A Beltane Handfasting

The Day Before

Here in Glastonbury,  our home base of the Sacred Celebrants Academy, we have been celebrating the ancient rites of the Beltane festival.  Beltane is the celebration of love, fertility in the land and nature, of the Goddess Rhiannon and the marriage of the May Queen and King.  It is a time when many people meet and fall in love, as we are connected to natures rhythms and feel the sensual energies rising within us also.  It is no coincidence also that couples choose to marry in the merry month of May.  We are so beautifully connected to the sweetness of nature that it often escapes our conscious thinking as to why we feel so alive and loved at this time of the year.

 Today is the day before a Sacred Marriage in the Goddess Temple and as a Sacred Celebrant I begin to enter the energetic field of love the day before , as I make preparations for the ceremony of the Beloveds.

In everything I do there is a sense of mindfulness and ceremonial aspect as I dive deeper into the frequency of love throughout the day. Although I carry out the same tasks with each ceremony, each feeling and connection is completely different, which is why there is no way that this work feels the same each time. It is the energetic connection of the beloveds that influence my waking moments, and stay connected until the ceremony is complete… wow.. utterly sublime.

So my day begins as I prepare my physical body for prayer and intention with a set of yogic moves called the Five Tibetan Rites, do look it up on youtube, it is an amazing way to begin your day.

Then to walk the land and collect waters from the red & white springs here on the Isle of Avalon.

These waters are used during the Water ceremony, which symbolise the emotional aspect of their relationship and to represent the Mother and Father lines , the masculine and feminine that is part of us on this souls journey of earthly life. The waters are blessed and poured into a chalice by the couple during the marriage, mixing the sacred masculine and divine feminine.

Walking the sacred land so that I can completely tune in, before heading back and decorating the Handfasting candle in a quiet and meditative space. This is activated during the marriage by the couple during the Fire ceremony, lighting their Handfasting candle from the Flame of Avalon, a perpetual sacred flame dedicated to the Lady of Avalon here in the Goddess Temple.

At 4.30pm I and the wedding Melissa’s, a team of beautiful Priest and Priestesses, will meet with the beloveds to go through the final preparations of their ceremony in the Temple.

This beautiful vocation requires that the Sacred Celebrant completely connects to the ceremony long before the day, to ground ourselves and be centred, professional, confident, to hold the mind blowing beauty of love in it’s majestic flow, that often reduces the beloveds and participants to tears.. There is a space that the sacred celebrant tunes into that resonates deeply within every aspect of ceremonial work.

Sending love and an amazing unforgettable Handfasting Marriage to our beloveds, Luke and Michael.   See you both in the Temple!