Walking between twin streams and turgid waters, blackness closes around us. A faint glimmer ahead to guide our footsteps and the sound of distant drums. Wet earth sucks at our feet, reluctant to let us pass as winter grips the land. Against the night sky, the darker bulk of the hills swallows all light…save that of the flames against which strange, amorphous silhouettes begin to creep.
Points of flame blossom on the hill…a garden of fire casting golden pollen to the winds as the rain falls, drenching an already drowned land. The drums grow louder…pipes haunt the night…and high above, Jack Frost prowls…
…the Winter King, the icy sovereign holding court, surrounded by the bone-white masks of spectral acolytes.
But it is the season of change… Jack Frost will not go unchallenged. As he shoots ice-fire into the darkness, he knows it is time…
Imbolc brought the sun to earth in the upturned faces of daffodils. Snowdrops carpet the sodden ground with their purity and the crocus holds up its golden chalice to catch each drop of pale sunlight that breaks through the clouds.
The Green Man awaits… and on a Yorkshire hillside, he advances…accompanied by the red and gold of Fox and sun, green fire throws down the age-old gauntlet, challenging the ice…
Whips and wheels of flame whirl and spin, Brigid’s Cross blazes in the night…and the Giants engage in a deadly dance… The Winter King meets the green with white, even though the battle cannot be won. The Green Man will triumph …and spring will return.
The rain ceases… for a while…and the darkness explodes into light as the Winter King retreats. Butterflies and flowers blaze across the hillside, heralding new life and the coming of a sun that spirals in flame.
The battle of the Green and White Kings is done…until the seasons turn once more. Their enmity forgotten, together as always, balancing each other’s power, they descend from the heights… for the battle will be re-enacted by the creatures of Earth…and in the shadows the drums begin again… and a Silver Fox challenges a giant Crow…
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
That looks like a really great time. I don’t like parties, but I bet I’d like THAT party!
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I’ll bet you would too 🙂 It was a fabulous night!
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Exciting! Wish I could be there.
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You would have loved it, Susan 🙂
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Thrilling stuff! It looks like a very exciting, modern (not to mention pyrotechnic!) version of what is in fact a very ancient tale. I’d love to have seen it myself.
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For all the fancy fireworks, it was the human element….the dancers holding flames and carrying the giants… that made it what it was…and that has never changed 🙂
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It really does sound like a thrilling sight. I always enjoy big festivals and events like that (except anything that involves cruelty to animals, of course). 🙂
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This is only a small festival really… Quite intimate.. And I prefer that, though there are one or two bigger ones I’d like to see.
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I’ve always rather fancied seeing the Snow Festival in Harbin, China and the Up Helly As Festival in the Shetlands. They’re both very different from each other, but somehow they appeal to me.
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The latter one gets my vote… and the ‘obby ‘oss at Padstow too.
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I had to Google the ‘obby ‘oss at Padstow, but it looks fascinating. It seems to be another of those festivals with very ancient and somewhat mysterious origins.
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There are a lot of them about, but you can feel your way back into the ancient mind and start to glean some inkling of what and why…
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I imagine some particular themes are likely to recur in various festivals and provide a bit of a hint as to what people were thinking.
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There are… and most of the older festivals you can see the recurring ghosts of older cyclical rites.
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It sounds like a very interesting thing to study. People who do can enjoy the festivals both as a fun experience but also as a part of an ancient tradition.
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That’s what we do… and why we write the books 🙂 Wouldn’t change that for the world 🙂
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It sounds like a great lifestyle. It also seems to involve a goodly number of visits to beautiful old village pubs, which I would definitely consider to be an additional incentive. 🙂
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The pubs…purely in the name of research, you understand, are an integral part of the journey and of understanding the particular nuances of the area. We are forced to frequent a goodly number of them and sample their wares occasionally too…
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Of course, Sue. I quite understand. 🙂
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I thought you might… 😉
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wow i wish I could have been there.
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It was a great evening 🙂
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So much fun, wish I could have been there. Sue, you’re retelling tales as old as time but making them come to life again. Sounding new, vibrant and those pictures are amazing. Thank you for sharing all that with us.
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It was amazing…but the credit goes to the dancers and Foxes, I believe, Dave 🙂
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😃
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That looks amazing Sue, I love the way you told the story. I imagine it was quite a sight to see, the colours look spectacular! 🙂
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It was an amazing night, Judy 🙂
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What a wonderful night you had. 🙂
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We did indeed, Lynette 🙂
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Extraordinary
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A great night, Geoff!
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Stunning and extraordinary. Thanks for sharing with us. It really does look amazing.
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It is well worth a visit if you ever get chance 🙂
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Definitely looks like it 🙂
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🙂
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Wonderful, fantastic. Wonderfully fantastic – would love to see it sometime.
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If you ever get chance, Mary, you should. Nowhere near as impressive as Edinburgh of course at Beltane… But the intimacy changes the feel of it.
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It must have been amazing to be there! Stunning photographs …
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It was..especially with the foxes 🙂
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Reblogged this on Anita Dawes & Jaye Marie.
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Fantastic Sue…for some reason I always forget Imbolc, but I always remember Beltane…looks a great party!
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It was a great evening, James… and in Yorkshire too 🙂 Beltane has a special place for me, but this was good too 🙂
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I have heard the locals light a fire and dance around the ‘Tree of Life’ on Snowden Carr at Beltane- I must pay it a visit and see for myself…
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That would be well worth doing…
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