TWH – This time, right around May 1st, are the traditional dates for many of the major Spring/Summer festivals in modern Paganism (in the northern hemisphere). Beltane, Bealtaine, May Day, Floralia, Protomayia, and Walpurgis Night, to name just a few. These festivals herald the coming of summer, a time of merriment, celebration, and bounty, a liminal time when the barriers between our world and the otherworld were thin. In many traditions and cultures, it is a time of divine union and fertility.
Walpurgisnacht celebrated the night of April 30, is closely associated with Witches, and is also called Hexennacht. The eve of May Day was considered the night when witches gather and meet.
In ancient Greece, the holiday of Anthesteria was celebrated. Today it is more commonly called Protomagia. It is a day that recognizes the rebirth of nature and is associated with the well-known story of Persephone’s ascent from the Underworld. While some modern Hellenic polytheists celebrate this day in February, many celebrate it on the first of May. And, not long after, as spring continues its dance, some modern Pagans celebrate Thargelia, which is a birthday celebration for Apollon and Artemis.
These festivals and others herald the coming of summer or the apex of spring – a time of merriment, awakening, and bounty; a liminal time when the barriers between our world and the other world are thinned. In many traditions and cultures, it is also a time of divine union and fertility.
But that does not apply to Pagans everywhere. Our friends in the Southern Hemisphere are readying for winter. The first of May marks the height of autumn and the end of the harvest season. The celebration of Samhain and other similar holidays that honor the dead or the Ancestors are now upon them.
There is an international secular celebration as well. In most of the world, May 1 is a Labour Day linked with International Workers’ Day which celebrates the achievements of workers (Australia, Canada. Japan. New Zealand, and the United States celebrate these achievements on different days of the year). So, this is a long weekend in many places.
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Here are some quotes for this Sabbat:
“We are told that the flesh is weak, that the flesh should be subdued, that the god of some other religion would have us not gratify the flesh. The flesh is understood to be the place where evil resides and from which torment wreaks havoc upon the mind. The flesh is temporary, so it must be trivial. The flesh will not remain, so we must not give it credence. The flesh will pass unto the earth, rot in the ground, turn into dust. We are told again and again to dismiss the flesh. But Whitman says, ‘And your very flesh shall be a great poem.’ Yes. Our very flesh shall be a great poem. That is the message I’d like to offer on Beltane.” – Teo Bishop, “Beltane 2013: The Great Poetry of Flesh,” The Huffington Post
“Today, I stand for beauty. Heart open to the world. Today, I conjure hope. And strength. With the courage and the love to carry on. Leap the fire with me, In Beauty’s name. Blessings be upon you. Blessings, all.” – T. Thorn Coyle, “Walpurgisnacht Manifesto”
“In the face of so much destruction of the natural world and so much disregard for life, Beltane is also an act of rebellion against the status quo. It says about us–as simple people, as a growing community–that we don’t give in to the death cycles imposed on us from Away, not in this season. We plant and know that the harvest comes–not in the stately march from Lughnasadh to Samhain–but bit by bit and day by day. We eat the impossible radishes in two weeks, we rip the dewy and crispy lettuce from the fat stem that sustains it. The hens fluff out and begin to lay again and life is there before us–irresistable, delicious. Magical.” – Byron Ballard, “Summer is Come,” PaganSquare
“Want to celebrate the fertile earth at Beltane? Go right ahead, but do so with a broader understanding of just what fertility is, and celebrate in a way that widens the circle instead of shrinks it. Want to cherish and honor Beltane? Understand its past and incorporate that into your rites as well instead of just focusing on modern tropes. Beltane is what we make of it, and I think we can make it the inclusive and accepting sabbat I believe it to be.” – Jason Mankey, “Finding & Building a Better Beltane” Patheos
“The Pagan festival that is widely celebrated at this time – May Eve or Beltane – celebrates the warmth of the sun, the blossoming of nature, fertility of crops and animals, and abundance in the natural world. It is the time before the sun’s peaking at Midsummer. Around us the birds sing, flowers bloom, trees blossom – everything is joyous.” – Vivianne Crowley, “The Beauty of the Green Earth: Honoring Venus,” Patheos
“In the words of Witchcraft writers Janet and Stewart Farrar, the Beltane celebration was principally a time of “unashamed human sexuality and fertility”. Such associations include the obvious phallic symbolism of the Maypole and riding the hobbyhorse. Even a seemingly innocent children’s nursery rhyme “Ride a cock horse to Banburry Cross …” retains such memories. And the next line, “to see a fine Lady on a white horse”, is a reference to the annual ride of Lady Godiva through Coventry. Every year for nearly three centuries, a skyclad village maiden (elected “Queen of the May”) enacted this Pagan rite, until the Puritans put an end to the custom.” – Mike Nichols, The Witches’ Sabbats
and for the South,
May you all be blessed during this turning of the Wheel!
