sun. It has lovely little yellow blossoms. Plant it in a sunny spot aound Beltaine and it should be ready to harvet the tops and blooms by Midsummer. It's good for sprainds and aches, and a little of the tea is good for grumpy moods.

Since, in the Celtic tradition, water balances and limits fire, today is a particularly good day to go swimming, or to water your plants. While this is the longest day, it isn't necessarily the hottest. Keep a chart or bar graph of temperatures from now through Lughnasadh. Remember to check your thermometer at the same time each day. In your area, when is it hottest outside?

Answer to the word search

ribbons weaving

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