Beltane — FWM Wheel of the Year Open Ritual
Details
The Wheel of the Year is the cycle of eight seasonal festivals kept across the Western Mystery Traditions — eight turnings of the year that echo the seasonal rites of our ancestors.
This turning of the Wheel is BELTANE.
Beltane is the great fire festival of the growing year, standing directly opposite Samhain across the Wheel. Where the earlier festivals were promises made underground and out of sight, Beltane is the promise kept in the open: hawthorn heavy with blossom, the grass grown thick, the whole countryside gone green seemingly overnight.
It is the old beginning of summer. Fires were kindled fresh on this night, cattle were driven between them before going up to the high summer pasture, and every hearth was relit from that one flame. What is being marked is union in the widest sense — the meeting of things that had been apart, and everything that follows from it.
Our Beltane rite is a rite of that fire and that meeting: a flame kindled and shared around the circle, the crowning of the season, and the blessing of whatever each of us is bringing into growth this year. It is among the most exuberant turnings of the Wheel and among the most sociable — expect warmth, colour, and rather more laughter than solemnity.
TICKETS
€15 plus Eventbrite booking fee online in advance (non-refundable), or €20 cash at the door. No cards — the door is cash only.
Book online here
The event and the ritual will be held in English unless otherwise noted. We sometimes have other groups host rituals, and sometimes they work in other languages. If that is the case it will be noted here.
Doors open at 19:30. The ritual talk-through begins around 20:00 and the ritual follows shortly after. Ritual length varies, but the ritual itself should be over between 21:30 and 22:00. Afterwards there is time to stay and talk, so plan to stay longer if you are feeling social and you can — and of course leave whenever you wish. There is a bar on site.
Attire: Street clothes are perfectly fine, but if you can, try to come dressed as much as possible in a single colour — black and white are best. If you have ritual dress (robes and so on) and would like to wear it, please do.
You do not need to have done anything like this before. Everything is explained beforehand — what will happen, what it means, what your part is, and what to do if you would rather simply stand and watch. Newcomers are guided through the ritual as it unfolds, so there is no problem at all coming with no idea what to expect.
Beginners, experienced practitioners and the merely curious are equally welcome. The environment is friendly and unpressured.
The Fellowship of the Western Mysteries is a Vienna community for the Western Mystery Traditions — Wicca, Paganism, Druidry, Ásatrú, Hermeticism and related paths.