THE MAY FESTIVAL
THERE were four great festivals held in Ireland from the most ancient
pagan times, and these four sacred seasons were February, May,
Midsummer, and November. May was the most memorable and auspicious
of all; then the Druids lit the Baal-Tinne, the holy, goodly fire of Baal, the
Sun-god, and they drove the cattle on a path made between two fires, and
singed them with the flame of a lighted torch, and sometimes they cut them
to spill blood, and then burnt, the blood as a sacred offering to the Sun-god.
The great feast of Bel, or the Sun, took place on May Eve; and that of
Samhain, or the Moon, on November Eve; when libations were poured out
to appease the evil spirits, and also the spirits of the dead, who come out of
their graves on that night to visit their ancient homes.
The Phoenicians, it is known, adored the Supreme Being under the name
of Bel-Samen, and it is remarkable that the peasants in lreland, wishing you
good luck, say in Irish, "The blessing of Bel, and the blessing of Samhain, be
with you," that is, of the sun and of the moon.
These were the great festivals of the Druids, when all domestic fires were
extinguished, in order to be re-lit by the sacred fire taken from the temples,
for it was deemed sacrilege to have any fires kindled except from the holy
altar flame.
St. Patrick, however, determined to break down the power of the Druids;
and, therefore, in defiance of their laws, he had a great fire lit on May Eve,
when he celebrated the paschal mysteries; and henceforth Easter, or the
Feast of the Resurrection, took the place of the Baal festival.
The Baal fires were originally used for human sacrifices and burnt-
offerings of the first-fruits of the cattle; but after Christianity was established
the children and cattle were only passed between two fires for purification
from sin, and as a safeguard against the power of the devil.
The Persians also extinguished the domestic fires on the Baal festival, the
21st of April, and were obliged to re-light them from the temple fires, for
which the priests were paid a fee in silver money. A fire kindled by rubbing
two pieces of wood together was also considered lucky by the Persians; then
water was boiled over the flame, and afterwards sprinkled on the people
and on the cattle. The ancient Irish ritual resembles the Persian in every
particular, and the Druids, no doubt, held the traditional worship exactly as
brought from the East, the land of the sun and of tree worship and well
worship.
May Day, called in Irish Là-Beltaine, the day of the Baal fires, was the
festival of greatest rejoicing held in Ireland. But the fairies have great power
at that season, and children and cattle, and the milk and butter, must be well
guarded from their influence. A spent coal must be put under the churn,
and another under the cradle; and primroses must be scattered before the
door, for the fairies cannot pass the flowers. Children that die in April are