Beltane Chants and Songs

Invocation
from A Victorian Grimoire by Trish Telesco

Feathered winds come dance with me
Lift me from the ground.
Join my waltz, my spirit, freed
As we’re upward bound.

Tongues of flame come jump with me
Ye purifying fires,
Join my joy, my playful glee
As we move yet higher.

Tears from seas, come sing with me
Roll from out the caves,
Join my verse, my body cleansed
In your healing waves.

Mother Earth come laugh with me
Set aside your toils,
Join my chant of forests green
Secure me in rich soil.

Earth and Air, Fire and Sea
I call you all, come dance with me!
Grant me now a sacred space
While working magic in this place.

In this invocation, each verse is designed for a cardinal point of the altar. At each of these four directions, a candle of the appropriate color should be lit, and a symbol of the element blessed as indicated in each verse. This is meant to be a celebration of life, so dance and sing around your circle. Don’t be afraid to get inspired.

Beltane Song
from the Pagan and Wiccan Parenting Page

Good Bye Winter,
Good bye Winter,
Good bye Winter,
Good bye Winter,
We wish you’d leave us now.
(replace the following words for “Winter:” snow, slush, snowsuits, cold wind, and any thing else the children come up with.)
Come back Springtime,
Come back Springtime,
Come back Springtime,
We wish you’d come today.
(replace the following words for “Springtime:” green grass, flowers, birds, and any thing else the children come up with.)

The Beltane Chase

Ladies: I shall go as a wren in spring
With sorrow and sighing on silent wing
And I shall go in our Lady’s name
Aye, till I come home again.

Men: And we shall follow as falcons grey
And hunt thee cruelly as our prey
And we shall go in our Master’s name
Aye, to fetch thee home again.

Ladies: Then I shall go as a mouse in May
In the fields by night and cellars by day
And I shall go in our Lady’s name
Aye, till I come home again.

Men: But we shall follow as fat tom cats
And chase thee through the corn and vats
And we shall go in our Master’s name
Aye, to fetch thee home again.

Ladies: Then I shall go as an Autumn hare
With sorrow and sighing and mickle care
And I shall go in our Lady’s name
Aye, till I come home again.

Men: But we shall follow as swift grey hounds
And dog thy tracks by leaps and bounds
And we shall go in our Master’s name
Aye, to fetch thee home again.

Ladies: Then I shall go as a Winter trout
With sorrow sighing and mickle doubt
And I shall go in our Lady’s name
Aye, till I come home again.

Men: But we shall follow as otter’s swift
And snare thee faster thou can’st shift
And we shall go in our Master’s name
Aye, to fetch thee home again.

Ladies: Aye, and I’ll come home again.

Beltane Blessing Chant

Oak and May,
On This Day,
Will both Heed
Those in Need.
Goddess Bright,
God of Sun,
Bless your Children
‘Till our days are done.

Bulb Planting Earth Chant
by Eileen

For all those spring planted bulbs like lilies, oxalis, glads, begonias and such:

breath of the stone is strange to me
i know it lives as i can’t see
force of the earth is strong and free
sustenance and beauty be
born of the stars and sprang from the ground
Mother, Goddess all around
Wheel must turn as the seasons show
what lies dead shall surely grow

May Day Chant 1
Here we come a’ piping,
In Springtime and in May;
Green fruit a’ ripening,
And Winter fled away.
The Queen she sits upon the strand,
Fair as lily, white as wand;
Seven billows on the sea,
Horses riding fast and free,
And bells beyond the sand.
Doreen Valiente; “Witchcraft for Tomorrow”; Phoenix Publishing 1985

Maypole Dance Chant
Ann O’Brien 1995

Weave, spin, dance your cares away,
A spirit fire’s alive to your entrancing,
Weave, spin, dance into the May,
The earth and sky are wed as you are dancing,
Weave now