News from The Wild Hunt
In response to recent events, concerns, and requests from our readers, The Wild Hunt has updated our main page to better serve the community. If you witness or become aware of violence or threats against Pagans, you can now report these concerns directly through a dedicated section on our site. Our team will investigate and provide reporting as appropriate.
Additionally, we’re expanding our coverage of community gatherings through Pagan Community Notes. We are also developing a comprehensive event calendar to help you more easily discover opportunities to connect with others in our community.
Other News
ADF Elects a New Archdruid: Rev. Jan Avende To Focus On Empowerment and Connection
CLEVELAND – Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship (ADF) has elected a new Archdruid by popular vote: Rev. Jan Avende (they/them). Also elected to serve on ADF’s governing body, the ADF Mother Grove, are Rovena Windsor (Chief of the Council of Senior Druids), Matthias Dolgner-Trampnau (Non-Officer Director), Tami Olsen (re-elected Non-Officer Director), and Mike Bierschenk (ADF Secretary, elected to a full term).
About Rev. Jan Avende
With nearly a decade of priestly service under their belt and nearly two decades of involvement with ADF, Rev. Avende has a depth of work to bring to the table. They have served in several positions within ADF, including Vice Archdruid, Initiate Program Preceptor (Rev. Amber Doty will assume this role as Rev. Avende leaves it), Regional Druid for the Heartland Region of ADF, Chief of the Bardic Guild, and many
other roles serving our international membership.
Adding to their resume includes two years of work as a prison chaplain, a year as a hospital chaplain at OhioHealth’s Grant Medical Center (Level 1 Trauma Center), and they are nearing completion of work for eligibility to become a board-certified chaplain. On the local level, Rev. Avende has also been a Grove Priest of Three Cranes Grove, ADF, in Columbus, Ohio, for nine years, managing much of the day-to-day liturgical and spiritual needs of their local community, both in the Grove and beyond.
Their M.A. in Education has also served them well on this journey, leading to the publication of three books on ADF Druidry: The Spiraling Sun, a Winter Solstice Liturgy; Kindling Sparks: A Religious Education Program for Young Pagans; and co-authoring ADF’s free-to-the-public training program, The Hearth Keeper’s Way.
Rev. Avende is also the first person to serve as ADF Archdruid who is not a cisgender man; when asked about this, they stated, “We all know the face of modern Paganism is changing; I hope that I can be part of showing that modern Druidry is open, welcoming, and inclusive. We have a long way to go, but every new face, every different person, every connection is meaningful, especially to those who haven’t experienced that connection before.”
As Archdruid, Rev. Avende seeks to focus heavily on helping our membership feel more connected to the organization and being a compassionate point of contact for all members of ADF. Their goals include empowering our volunteer base, completing the new ADF website roll-out, and kicking off a discernment process to improve ADF’s administrative structure and procedures to better support the needs of a religious organization focused on trust and inclusion.
ADF has always been part of the larger fabric of the Pagan community worldwide. Still, Rev. Avende is interested in weaving those threads together in a more accessible way for all. By taking steps to broaden access to ADF’s best-in-class training program and crafting an inclusive spiritual home for folks practicing at a distance while also seeking community, they hope that everyone can find empowerment in their work through a connection with Our Own Druidry. Rev. Avende noted, “Notions of ‘spiritual care’ and
‘leadership’ are not path-specific to Druidry; we have amazing resources that can be used to strengthen the modern Pagan movement as a whole.”
Rev. Avende’s formal installation to the office of ADF Archdruid, along with the formal investiture of our new Mother Grove, will be held at Stone Creed Grove, ADF’s Wellspring Gathering in late May 2025.
Their official terms of office begin on May 1, 2025. Rev. Avende’s first term will run three years, until April 30, 2028; other offices mentioned are on 2-year terms.
A Statement from Mortellus
ASHEVILLE, North Carolina – The Wild Hunt received the following press release from Mortellus, Author, Witch, and High Priestex of the Coven of Leaves.
