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Reigniting the Sacred Flame: Beltane, Ancestral Healing & the Return of the Wise Woman

Read prior post: Beltane Blessings (click here)

As the Wheel turns and the wild green world bursts into bloom, Beltane (pronounced BEL-tay-nuh or BEL-tuhn) arrives with her fire and flowers—a threshold moment where spirit and matter dance, where the veil thins, and where we are invited to remember our sacred belonging.

Beltane, rooted in ancient Celtic tradition, marks the midway point between spring equinox and summer solstice. It’s a celebration of fertility, passion, and the divine union of land and sky. Bonfires once blazed across the Irish hills to bless the cattle, protect the crops, and awaken the vital energies of life. And today, this sacred time continues to offer us medicine for modern disconnection, inviting us to reignite what has gone cold in our souls.

This year, my own Beltane journey is deeply tied to ancestral remembrance, spiritual preparation, and the reclamation of the Wise Woman within—not just for myself, but for those I serve.

A Full Pilgrimage, A Full Heart

In just a few weeks, I will lead an intimate group of brave and beautiful souls on a sacred pilgrimage to Ireland that we started in February as part of a six-month journey.

This year’s journey is full, and my heart is overflowing with gratitude for those who said yes to this deep ancestral healing. We will walk the lands of the goddesses, tend the wounds of lineage, and reclaim the stories that patriarchy, colonization, and religious indoctrination tried to erase.

Though registration for this year’s pilgrimage is closed, you can join the waitlist here to be among the first to receive details for future journeys. If your bones are whispering soon, listen.

Beltane Rituals: Fire, Flowers & the Feminine

copyright 2019 Laura Joseph, Healing With Spirit

In preparation for this sacred work, I’m weaving in traditional Irish customs and rituals that connect me to both land and lineage:

Sacred Fire & Candle Ceremony: I’ll light a ceremonial fire (or candle altar) to honor the ancestors, set intentions for the coming season, and call in the spirits of protection, growth, and fierce compassion.

Floral Offerings: Hawthorn branches, primrose, and rowan berries—plants deeply tied to the fae and Irish folklore—will be gathered and offered at thresholds: doorways, sacred trees, and the altar.

Earth & Body Connection: Walking barefoot on the land, listening to the heartbeat of the earth, and placing my prayers into the soil, I allow the land to speak through me—and to hold the healing for all those I work with.

Water Blessings: As Beltane is also associated with sacred wells and the divine feminine, I’ll offer water rites for cleansing, fertility, and renewal—sprinkling blessed water on tools, hands, and heart.

Supporting the Rise of the Wise Woman

While the pilgrimage is full, there are still powerful ways to connect and be supported in your own sacred path this season:

Accessing the Wise Woman Within – October 5th Retreat

A one-day immersive experience where we gather in sisterhood to remember, reclaim, and embody the healed and whole grandmother wisdom within.

Featuring vibrational sound healing, tea ceremony, ancestral rituals, and sacred circle. Facilitated by Christel Poirier and Laura Bonetzky-Joseph

Buffalo Drum-Making Workshop – November 2nd with Janee King

Craft your own medicine drum in sacred ceremony, connecting to the heartbeat of the Mother and the rhythm of your soul.

Perfect for those called to deepen their healing journey through sound and ritual.

Women’s Circle Gatherings

Monthly support and healing circles to connect, share, release, and rise—especially needed during these turbulent times when so many of us are holding so much.

Each of these offerings is an extension of my life’s work: to hold space for deep healing, ancestral remembrance, and spiritual reclamation rooted in authenticity, integrity, and love.

A Personal Invitation

Whether you join us in circle, drum your prayers into being, or light your own Beltane flame at home, I invite you to pause and ask:

  • What sacred flame within me is asking to be reignited?
  • What wisdom have I buried that now wants to rise?
  • Where can I say yes to beauty, pleasure, and purpose?

Let this be the season you remember your magic. Let this be the year you return to the earth, to the ancestors, and to the Wise Woman within.

With fire, flowers, and fierce love,
Laura Bonetzky-Joseph

A multi-generational and multi-disciplinary approach to healing

Jikiden Reiki Shihan | Ancestral Healing Guide | Spiritual Activist | Intuitive | Author | Podcast Host

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Imolc Blessings

… The Beginning of the End of Winter. It marks the halfway point between winter solstice (Yule) & spring equinox (Ostera).

In Celtic pagan traditions, it’s a time that celebrates our relationship to the sun, the element of fire, & our position in the annual cycle of life, death, & rebirth… the loosening of the grip of winter & the promise of spring.

During the time of year, like our ancestors in the Northern hemisphere, we would be seeing the first signs of new life and an elongation of light. Our ancestors would see this as a sign that the barrenness and darkness of winter as well as the dependence on foods, wood, and other supplies that’s been stored away, is nearly over.

The light is returning. For this reason, many Imbolc is also deeply intertwined with the elemental force of fire as mentioned above, symbolizing the returning warmth, the transformative power of light.

It is a time to awaken from the hibernation of winter. To awaken to the first, deep rustlings of rebirth, and of the cool, soft light that bends around the planet before the sun climbs over the horizon into view.

The light from the sun appears warmer.

Animals such as coyotes mate & bear cubs are born.

Crocuses begin to breech the frozen grounds & buds on trees become more apparent.

For this reason, Imbolc is also closely linked w/ fertility, gestation & birth – a the time to honor the Celtic fertility goddess Brigid in her Maiden form.

So today, I’m giving myself the gift of only working half a day today so I can sit, pause, reflect.

I will sip on the soul nourishing tea harvested & blended from last season.

I will move my body & commune w nature

I will light a fire to celebrate all that is, all that was & all that shall be.

I will honor my ancestors & the deepening of my crone-ness phase of life, & rise up like the flame to the beckoning of the calls of wise woman. To be the teacher, mentor, nurturer for all the women seeking my guidance.

I will call in the teachings needed to bridge any gaps as we prepare for our group Pilgrimage Zoomies that start February 12th in preparation for the Sacred Pilgrimage to Ireland in May and the Women’s Retreat in March

How are you honoring this day?