Beltane Zo

April 9, 2022 By Captain Maiel Leave a Comment

Happy Spring, All! This post arrives early for the Celtic May festival of Beltane, but I was torn between a couple of choices. Therefore, this drawing backed up to April. That’s okay, because the crown of flowers is perfect for this time of year, as well.

If you don’t know much about the holiday, go here and here (note the resources at the bottom of the wiki to get even more and better information). “These gatherings would be accompanied by a feast, and some of the food and drink would be offered to the aos sí. Doors, windows, byres and livestock would be decorated with white or yellow May flowers, perhaps because they evoked fire.”

As you can see, the crown of flowers in Zo’s flame shaped mane makes a lot of sense! Even more so, the fact that she’s a duck (livestock). “Beltane marked the beginning of the pastoral summer season, when livestock were driven out to the summer pastures. Rituals were held at that time to protect them from harm, both natural and supernatural, and this mainly involved the symbolic use of fire.”

Let this image of Zo fill you with warm thoughts of the coming summer and bring protection to you and yours in preparation of the coming harvest at the end of summer. You can almost see her dancing gleefully at the bonfires.

Love my duck? Support this blog by buying a book. More Zo Here.

Zo Duck collage with web address and author name, K. Williams, The Blue Honor Blog — Shop Zo Duck on Cafe Press

About Captain Maiel

Born in Saratoga Springs, New York, K has enjoyed more than twenty years professionally writing. K attended Morrisville State College, majoring in Biology, and then continued with English and History at the University at Albany, where she gained her Bachelor’s Degree. While attending UA, K interned with the 13th Moon Feminist Literary Magazine, bridging her interests in social movements and art. Topics of K's writing often include gender and racial disparities, and trauma. In 2014, K graduated from Empire State College (SUNY) with a Masters in Liberal Studies: screenwriting (Film Studies), the politics of film, and adaptations. During her gradute work, K was the recipient of the Foner Fellowship in Arts and Social Justice, a full scholarship.
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Published novels by K include the Civil War drama Blue Honor, the Second World War spy thriller OP-DEC:Operation Deceit, and the controversial dark fantasy, paranormal series The Trailokya Trilogy. In addition to writing novels, K does screenwriting: 8 Days in Ireland and the adaptations of her current novels. A sequel to her second novel, OP-DEC, is in the research phase, while the screen adaptation is being considered for production by film companies.
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In 2015, K. Williams became an official member of International Thriller Writers, but her greatest accomplishment thus far was becoming a mother in 2017. K continues to produce commentary and art pieces on The Blue Honor Blog, publishing twice weekly. A devoted dog mom, K created Shagbottom Theater in which her dogs star as well known literary and stage personas. K is also a visual artist, producing the ZoDuck Cartoon, painting and sketching--digitally or traditionally, as well as an accomplished Photographer. Click here to see more! Whether it's cooking, IVF and Parenting, learning a foreign language, history or dogs, you'll find something to enjoy and for which to come back.
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Excerpts of K's unedited, rough drafts and other scraps of writing can be found at: KWilliamsAuthor on deviantArt.com. You can also sample her books on Wattpad.