My coven has been holding our rituals online since the stay at home orders went into affect. The rituals are going so well we decided to hold our annual family-and-friends Beltane party online this year too. Here’s how to hold an online party for your magical friends.
Set up the party
Pick a conferencing software and download it. People who haven’t spent time online yet may need tech support to get set up.
Pick an organizer. The coordinator can send out party notices by email, Google calendar, Facebook event, or whatever the group uses. The coordinator can also send out software links and a list of things to bring to the party.
Set a time limit. The official party should end at a given time to let people drop off when they hit camera fatigue. I’m limiting my online sessions to about two hours. Your folk may hang out longer if the party ends informally. Those with kids may need to jump off earlier. Be sure to schedule must-do activities early in the time slot.
Activities before the party
Virtual scavenger hunt: set up a virtual scavenger hunt for individuals or teams. You can do this simply by listing the items the participants should bring. You can also use an online scavenger hunt software like Goose Chase. Assign points to each item. During the party participants can share pictures of the items or of themselves completing the assignment.
Coloring pages: collect coloring pages and send them to participants to print out at home. These can be flowers, May Queen and Green Man, or any seasonally appropriate pages you find online.
Refreshments
Everyone will need to bring their own drink and cookies. Here are some quick Beltane recipes.
Flexible sugar cookies with pantry items on hand
You can cut this recipe in half if you want to make just a few cookies. I find the cake mix to be quite sweet, you could use 1/2 box of cake mix and 1 cup of baking mix.
Mix one of these:
- 1 box cake mix
- 2 cups baking mix plus 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 cups flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 cup sugar
with one of these:
- 1 egg
- 1 banana
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 2 oz. cream cheese
with one of these:
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup water
and add any of these:
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 Tbs. peanut butter
- handful of chocolate chips
Adjust the dry and wet ingredients so the mix is moist enough to come together but dry enough to scoop into balls without spreading. Spoon onto baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes or until slightly brown.
Beltane beverage
- For the adults: wine or seltzer with addition.
- For the kids: fruit juice or water with addition.
The addition can be any item you have on hand: fresh fruit, canned fruit, honey, squeeze of lemon juice, dash of apple vinegar. The idea is to make the drink a little bit different and special.
List of things to bring to the party
- Candle (with lighter).
- Glass with drink, cookies.
- Printed out coloring pages and pencils or crayons.
- Any crafts materials on hand: construction paper, tissue paper, paper sacks, old magazines and catalogs. Also scissors, string, glue and tape.
Have the party!
Party games
Coloring pages
Color the pages and show them to each other.
Make a flower crown
Make a paper crown or a tissue crown. You can cut a paper bag into a crown shape and glue on photos of flowers from old catalogs. If you have pipecleaners or florist tape you can wind real flowers like daisies into a crown.
Make a May basket
Make basket out of paper. If you don’t have colored paper you can use printer paper and draw with crayons or colored pencils, or glue pictures from old magazines and catalogs. Fill the May basket with paper flowers or real ones from the yard.
Costume contest
Encourage everyone to dress in their most colorful clothing. The group can vote for their favorites.
Dance!
Put on a Beltane song and let everyone dance.
Make a fairy gift bottle
Take a small jar or pill bottle. Collect items from around the house: beads, shells, stones, buttons, small pieces of ribbon. Cut shapes out of tinfoil and bend paper clips into shapes. Put all of these into the bottle.
After the party you can put the fairy home out. If you have a yard, place the bottle somewhere wild: by a fencepole, near a rock, in a part of the garden left wild for bees and birds, wedged into a tree trunk. If you don’t have a yard, you can place it in a hedge or flower bed in a park. Say: “Fairies, here is a gift for you, bring me a gift in return.” Watch for the gift the fairies return to you.
Prizes
The winners of the scavenger hunt and costume contest can:
- pick a video for the group to watch (limit ten minutes)
- ask a question everyone has to answer
- choose a silly pose everyone has to do.
Party rites
Divination
Participants pull a Tarot card with their own decks or online. Llewellyn has a great online app that lets you pick your deck. Each participant can talk about what they think it means, and friends can weigh in with interpretations.
Light a candle
Everyone can light their candle at the same time and make a wish. Tell each other what you want the season and the year to bring so everyone can add their support to the wish.
Make a toast
Toast the season and each other. Participants can take turns making toasts.
Enjoy the company
When my coven meets online we miss seeing each other in person but we’re grateful that we can still come together. Let the people who come to your party know that you appreciate them. It’s okay just to sit and talk and enjoy each other’s friendship.
Here are some Beltane videos for the group to dance to or watch together.
