May Day

“Is today May Day? What the heck is May Day? In the SW we celebrate Cinco de Mayo”

“Depending on your roots, it's either a Spring Festival, or a celebration of/for laborers.”

“It's more like "mayhem" day. What's that all about?”

“I've heard of Queen's day in the Netherlands. Isn't that in May?”

“You ever hear of the Maypole? May Day is totally different than Cinco de Mayo. That's SUnday.

But I still don't know exactly what May Day is.”

“Are you celebrating it?

They let a bunch of people out of jail in anticipation of May Day arrests this year. I guess the jails were overcrowded.”

“I believe that May Day celebrates two labor strikes that occured many, many years ago when working conditions were poor and robber barons ruled. Both strikes were bloody and occured within a couple of days apart in Chicago and Milwaukee. May Day has lost significance over the years. I think it got its little a$$ kicked by its big brother, Labor Day. The only thing I know for sure is that a couple girls are wearing very short skirts in the office today. That is the only reason I appreciate May Day after a long winter in the upper midwest.”

“I can imagine how distracting that must be”

“Well, it is a fact that May Day is not an overly prominent holiday in America. Yet, it does have a long and notable history as one of the world's principal festivals. The origin of the May Day as a day for celebration dates back to the days, even before the birth of Christ. And like many ancient festivals it too has a Pagan connection.

For the Druids of the British Isles, May 1 was the second most important holiday of the year. Because, it was when the festival of Beltane held. It was thought that the day divides the year into half. The other half was to be ended with the Samhain on November 1. Those days the May Day custom was the setting of new fire. It was one of those ancient New Year rites performed throughout the world. And the fire itself was thought to lend life to the burgeoning springtime sun. Cattle were driven through the fire to purify them. Men, with their sweethearts, passed through the smoke for seeing good luck.

Then the Romans came to occupy the British Isles. The beginning of May was a very popular feast time for the Romans. It was devoted primarily to the worship of Flora, the goddess of flowers. It was in her honor a five day celebration, called the Floralia, was held. The five day festival would start from April 28 and end on May 2. The Romans brought in the rituals of the Floralia festival in the British Isles. And gradually the rituals of the Floralia were added to those of the Beltane. And many of today's customs on the May Day bear a stark similarity with those combined traditions.

May day observance was discouraged during the Puritans. Though, it was relived when the Puritans lost power in England, it didn't have the same robust force. Gradually, it came to be regarded more as a day of joy and merriment for the kids, rather than a day of observing the ancient fertility rights.

The tradition of Maypole and greeneries:
By the Middle Ages every English village had its Maypole. The bringing in of the Maypole from the woods was a great occasion and was accompanied by much rejoicing and merrymaking. The Maypoles were of all sizes. And one village would vie with another to show who could produce the tallest Maypole. Maypoles were usually set up for the day in small towns, but in London and the larger towns they were erected permanently.

The Maypole tradition suffered a setback for about a couple of decades since the Puritan Long Parliament stopped it in 1644. However, with the return of the Stuarts, the Maypole reappeared and the festivities of May Day were again enjoyed. One of the great Maypoles, was
The changes brought about by the Reformation included attempts to do away with practices that were obviously of pagan origin. But the Maypole, or, May tree, was not issued in practice at the behest of the second Stuart.

Although they succeeded in doing this, Maypole with most of the other traditions, many still survived. And Maypole is one of them. In France it merely changed its name. In Perigord and elsewhere, the May Tree became the "Tree of Liberty" and was the symbol of the French Revolution. Despite the new nomenclature, the peasants treated the tree in the same traditional spirit. And they would dance around it the same way as their forefathers had always done.

Maypoles and trees:
Trees have been linked to a part of celebration, perhaps, to the days ancient New Year rites. The association of trees to this celebration has come riding on the back of the spring festival in ancient Europe. Trees have always been the symbol of the great vitality and fertility of nature and were often used at the spring festivals of antiquity. The anthropologist E. O. James finds a strong relationship between the ancient tree related traditions of the British and the Romans. According to James' description, as a part of the May Day celebration, the youths in old Europe cut down a tree, lopped off the branches leaving a few at the top. They then wrapped it round with violets like the figure of the Attis, the ancient Roman god. At sunrise, they used to take it back to their villages by blowing horns and flutes. In a similar manner, the sacred pine tree representing the god Attis was carried in procession to the temple of Cybele on Rome's Palatine Hill during the Spring Festival of March 22.

Roots of May Day celebration in America:
The Puritans frowned on May Day, so the day has never been celebrated with as much enthusiasm in the United States as in Great Britain. But the tradition of celebrating May Day by dancing and singing around a maypole, tied with colorful streamers or ribbons, survived as a part of the English tradition. The kids celebrating the day by moving back and forth around the pole with the the streamers, choosing of May queen, and hanging of May baskets on the doorknobs of folks -- are all the leftovers of the old European traditions.”

“May Day,,,,,,May Day we are going on !!!!!!!!!Shes brakeing up shes brakeing up...........

Agggggggggggggggggggg!!!!!!!


What TV show was that from?

8)”

“Dancing around a pole eh? I might celebrate afterall!

Don't know, mikey”

“Six million dollar man?”

“Those Puritans better keep their mitts off'n my Maypole!!”

“The part the Puritans did not like was the practice of suspension of marriage vows for the festival. Folks would make bowers of grass and flowers and run off to them with a new lover from around the fires. Of course, in the Pre-Christian era there were no church people to try to control the fertility rites of spring and there was much rejoicing for Beltane. -I'm sure the rituals varied from place to place and evolved over time to be the tame sort of kiddie fest it is today. The world is different now and STDs make it a scary proposition to love indiscriminately but some folks do follow their whim....
By the way we had a great May Day festival just outside of Corvallis, Oregon in the Coast Range Hills during the Lunar cycle just past. Full moon three day camp out in the mud with fresh beer, Maypole, live music and freedom from public scrutiny because it was held on private land. Quite a nice way to bring in the May. Joy to all!”

“May Day was a big holiday for the Communists. I remember as a kid in Detroit it was as big as Christmas. The unions and share the wealth folks celebrated it like a victory over tyranny or some such crap. I was too young to understand, but I was running around the Maypole like a banshee. Hell the ice finally melted!!!”

“Bacpac, You from detroit originally?”

“Bacpac, You a commie?”

“No and No.”

“Way to go bitpusher!!!!!

Thats it 6,000,000 Man!

8)”

“isn't this the day where u make may baskets full of candy and place it on peoples doorstep and ring the doorbell, running away b4 they catch u and have to give u kiss?”

“In my neck of the woods that would be very scary!!!!!

8)”

“I thought it was baskets of flowers?”

“I could just see that on my block!!!!

Hheheheheh!!!!!

8)”

“I don't know, but it is the first (now second) of May and I celebrated.....what the heck, it was a good excuse.”

“It was my wedding anniversary. Talk about "MAY DAY, MAY DAY!!!”

“In January or so, I usually pencil-in "have some sex" on May 1 in my calender. Sound crazy? Mebbe, mebbe not. Mark my words, tho - someday it's gonna HAPPEN, then we'll see who's laughing then. Bastards!


BTW-
Where's AymeeGee?
hehehee!”