^{Copyright Scott A. Winchester for Beltane Fire Society. All Rights Reserved.}

The May Queen is a guide. She is the world spirit, present in everyone and everything. She illuminates. She connects.

Just as the May Queen exists in all of us, so does the Green Man. He is the cosmic body. He is earth we are made of – the air, water, fire, and Red energy, too.

It’s an artificial distinction really; a construct of modern times. The May Queen and the Green Man can never be uncoupled. World and spirit are one. But when we forget this, we drift, unconscious and unguided, through an earth that we don’t recognise as our extended self.

I am trying to remember to look for signs of the May Queen’s presence, now more than ever as I step into this role. But in a world plagued with distractions, where machines are programmed to demand our attention constantly, I sometimes forget that she’s there. The Green Man in me looks for comfort, but not always in the right places. 

My May Queen reminds me that when I feel overwhelmed, hopeless or apathetic, it’s because a few people are getting paid a lot of money to erode my sense of agency. When my Green Man remembers to listen to her, he takes action from a place of love and solidarity. He empowers me to work with others to be greater than the sum of our parts, so that the world may become kinder and fairer. When my May Queen and Green Man are aligned, my capacity for active hope is infinite.

Each one of our fire festivals is an opportunity to tell a story. A story about who we want to be – who we really are. Each festival is an invitation to remember our values. 

As the Blues and I begin to think about finding this year’s Green Man, I am wondering how we, as a community, will tell a story of realignment.

Maybe the Green Man will be soured by greed, recklessly extracting the elements as he makes his way around the Hill, until the May Queen helps him remember how to care. Or maybe he will be gentle and kind, but dispirited by crisis after global crisis, until the May Queen reignites his inner fire. 

To those who might feel called to represent the Green Man this year, I wonder: what is your May Queen guiding you towards?