On the way up the hill, at the entrance, a BIG signboard caught my eyes.
The weather was extremely windy. If it were not the extra KG's I have gained here in Edinburgh, I could have already been blown away to somewhere else.
The ceremony kicked off with pagan symbols lit on the Calton Hill pillars,
and deafening drums.
The place was extremely crowded and everyone were squeezing and sandwiching each other. Most of the time, people just held up their cameras and took shots of the pillars and witnessed the event from their camera screens.
Sarah insisted to carry me on her back!
May Queen leads the procession around the Calton Hill to visit four different stations namely the Wind, Water, Earth and Fire before being ambushed by the wild Red Men and the killing of her consort, The Green Man.
- May Queen in white (her flowery dress is so beautiful!)
- The Green Man (if you dun spot him immediately, he was actually the walking tree), May Queen took him as her Consort to signify fertility
- The Blue Men (They cleared the path for May Queen during the procession, I was pushed by one of them when I was standing in their way), represents wisdom
The white puppet dragon (somehow looks like Albino Chinese Dragon) at Wind Station.
Performances at the Fire station.
The Naked Wild Red People making human pyramid.
The Killing and Revival of the Green Man in the hands of WhiteWomen to symbolise the youth and new summer. Green Man was 'killed' by the tearings off of his 'leafy' garments.
We left before the start of the final bonfire as it was too cold and windy although we waited at the fire site one hour before the procession reached.
Somehow, Mmm.. I feel the Beltane Festival is like the angmoh version of the colourful procession of the Chinese deities back home, with many Taoism's god and goddess parading on the roads.
Beltane is definitely interesting and I should consider whether to volunteer in it next year so I could have the chance to wear the beautiful dress wore by the White Women . ^Winks^
5 comments:
OMG....the whole event looks kinda scary...
hAhaha how come ur flatmate carried you? So you can get a better view?? =P
And EeEeEEEE so obscene!!! hEheh
Great pictures. If you're serious about volunteering I'd try to avoid being one of those in red if I were you. Ever thought of having a caption competition for those? Could be very amusing.
hey!! cooool =D
is it held in may every year?
Adelynn: The event is actually the celebration for arrival of summer and red ppl actually represents human's wild thoughts that should be let free only once a year. Hehe, they called it art i think!~
Anonymous: I wouldn't want to volunteer as a Red but prefer to be a White, so I can wear their flowery dress. :p
I bet those Red must be freezing at that time coz even though I was being wrapped up in thick jacket, I still couldn't stand the strong wind on Calton Hill!~ Perhaps u were too drunk by then!~
H&H: Wat la, I was not that pale to look like a ghost, blame it for the super strong flash by my fren's camera, haiz..
XY: It will be held on the last day of April every year to celebrate the arrival of May!~ You wanna come?
haha.. will go if possible next year. depends on the exam schedule tho =|
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