The Celtic high priests, the Druids, kindled the great “Bel-fires” on the tops of the nearest beacon hill. Old Irish “Beletene” means “bright fire.” Gaelic “Bealtaine” means the month of May. At sundown on the eve of Beltane, great bonfires were lit throughout the land to attract the power of the sun back to Earth. The practical purpose of these bonfires was purify and sanctify the community and their livestock in readiness for the new cycle of the year.

The Celtic word "Beltane" is also said to mean the fires of the proto-Celtic god Bel or Belenos. (The word “Bealtaine” originates from the Celtic God “Bel,” meaning “the bright one” and the Gaelic word “teine” meaning "fire." Together, these words make “Bright Fire,” or “Goodly Fire.” Thus, Beltane (or Bealtaine) is a “fire” festival.” It appears, then, that the ancient Celts called the first cross-quarter festival on their wheel of the year “Beltane,” from the ancient word for “bright fire,” which honored their god of solar light and fertility. Thus, Beltane is sometimes literally translated as “bright” or “brilliant fire,” and is supposed to refer to the bonfires lit on Beltane eve by a presiding Druid in honor of  the god Belenos. On Beltane Eve the Druids and their people gathered on high hills with a view of the rising sun and built great bonfires. House fires were extinguished and relit from these hilltop bonfires. These “need-fires” (“tein-eigen”) served to welcome in the summer, to encourage the sun’s warming rays, and to walk between for purification. Those gathered on Beltane were encouraged to leap the flames in a dynamic gesture of the acceptance of the blessing of fertility, creativity, and good fortune. So people leaped the fires to show the exuberance of the season. These joyous leaps turned into ecstatic dancing around the bonfires.

However, there was another purpose for these Beltane fires. The fires of Beltane also represented the fires of passionate desire that flared up though the ground and brought fertility to the land and the people. Couples leaped over the fire together to pledge themselves to each other. Traditionally speaking, then, this was a “fire festival” especially for young lovers, who made it through the cold and scarce winter months. With summer approaching, they could feel the fires of love rising in their solar plexus. Thus, for today’s Neopagans, Beltane signifies the flowering of cosmic sexual energies and mystical union between the goddess and the horned god, a time to be at harmony with the environment.