As we reach the 1st May, our Archaeologist Claire discusses the traditions behind our Beltain Festival at Butser Ancient Farm.

Although this year unfortunately we are unable to celebrate the festival together in person, we have captured some of the essence of the our Beltain festival to share online on our new digital supporter platform Butser Plus. From 12pm on Saturday 1st May discover a special short Beltain Video featuring storytelling, drumming and the burning of the Wickerman alongside many other videos sharing behind the scenes at the farm.

These days the arrival of summer heralds thoughts of long warm days to come, and the possibility of spending more time outdoors. But 2500 years ago, our connection to the land and seasons signified much more than just whimsical dreams of a suntan or a stroll by the sea. For our ancestors, carefully marking the changing of the seasons and acknowledging the growing cycle of their staple crops was literally life and death.

So while the significance of this time of year may have shifted for most of us, there still remains a unique opportunity to connect to the land and seasons in a similar way to those ancestors, and that’s through joining us at Butser Ancient Farm to welcome the arrival of summer with a celebration of Beltain.

It could variously be described as a cleansing ritual, a celebration of the seasons, a pagan festival or more likely a bit of all three. The Beltain is a slippery beast which defies clear definition - evidence is fragmentary and mostly referenced in Irish literature of the early mediaeval period, laced with some slightly dodgy Roman sources with a taste for the macabre.

It is in essence one of four seasonal celebrations marking the Celtic year, Samhain, Imbolc and Lughnasadh being the others. It is situated half way between the spring equinox (day and night being of equal length) and the summer solstice ( the longest day). That this time of year was of huge symbolic importance to our ancestors is reflected in the still widespread celebration of May Day throughout continental Europe, and indeed here, if only in the form of the May bank holiday.

The festival marked when cattle were driven out to summer pasture. Rituals featuring bonfires were a major part of Beltain, the fire symbolising purification. Thus, driving cattle between the flames, as has been recorded in some of the earliest Irish literature, was a way of cleansing and protecting them. Likewise the connected ritual of extinguishing the flames in all domestic hearths and relighting them from this ‘sacred’ fire. An opportunity for rebirth and growth for people as well as livestock.

You’re probably wondering where the infamous Wicker man fits in to our story, and this is where those dodgy Romans surface again. Julius Caesar writes about a wicker man and the role of Druids in performing sacrifices. Never ones to miss a salacious spin story, the Roman narrative suggests the sacrifices were human, stuffed inside the body of the wicker structure and set alight. A few years later, the geographer Strabo, wondering how he could outdo Caesar’s description, stuffs some animals in with the unfortunate human victims. All in all, a vision which has become the stand out image of the whole festival. Which is to say, we have all become fixated on the schlock-horror of a couple of propaganda laden missives from Rome and failed to focus on the true and wider significance of this festival and the resonance it still can and should hold for us today.

So we unashamedly say that our Beltain festival, with its sacrifice-free wicker man, is both a timeless celebration but also one for modern times. We may not all be Celtic farmers, but in our 21st century world, we should be seizing every precious opportunity to connect with the wonders and bounty of nature.

Beltain is usually Butser Ancient Farm’s biggest fundraiser of the year. Please support us by joining Butser Plus and enjoying our special Beltain Video.

You can join Butser Plus from £5.99 a month and pause and cancel membership anytime. We’ll be sharing regular professionally produced videos about the experimental archaeology, ancient skills and nature at the farm.