Today is yet another fire festival, the first of May, a time to light the bonfires to welcome home the Sun, to bring prosperity to the crops, and "get it on" with your loved ones.  Yet, poor me, I have no place to light an actual bonfire and, besides, I'm not the kind of Pagan who really likes huge gatherings and I don't have any lovers at this time.  The next best thing is to "nurture the fire within" -- to kick up the sparks of my imagination and draw from my dreams and invite the Gods to speak through the images I create.  I'm an artist, after all, it is my livelihood now, and I'm far from pastoral, but we can take what our ancestors did and create rites customized to our modern lives.  Each holy day brings me closer to the Source while still keeping my feet firmly planted in the reality of Now.

So, today I'm letting my fingers dance around the Maypole that is a pencil.  I'm drawing without a plan, the important thing is to just draw, to write, to make busy buzzing bee-like music (humming) as I merrily pursue the joy of the act of Creation.  The Gods must've felt like this while they were making the world.  That's how we are like them, are a part of them; we create from our dreams.

I took a look back at what I did last Beltaine -- that marked the day I first started making Blog Themes for Mindsay users -- how much of a blessing is that?  Go look at the Pick a Theme page and you'll feel my touch. So, this is sort of an anniversary; one year later and Mindsay is even cooler now that even more people have discovered how to do what I love to do -- CREATE. DESIGN. IMAGINE!

This is also a day I remember to have nice conversations with one of my most important patron Gods, Lugh.  Now, I'm not Irish and I do not practice the Druid ways, but I do revere this Celtic God.  My old friend, Andrew, used to pick on me for my close relationship with this God.  He would say, "Val, since you worship Lugh so much, you should just be a Druid already."  For years he bugged me to become his student, but I refused.  I appreciated his offer, but he just didn't understand what a joy it is to have the freedom to worship as I please.  I don't need to be a Druid to revere a traditionally Celtic God.  Besides, he probably doesn't know Lugh like I do anyway -- not that I'm saying one relationship is better than the other.  That should show you that one Pagan is not always like another; we are all different in the way we relate to the Gods, that's why there are so many religions!

Lugh (earlier Lug, modern Irish Lú, pronounced /luː/) is an Irish deity represented in mythological texts as a hero and High King of the distant past. He is known by the epithets Lámfhada ("long hand"), for his skill with a spear or sling, Samildánach ("multi-talented", "skilled in many arts"), Lonnbeimnech ("fierce striker") and Macnia ("boy hero"), and by the matronymic mac Ethlenn or mac Ethnenn ("son of Ethliu or Ethniu"). He is a reflex of the pan-Celtic god Lugus, and his Welsh counterpart is Lleu Llaw Gyffes.

Now that I've plugged his name in my blog, feel free to look up more about him online.  But, to me, Lugh is more than just some kind of mythic hero; for me he is the lightning flash of ideas, the quick reflex to do something clever that comes to me after practicing and honing a talent into a skill, and he provides me opportunities to masterfully make and create beautiful things.  He is also the feeling of falling in love we all get when we listen to a song that hits us in the heart.  Lugh is the tears we shed when we are moved by any work of art, be it a performance or a painting that does more than just be pretty.  He is the fire I nurture within me.

Thank you, Lugh, for helping me become a better artist.  Help me to develop my talents further.  Help me to create beautiful images that reach beyond even my own expectations.  Help me to know that I am worthy of Your love.  Send blessings of ideas and dreams to my loved ones.  May we all get in touch with the fire that is You shining within us all.  And thank you for the blessings I bring to others through my art.  So mote it be!