The Merry Mystery of May Day

Going a' Mayin'

Dancing around the maypole

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When you mention "May Day" to many folks, they automatically think of "International Workers' Day".  It saddens me that this beautiful day has been overshadowed by a cause that just happens to fall on the same date .. and is of a much more modern origin.  Obviously, the world is large and many special days share the same date on the calendar ... but for goodness sake - did they have to borrow the name as well?

I'd like to help to dispel this misunderstanding with a little introduction to the ancient celebration of May Day or Beltane, long celebrated in the Northern Hemisphere and other parts of the world as well:

• May Day was a celebration of the 1st day of Summer to the Ancient Celtic people - a "halving" of the year between summer and winter
• It has endured for hundreds of years with no clear definite start of origin (as opposed to IW Day which began in the 1880s)
• Believed to have begun in Ancient Rome as the Festival of Flora - Roman Goddess of Flowers 
• Also known as Beltane to the Ancient Gaelic people, of which bonfires were an important part
• Later celebrated in Germany as Walpurgis Night (April 30/May 1st) with some variation
• Continues to be celebrated throughout many towns in the British Isles, Europe and in North America 
• Traditional activities include weaving ribbons around a maypole while dancing, Morris dancers who wake up the earth with bells and the tapping of sticks, crowning of the Queen of the May, parades with floats covered in flowers and greenery, and the anonymous giving of little baskets of flowers (May Bouquets/Baskets), which are hung on doorknobs or doorsteps. 

So there you have it! Absolutely nothing to do with workers' rights, strikes, labour or similar uprisings.
Thank you for reading!

​HAPPY MAY DAY!

Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan 2019