Beltane 2012 – Medieval Weekend

The SOL Beltane Medieval Weekend began with the arrival of everyone on the Friday afternoon, then a delicious dinner prepared by Dark Blade followed by our Full Moon Circle under the night sky, around the fire.

After breakfast on Saturday we dressed in “Medieval” garb and the morning was spent painting our warrior shields, which had been expertly crafted by Rayvensclaw using leather lacing, kangaroo skin and wooden embroidery hoops. Click the following link for more information about warrior shields written by Rayvensclaw.

The Warrior Shields

The corners of the hall we were working in were decorated with shields (made by Rayvensclaw) to represent the elemental correspondence for that direction.

North – Fire (Raven)			East – Air (Dragon)

West – Water (Raven)			South – Earth (Dragon)

Mask making on Saturday afternoon

Most of the masks represent Water Dragons or are symbolic of some aspect of the Water Dragon.

Saturday Night Medieval Banquet

A scrumptious medieval banquet was planned and prepared by Dark Blade. We sat at a long table, with the Lady of the Manor at the head of the table. As in medieval times, the Lady of the Manor decided where the guests were to sit at the table. We ate by candlelight and used only those implements that were commonly used in medieval times – a knife, spoon, bowl, plate and cup. Drinking soup straight from the bowl was considered acceptable table manners. A mulled wine was served from the cauldron.

Banquet preparations in the kitchen.

Saturday Night Ritual

The Elemental Rulers were called to guard and protect the circle, nymphs and fairies danced around the fire, then the Greenman and the Fairy Queen were called. A wicker man (made by Lisa) was burned on the fire, followed by paper representations of little wicker men (made by Maria) for each person present, on which we wrote down the things or issues in our lives that we wanted to leave behind.

Wicker Man, made by Lisa