The Divine Marriage on Beltane

"One dark night,
fired with love's urgent longings
- ah, the sheer grace! -
I went out unseen,my house being now all stilled.
In darkness,and secure,
by the ladder,disguised,
- ah, the sheer grace! - 
in darkness and concealment,
my house being now all stilled.
 

On that glad night,
in secret,for no one saw me,
 nor did I look at anything,
with no other light or guide
 than the one that burned in my heart. 

This guided me
 more surely than the light of the noon
 to where he was awaiting me
- him I knew so well - 
there in a place where no one appeared.
 

O guiding night! 
O night more lovely than the dawn!


When the breeze blew from the turret,
as I parted his hair,
it wounded my neck
 with its gentle hand,
suspending all my senses.I abandoned and forgot myself,
laying my face on my Beloved; 
all things ceased; I went out from myself  leaving my cares
 forgotten among the lilies."

~St. John of the Cross~

 It's bound to happen that we will all be disappointed in love. We want everything from our lovers; to listen to our darkest secrets, to comfort us when we're hurt, to treat us like a god or goddess and on and on. And there's nothing wrong with wanting that quality of love, the problem is, that our human partners can't always love us the way we want and when we want it. I know for myself that I have made assumptions about love that have cost me dearly. Through therapy, dream-work, spiritual practice, studies of world mythologies and having romantic relationships I finally met my true soul-mate. He is the divine lover within myself. 

Some may consider me strange, narcissistic, vain or delusional. I don't follow any organized religion, consider myself "born again" or believe in a new-age philosophy. The relationship with the inner lover has been written about, sung about, and portrayed through every medium you can think of for centuries. Our romantic relationships on the external realm are shaped by our relationships on the inner realm. Each of us must find our own divine lover in our own individual way, but we can learn from others how they have found soulful love.

 Today is Beltane, and many of you either celebrate it or have learned what Beltane represents.  My eWitch sisters have written some wonderful posts about Beltane. Today the joining of the May Queen and the Green Man are being re-enacted as they have from earlier times. The song I've quoted above called "The Dark Night of the Soul" was written by St. John of the Cross expressing "divine union of the love from God." When I first heard this song performed by Loreena McKennitt I though it was the most beautiful and perfect song for any type of love. You don't have to be a Christian or worship  a similar path to know this divine love St. John sings of. It's the acceptance and willingness to surrender yourself to God however you know her/him that makes the difference. 

 In alchemy the masculine principle; the sun king marries the feminine principle; the moon queen in a sacred marriage for wholeness and harmony. In psychological terms; a man's inner feminine queen is known as an "Anima" and for a woman her inner king is known as the "Animus." Anima and Animus stem from the word; "animate", to bring alive with spirit and soul.  King Arthur and Guinevere, Isis and Osiris, Psyche and Eros, Father Sky and Earth Mother, the Yin/Yang are all representations of the God and Goddess uniting for wholeness in a sacred marriage.

So while I may not be jumping over a Beltane fire with a lover today, I will let myself be loved and honored as every May Queen deserves from my divine soul-mate. How are you going to celebrate Beltane?

Please check out the video of Loreena McKennitt singing "The Dark Night of the Soul."