I've stuck with the Swedish traditions since I lived there. The fires start at full-dark on Beltane eve and burn till the first glimpse of dawn. Over there, the bonfires are huge and each community has one. We keep ours brazier size -- easier to control, just in case.

Silk ribbons are entwined around us, and we welcome the dawn nude.

Other than that -- mostly what everyone else said.

The following came from my favorite jewelry spot on the Web, Gaelsong.

"Beltane The Lusty Month of May

The sweetest signs of spring have faded, mere innuendoes of the potent force to come. In early February, we searched the frozen ground for snowdrops, Bridget's flowers, the first promise of a new season. By equinox the crocus and early daffodils assured us we could soon let down our guard against winter. And now, we watch for the hawthorn to bloom. When its white blossoms appear, we celebrate Beltane. Its flowers are intoxicating, but not in the way we might expect. They do not invite us closer with delicate perfume, and in fact are unpleasant in scent. But as they open wide on thorned branches, they compel us to take heed. May has arrived and we can not resist life's most alluring seduction.

Beltane is an ancient festival, a celebration of life and fertility. It most likely refers to the Celtic god Belenos, a solar deity akin to the Greco-Roman Apollo. In Irish lore, Beltane represents transition. The Tuatha De Danaan, the earliest gods of the land, were believed to have arrived on May Day, descended from dark clouds to rule Ireland for centuries until the Mil, the next invaders, claimed their place as the ancestors of the mortal Irish. Finally, St. Patrick was said to have challenged the Druids by lighting a fire on the Hill of Slane near Tara on Beltane.

Fire was very much a part of the ancient rites of Beltane. On the eve of the festival, Druids lit fires on high hills. They burned through the night, invoking the sun's power at dawn, cleansing and blessing the celebrants below. Sacrificial offerings were thrown into the flames. Young men leaped over the fire three times for luck while pregnant women waited to step across and ritually assure an easy birth. Embers were scattered on the sprouting fields and taken home to rekindle fires extinguished before Beltane.

Water also played a role in the celebrations. May dew was considered to be a potent agent of fertility and beauty. It nurtured the land and brought vitality to young women who rose before dawn to bathe in the early morning dew. Not surprisingly, the moisture collected from hawthorn trees was deemed the most magical. Many Beltane customs involved sprinkling revelers with water from sacred wells and pools. In Cornwall, it was also known as Ducking Day because boys gleefully splashed water over anyone caught without a sprig of hawthorn.

The element of fire is a symbol of passion and heat, of the sun. In many traditions, it embodies the masculine principle. Water on the other hand most often represents the archetypal feminine - the waters from which all living creatures emerge. At Beltane, the tension between the two demands resolution. What ensues is a kind of creative chaos not readily understood or accepted in modern life. We can only begin to imagine the festivals of our distant ancestors: the smoke of the blazing fires, the exuberant celebrations, the men and women who disappeared into forest and field to merge without inhibition. It is no coincidence that midwifery is celebrated at the festival of Imbolc nine months later.

For centuries, both church and state restricted May Day activities. Sexual expression, whether overt or symbolic, was regarded as a threat to civil society. At one time, even dancing around a maypole was outlawed. But human spirit and the strong influence of nature prevailed across the centuries. Even if today's May Day celebrations are tame in comparison, they still hearken back to ancient symbolism of fertility and exuberance. So, as the hawthorn blooms, create your own May Day celebration. Surrender to the pulsating vitality of Beltane, indulge your senses. Go, as Lerner and Low suggested, merrily astray.

May Wine

*1 bottle white wine (non-alcoholic wine is a fine substitute) *Juice and grated rind of 1 lemon *Fresh organic strawberries, preferably wild *Bunch of fresh woodruff (dried for two days in a well-covered china bowl) or green-dried whole woodruff leaves

Method

1.Add 1/3 bottle wine to the woodruff leaves. 2.Allow to steep for 1 hour. 3.Filter and add remaining wine. Flavor with lemon juice and rind. "