Every third Sunday of June, millions of people worldwide come together to celebrate Father’s Day, a holiday devoted to honoring and celebrating the paternal figures in our lives. However, few people are aware that Father’s Day has its roots in the ancient pagan festival of Beltane.

Beltane, celebrated cross-quarter day in the pagan calendar, falls halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. As an agricultural society, the ancient Celtic cultures viewed Beltane as the arrival of summer and the season of fertility and growth. It was a significant time for them to honor their gods and goddesses of fertility and thank them for their abundant blessings. They believed that by paying tribute to these divine figures, they would secure fertile lands and abundant crops for the upcoming seasons.

Cernunnos, the god of the sun, and Brigid, the goddess of fertility, were among the many deities worshipped during this period. Rituals like lighting bonfires and dancing around maypoles were performed in celebration and to pay homage to these gods. These activities were believed to purify the land, protect against evil, and bring about abundant blessings to the people.

In the 20th century, Father’s Day, as we know it today, first emerged. The credit for its creation goes to a woman named Sonora Smart Dodd. In honor of her father, a civil war veteran, single parent, and a provider for his family, Dodd proposed the idea of Father’s Day in the early 1900s. Initially met with some hesitation, Father’s Day eventually gained momentum during the 1920s and 1930s and was officially declared a national holiday in the United States in 1972.

Despite the separation by time and culture, the Father’s Day we recognize today and the ancient festival of Beltane are connected by more than the celebration of a particular time of year. They are both tied together by a common theme – honoring the vital roles of fertility and regeneration played by our male figures – be it as fathers, providers, or guardians. The pagan roots of Father’s Day remind us that many of our current customs have evolved from practices established in the distant past, yet still hold an inherent value and importance today.