Schedule
This year’s Beltane High Rite will be held on 2 May 2026.
- 12-2 pm: Ritual Team begins to arrive
- 4 pm: Doors open for guests
- 5:30 pm: Zoom room opens
- 6 pm: Pre-ritual brief
- 7 pm: Ritual starts
- 10 pm: Doors close to the public
- Cost: $20.00 suggested donation
Times are subject to change, please check our website blog, our Event Calendar, or our Beltane Facebook event for the most up-to-date information on the ritual.
Times are subject to change, please check before you leave.
Zoom Info
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4680671478?pwd=SUpZZjNQK3lTdU50bk9KUzJPSEJRdz09
Meeting ID: 468 067 1478
This picture depicts the approximate location of the meteor strike in the ancient Chesapeake Bay.
NOTE: Masks are optional inside and out. If you think you might be sick, please stay home. All are welcome to join us via Zoom.
Ritual Information
Theme: Celebrating the source of abundance in the Chesapeake Bay.
Pantheon: Greek
Deity of the Occasion: Aphrodite
Hearth fire: Hestia
Earth Mother: Gaia
Mother of Waters: Thalassa
Inspiration: Calliope
Outsiders: Ares
Gatekeeper: Hekate
Key Offerings:
-poems, prayers, performances
-We encouraged folks to bring items from the bay: shells, sand , rocks, water, driftwood, etc.
Recommended/Suggested Charity: Oyster Recovery Partnership
https://secure.everyaction.com/HwhYmg0UskqZ1QZvGyS9tA2
What to Bring
Please bring a dish that can serve 6-8 people. PLEASE TAKE YOUR LEFTOVERS HOME!
** Please label ingredients for those with food allergies**
Suggested Seasonal Food:
- Fresh fruits and vegetables
- Traditional Greek fare
- There are cans of seltzer water and sodas available at the Grove for $1.00 each. There is filtered water available from the sink in the Grove Space kitchen. Feel free to contribute beverages to the Grove!
The High Rite will take place outdoors in the sanctuary, weather permitting. Please dress for the weather (it may be rainy, it may be muddy in the Sanctuary from rains earlier in the week) and PLEASE bring mosquito spray (or use the ones available at the Grove). If you have a chair you’d like to sit in during the High Rite, we suggest bringing that too.
Suggested Offerings
- We’re encouraging people to bring things related to the Chesapeake like drift wood, sand, rocks, shells, some water, etc
- Poems, prayers, performances
(Note: you must notify ritual team before the rite begins if you would like to give a performance offering)
Ritual Garb
Ritual team and attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate ritual garb if they wish. Floral and the bright colors of spring are appropriate.
Children and Pets
Children are welcome to all CedarLight events, but small children must be attended at all times. We do not yet have children’s activities planned for this event.
Legitimate Service Animals are allowed. Pets however, are not. Thank you for understanding.
We are a non-smoking space indoors and in the Sanctuary. This includes vapes.
PLEASE NOTE: We take OATHS very seriously. Any oaths as an offering MUST be cleared with the Senior Druid prior to the High Rite. Please see Caryn, Den, or Kohner upon arrival if you plan on giving an oath. We will talk you out of it.
Ritual Etiquette
- Do not honor deities of different pantheons than those being honored at this rite
- PLEASE KEEP YOURSELF MUTED ON ZOOM unless you are giving an individual invocation as part of the liturgy or performing a praise offering. Group call and responses should remain muted unless otherwise requested by the Chief Liturgist. Attendees who continually disrupt the ritual with background noise because they are unmuted will be removed from the Zoom room.
- Offerings will be mainly given in silence as a group, but if you have something you wish to say, sing, or recite, let the Chief Liturgist know ahead of time so they can make time for your offering
- Do not declare any oaths during the rite without expressed permission from the Chief Liturgist well before the rite
After Ritual
If participants wish to hang out after the rite, you are welcome to partake during revels! We won’t even nag you about washing the dishes! (hint to please do your own dishes)
Cost/Donations
All CedarLight events have a suggested donation of $20 per person. This can be contributed to Dagda’s Cauldron either at the Grove, or online via PayPal to cedarlightgrove@gmail.com. All donations go towards CedarLight Center bills and upkeep.