Epictetus once said, “keep silence for the most part, and speak only when you must, and then briefly.” I find now that I must speak, though preferring the silence, not only on the status of my highly anticipated upcoming work, Necrobotany: The Morticulture of Death, but my previous works including The Bones Fall in a Spiral: A Necromantic Primer. It is my great disappointment that Necrobotany is not yet in your hands, and an even greater disappointment still is the knowledge that I do not know when that day will come. Authors, you see, bound to their publishers by contracts and obligations, create, and wait (patiently or otherwise), for their manuscripts “birth” into this world as a printed object.
On September 16th, 2024, I, while completing some administrative tasks, discovered that The Bones Fall in a Spiral: A Necromantic Primer (which had been released 11 months prior, on October 3rd, 2023), had never been registered with the Copyright Office by my publisher, Crossed Crow Books, as required by not only contract, but by custom. Cursory searching led me to the knowledge that all but 9 works published by Crossed Crow Books were unregistered. I alerted my fellow authors to this egregious oversight, reaching out to the publisher for remedy. However, Crossed Crow Books failed to take corrective action. Over recent months, I have been engaged in settlement discussions with Crossed Crow Books through our respective attorneys and I remain cautiously optimistic that litigation can be avoided—but the situation remains unresolved currently. Unfortunately, amidst this dispute, Crossed Crow Books has wholly failed to maintain a productive line of communication with me regarding marketing and sales activity related to The Bones Fall in a Spiral: A Necromantic Primer.
On September 27th and 28th of 2024, Hurricane Helene would strike Western North Carolina, devastating our infrastructure, taking untold lives, rendering my home “unlivable” by FEMA’s estimation, and leaving me effectively in the dark for many weeks unable to navigate—or even interact with—this unfolding situation. Yet messages I have received from readers have led me to believe that during this time and after CCB did continue to market Necrobotany, allowing pre-sales to continue, without removing the work from sales channels.
At this time, I await further development in the situation, and in the coming months it is my intention to re-release Do I Have To Wear Black? Rites, Rituals, & Funerary Etiquette for Modern Pagans, The Bones Fall in a Spiral: A Necromantic Primer, as well as Necrobotany: The Morticulture of Death, (and future projects) in the form I always intended them, with expanded and uncensored content, reformatting, and new art, in audiobook, eBook, and print formats under my own imprint and control with dates forthcoming. I thank you all for what has been your continued patience and love as I have continued to navigate what is a disappointing and stressful situation, while yet still working daily on hurricane recovery, continued activism work in response to our current administration, deathcare, and creating the works that I hope you all love as much as I do.
Race Against Hate 2025
Thor Fights Jormungand 1930 Charles E Brock [Public Domain
For the sixth year, Thor’s Oak Kindred has a team walking in the Ricky Byrdsong Memorial Race Against Hate. We invite you to join us or donate to this worthy cause.
Thor’s Oak Kindred is a diverse organization dedicated to the practice of the Ásatrú religion in Chicago. We come together to honor the Norse gods and goddesses, the spirits of the land, and the departed people who inspire us. Since 2016, we have been building and nurturing a face-to-face community of practitioners in Chicago and the greater midwestern region for ritual celebration, group events, and mutual support.
Our members are kindred by choice and have chosen to embrace each other as family. We are proud of our diversity, and we stand against all discrimination on the basis of race, sex, gender, orientation, identity, origin, ancestry, age, or ability.
With the poison of white nationalism spreading worldwide and using Ásatrú as a propaganda vehicle, it is no longer enough to issue declarations and denunciations. We must join with other people of positive intent, push back on resurgent hate, and promote productive change.
On June 15 in Evanston, the YWCA hosts the 26th annual event in memory of Ricky Byrdsong, the Northwestern basketball coach murdered by a white supremacist in 1999 while walking in his neighborhood with his young children. On the same day, the shooter wounded six Orthodox Jews. Over the subsequent weekend, he killed a Korean-American graduate student and wounded an African-American minister before taking his own life.
All proceeds are used to further the YWCA’s mission in the areas of racial justice and violence prevention. Their programs assist children in schools and youth organizations to challenge their own prejudices and foster healthy, violence-free relationships among their peers; support teenagers in examining their own relationships and practicing constructive ways to handle conflict and differences; and encourage adults to engage in constructive dialogue, interactive activities, and meaningful action as related to racial justice.
Help make a real difference in the real world. Register today and join us on the walk. If you don’t live in the area, you can donate any amount small or large.
Sign up to join our walking team or donate at this link.
To learn more about Thor’s Oak Kindred, visit their website.
Happening This Weekend
Spirit Northwest: West Coast Pagan conference in Portland, May 1 – 4, 2025.
