Beltane

Once someone asked me about Beltane and how I would describe it.  Last year I wrote this....

http://crystalcauldron.blogspot.com/2011/04/beltane.html

I am still in search of how to best celebrate this Sabbat and explain it to my children.  My 8 year old could really care less about anything religious at this point.  My two year old has no clue either just because he is so young.  At what age do we start to teach, share, educate our children about our faith?  When it is appropriate and when is it not?  How much do you share with them and what do you candy coat?  In regards to Beltane, I for one am not ready to talk to my children about the Fertility Rites that I hold dear about Beltane.  I am not ready for that specific talk about "Birds and the Bees".  So I take the saying and speak specifically about those animals on the face of the Earth.  I like to point out the birds that sit upon our fence and sing to us each and every morning or throught the day.  We talk about how different they are from one another from their songs to the colors of their feathers.  Michigan is blessed to have a  wide array of birds that we can watch.   As for the bees, I am very phobic about them.  So we tend to watch them from afar.  I am hoping that my favorite Bee Priestess Jacki will be able to help me conquer my fears this coming summer as she is a Bee Keeper with actual hives.  I will make sure to ask someone to take photos of that event when it happens!

Sincerely,
Crystal

Beltane

So Beltane is almost upon us.  This year I have been attempting to "share" my beliefs with my children.  Lancer is now starting to understand more since he's now 7.  Shaunessy still really has no clue what Mommy is talking about since he's about 22 months +.  He will be two at the end of June.

How does one explain to a child what Beltane is without talking too much about the aspect of the Great Rite and fertility rituals which are a major aspect of this Sabbat in my personal practice.  This is what I came up with.....Right now, I feel he just needs to know that the Great Rite is the love between the Goddess and the God.

The Red Rose.....

It's a symbol that I actually use during my rituals to symbolize the Great Rite.   It is a combination of both masculine and feminine.  It is one of the many things that is a product of the joining of the God and Goddess.  Its long green thorned stem represents the male diety and the beautiful soft red petals represent the womb of the Goddess.   Their "love" for one another produces many beautiful things upon this great place of Gaia.  Within my own practice I recognize the light and dark of everything.  Father Sun with Mother Moon.  Night and Day.  Cold and Hot.  Male and Female.  In my own beliefs, you can not have one part without the other.   The two become one to create life and or energy. 

How would you explain Beltane to children?