presents...
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Boltan is one of the eight high feasts celebrated in those areas of the Triple Kingdoms which observe the traditional religion of the islands. It marks the beginning of the planting season, when all fear of frost has passed. The young Terra (typically called Danu, Dana, or some similar variant), awoken from her winter slumber on Teritus 15, is now a young woman ready to receive her lover, a hero- or god-figure associated with the sun and summer. His name varies by region, but he is always represented as a fair youth, regal, and with the potential for great power. He is crowned with a wreath of hawthorn, a flowering thornbush native to the isles that is in bloom at this time. Hawthorn, along with oak, ash, and holly, are powerful symbols in traditional Avalonian folkways.
Boltan Eve, Quartus 30, is marked in observant areas with the lighting of bonfires in the fields as a symbolic representation of the union of the god's vital power with the earth. Less symbolic representations of that union may also be enacted, especially in the more rural areas of Breg and Inismore. Boltan itself, Quintus 1, is marked with exuberant feasts of plenty, gaiety, and dancing. In areas where the more earthy observation of the holiday has declined, the young men and women of the area traditionally perform a ribbon dance around a tall pole that, symbolically, serves a similar purpose.
A Song of BoltanOn Boltan Eve, we dance and singThe Summer King is born By moon's pale beams, we light the fires All crowned with flow'ring thorn
Young Danu is a woman now
His eyes are stars, his hair is gold
The Summer King takes sweet Danu
Resplendant king and maiden sweet
On Boltan Eve, we dance and sing
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