Spirit Northwest is a transformative and new format gathering for seekers, offering 90 and 120-minute immersive workshops on Paganism, witchcraft, and natural magick.
We heard from many in the occult community that people longed for in-depth workshops and rituals, hands-on learning, and make-and-takes with well-known speakers, ritualists, and practitioners.
Amy Blackthorn is the award-winning author of the best-selling Blackthorn’s Botanicals series.
J. Allen Cross is an accomplished author and folk magician known for his book American Brujeria: Modern Mexican American Folk Magic and The Witch’s Guide to the Paranormal.
Maria Minnis is a tarot reader of 20+ years who teaches people about blending their spirituality with magic, liberation work, and eroticism in their everyday lives.
Your Hosts: Courtney Weber, Kanani Soleil, Hilary Whitmore, and Silent.
More information is available on the Spirit Northwest website.
Other Events and Happenings
EBSAT Meeting 5:00 pm PDT to 5:30 pm PDT– Embracing the Divine Feminine: Mesoamerican Mother Goddesses
Zoom meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89030272698?pwd=VUpqKzVIN2hLTjdZY2JKQktuUG9JQT09
or, open the Zoom app and enter the Meeting ID and Passcode:
Meeting ID: 890 3027 2698
Passcode: CCL
IshtarFest
lshtarFest will be held virtually on Zoom from June 6-8, 2025. We will have classes, rituals, cooking demonstrations, musical performances, and other spiritual offerings surrounding Sumerian mythology and culture.
This year’s festival, Building on Herstory, celebrates the legacy of the ancient Sumerian goddess Inanna, a powerful symbol of transformation, love, war, and sovereignty. As one of the earliest recorded deities, Inanna’s mythos has shaped the stories of divine femininity, resilience, and personal evolution for millennia. We also celebrate her later forms as Ishtar, Astarte, and the planet Venus.
Through this theme, we explore how Inanna’s journey—from her bold descent into the underworld to her triumphant return—continues to inspire modern narratives of empowerment, rebirth, and leadership. We honor the foundation laid by her ancient myth while building upon it, weaving her essence into our contemporary understanding of feminine strength, spirituality, and justice.
Join us as we reclaim, reinterpret, and revive Inanna’s wisdom through art, storytelling, ritual, music, and community gatherings. Together, we build upon herstory, forging new paths while staying rooted in the divine wisdom of the past.
Early bird registration through May 6. Wicked early registration by April 10.
Register Here: https://sites.google.com/view/ishtarfest/home
Vendors wanted for our Vendor
Marketplace: https://sites.google.com/view/ishtarfest/home.
Presenter proposals due April 5: https://forms.gle/2fJC9cnieRUPwGMJA
Questions: ishtarfest@handsofchange.org.
Mystic South is coming back to Atlanta, GA! Join us July 11-13, 2025 at the Crowne Plaza Ravinia for 3 days of workshops, rituals, panels, academic PAPERS, and community building. Come for the weekend, or just for the day, and enjoy all the offerings Mystic South has to offer.
Our headliners this year are Pamela Chen, Mawiyah Kai El-Jamah Bomani, and Courtney Weber. They will be joined by over 100 other presenters from around the country who are presenting offerings during our conference weekend. Mystic South will also feature a Friday evening performance by Ginger Doss and Lynda Millard, along with our Saturday evening dance party.
The Mystic South Vendor Hall features over 20 vendors selling their handmade Pagan craft items. The vendor hall is open to the public, so if you’re in the area, stop on by! Our divination room is making a comeback, too! Also, open to the public, come by for a reading from one of our talented community members.
Tickets are on sale now! For more information and to purchase your tickets, head to the Mystic South Website
Do you have news to share with our community?
Announcements? Festivals? Elevations? Events?
We’ll share it with the community!
Let us know at pcn@wildhunt.org
Tarot of the Week by Star Bustamonte
Deck: Guardian of the Night Tarot by MJ Cullinane, published by Hay House, Inc.
Card: King of Wands
The next seven days are likely to call for channeling one’s inner lion to roar in order to have an impact in a way that is soulful, charismatic, and visceral. Whatever challenges might pop up, the key to moving forward once attention is gained is to provide a clear, thought-provoking, and impassioned vision for the future. Proper use of power is heavily indicated.
In contrast, allowing arrogance to rule in the decision-making process is liable to result in reckless behavior and undermine plans by disempowering the very people whose actions and support are needed. Being in a position of power often comes with extra accountability and is unlikely to allow for aggressive and wildly imprudent actions—at least not for long before the behavior ends up getting checked and corrected.
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