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The tradition of celebrating
May Day goes back to ancient times, even before the birth of Christ. May 1st
was thought of as a special day since it divided the year into two – the Druids of the British Isles thought of May
1st as the celebration of the Beltane, or first half of the year, and the year ended on November 1st was called the Samhain.
It was the custom of the Druids to set a new fire for the New Year. Cattle were driven through the fire to purify them. Young
men and their sweethearts walked through the smoke for good luck. Today you will see farmers burning their fields in spring
to purify the soil from the previous year's crop.
This
ancient celebration also recognized spring as the time of year when the earth was the most fruitful and fertile. An example
of this would be the abundance of flowers in spring. Remember the old saying, "April Showers Bring May Flowers?" After the
gentle rains of April, flowers bloom everywhere, especially during the first few days of May. Flowers were often used for
these celebrations because they were so plentiful.
When the Romans ruled the British
Isles, they added to this celebration. They dedicated this holiday to the worship of Flora, the flower goddess. Five days of festivity called the Floralia was added to the festivities of the Beltane. Many of today's May Day celebrations
are very similar to the celebrations from ancient times.
May
Day celebrations were discouraged during the age of the Puritans, so it soon became regarded as a celebration for young children
to have lots of fun and happiness, rather than its past as a tribute to the fertility of an abundant earth.
Gradually
every English village had a maypole. One tree would be cut from the forest, its branches shaved off, and it was brought to
the village square to serve as the center for merriment
and festivities. Some villagers stole maypoles from neighboring villages for fun and rivalry, but in London, huge maypoles
were often erected and stayed in place permanently.
May
Day has never become a well-known or much-celebrated holiday here in the United States, but in Europe it was celebrated with
great enthusiasm. Villagers would go into the forest early in the morning of May 1st
and gather colorful flowers to place on the village maypole. Children would dance around the maypole holding on to the colorful
ribbon streamers, weaving their way around each other. Colorful baskets full of goodies were often left at the door of a neighbor
as part of the celebration. Young girls would make flower garlands to wear when dancing around the maypole. Many women would
wash their face in May Day morning dew because it was thought to make them more beautiful. Oftentimes a May Queen was picked
to oversee the festivities of May Day.
Can you think of ways
to celebrate May Day in your town?
If you'd like to see some fun postcards of children around the world dancing around the Maypole, go to this link: http://www.lyndonirwin.com/maypole.htm
If you would like to make your own maypole or sing some songs about May Day, go to
this link: http://stepbystepcc.com/holidays/mayday.html
Photographs Copyright © 2008 Wikipedia
Text Copyright © 2008 Gayle Jacobson-Huset
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