Beltane - Beauty

I am working on a framework for our Pagan wheel of the Year and uses virtues found in the Charge of the Goddess to deepen our understanding of our holidays. Here I offer you what I've written about Beltane and Beauty.

Beltane - Beauty

As we journey around the wheel, we arrive at Beltane, one of the liminal holidays that encourages us to consider Beauty as a virtue. It may seem odd that beauty can be a virtue until we consider all the ways the word beauty can be used. In the dictionary the word beauty is defined as the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest). Now, we can see more clearly how beauty works in our pagan calendar. A personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest. We might even consider that embodying all the virtues in this framework of our wheel of the year can show us what a beautiful personality would look like.

Beauty is not only found in nature and its abundance of beautiful things, such as a sunset or sunrise, the Grand Canyon or Iguazu Falls. I’ve heard mathematicians say that when a mathematical equation is right, it looks beautiful. We say beauty is in the eye of the beholder to signify that what is beautiful to one may not be beautiful to another. The definition above points to that since what is a meaningful design or pattern would change between people. Additionally, what gives each of us intense pleasure or deep satisfaction may be quite varied. What we consider beautiful in another shows us who we are attracted to for sex, for companionship, for friendship or for marriage or other deeply committed relationships. What we find beautiful may help us decide how to decorate our home, our bodies, our altars or our surroundings.

Typically, at Beltane Pagans celebrate sexuality and dance around the Maypole which are clearly suited to contemplating beauty at this time. As stated previously, who we find beautiful or attractive is different for each person. As Pagans, we want to celebrate any kind of attraction as long as it follows our Rede - do what you will, and it harm none. Thus, Pagans would never advocate for any sexual activity that harms another. Rather, we want to celebrate sexual expression in all its forms as a natural part of human existence and a pathway to ecstasy. Ecstatic states bring us into the spiritual realm, where we can profoundly feel our interconnectedness with all things while being grounded in the body. In ritual, we dance and chant to bring us to ecstatic states and dancing around the Maypole gives us a glimpse into such realms.

We also make ourselves beautiful to attract mates or please ourselves. I must admit, as a Libra, I do appreciate when others try to look their best and I try to look my best as well. This pleases me because beauty is satisfying to me. As we consider what beauty means to us personally, it is also a good idea to consider that cultural messages have been received about beauty. How a woman or a man or a non-binary person is supposed to be beautiful versus how someone feels beautiful in themselves is a good way to begin. Standards of beauty do not serve us and condition us to believe that certain characteristics are beautiful and we rarely ask ourselves if that is true for us. We need to see all types of bodies, colors, and other characteristics as beautiful while still being cognizant of what we are personally attracted to. Cultural ideas are powerful though, and it takes consistent work to uncover our own information. Many LGBT+ people grew up seeing and hearing that opposite sex people should be attracted to each other and that your body determines your gender. It takes courage and relentless self examination to come to the understanding that one is attracted to the same sex or that one is not cisgendered.

We can have beautiful personalities. We can embody beauty by loving ourselves no matter what. Often we may find ourselves critical of ourselves, for various reasons, and our spiritual goal is to always return to loving ourselves. When we can feel the love that is the core of our being, we are more ready to enter a relationship in a healthy manner. This holds true for all relationships, whether romantic or not.