If you'll be going home to live with your parents during the summer, this may be your last chance to have a full ritual without your pesky little brother busting in on you. Take advantage of it, and use Beltane as a way to rejuvenate you for the last of your exams.

I always felt that people became too stressed out around this time of the school year...finals are coming up or in progress, those final papers and projects are due, and it seems like there's so much to do and so little time to do it. That doesn't mean you can't take a break, hold a small ritual, and clear your mind to focus on the tasks at hand.

Beltane is a holiday celebrating life, fertility, and abundance. It doesn't necessarily mean you should go out and get laid with every willing member of the opposite sex...just go out and notice those things around you. I remember one year that at about this time there was a family of ducks living near the dorms. I would go duck-spotting by bringing my books out there to study, and I wouldn't leave until I saw them and their ducklings waddling by. It was a very relaxing way to prepare for exams, and in the meantime, it was a great way to connect with the world around me.

Have a meal of nothing but fruits and vegetables, too. They're very cooling and feel like you're taking a bit of summer into you.

Like the group activities, make May Baskets for people who are special to you and leave them on the doors of those people. You can put flowers (paper or real), candy, small trinkets, or anything else that you can imagine into them. It's a nice way of saying farewell to people you may not see until next school year. The baskets don't have to be anything special...just get some colored construction paper, roll it into a cone and secure with glue, tape, or staples, and then take another strip of construction paper to staple to the top edges as a handle.

If it's getting warm, spend time outside again before it gets too hot. Breathe in the air, ground and center yourself, and calm your thoughts before returning to your studies. Your grades will reflect it if you can write your papers with a clear head!

If you are really pressed for time, don't worry about holding a formal ritual. The important part is that you finish up your school year. Use those times outside as your "ritual"...daily communion with the world around you is far better than only focusing on your beliefs one *good* time every six weeks, anyway.

Just remember, your school year is almost over. Enjoy your time while you can, and don't forget to reflect on the past year so you can think of how things can be done better in the future. You may even find a group next year, so don't sweat the small stuff now! You survived it on your own already!