This teacup was probably the first “grown up” thing I was ever trusted to own. Painted with lilies of the valley, the flower of my birth month, it was a birthday gift from my grandmother when I was this small:

One of my annual Beltane traditions – which goes back a long time before I knew what Beltane was – is bringing the “May Cup” out from whatever hallowed alcove it’s been stored in through the winter. I will sometimes take it out in the cold months when I need an urgent dose of springlike energy and a reminder of my grandmother’s love, but on the whole I reserve regular use for springtime.

Like all the Celtic festivals that have made their way into the Wheel of the Year, Beltane holds an ancestral resonance for me. The large majority of my ancestors lived in what we now call Scotland, Ireland, and England. My lovely grandmother, the giver of the May Cup, came from the Scottish line.

However you celebrate (if you celebrate), I wish you a blessed and magical Beltane. May the seeds you sow grow sweet and strong, and serve you at least as long and as well as my first teacup has served me!