The Sacred Wheel of The Year: Celebrating the Seasons

Bringing in the May: A Return to Life

 By Lucia Bettler

        May, that merry month of flowers in May baskets, May poles and May Queens, has been celebrated for many ages, beginning wit the fertility festivals of the ancient Egyptians and continuing into the fertile crescents of the Near East. 

        The Romans welcomed the month of May be dedicating the month to Flora, their flower goddess; they spent the first days of May gathering flowers as offerings to her. In ancient times, Roman children made little images of Flora and decorated them with flowers. How similar to a little Catholic girl’s custom of “crowning” the Virgin Mary while singing special “May” songs to her.

        The origin of May Day and its May Pole goes back to the New Year’s celebrations dating to prehistory, which were connected to the renewal of life and the changing seasons. 

        For the Druids of the British Isles, May 1 was the second most important holiday of the year; it was the festival of Beltane, the day that divided the year in half. An important May Day custom was the setting of the new fire, an ancient New Year’s rite performed throughout the world. Couples passed through the smoke for luck, and the fire itself was thought to lend life to the Springtime sun. 

        Fire festivals were one part of the Old Religion that remained celebrated by our ancestors. A nursery rhyme: “Ring around the Rosies, a pocket full of Posies, ashes, ashes, all fall down” is a remnant of a fire dance where the old evil sprits would fall into the cleansing fire.

        To the Beltane rituals were added the customs associated with the Floralia, for the Romans occupied Great Britain for several centuries. By the Middle Ages every English village had its May Pole. The bringing in of the Maypole from the woods was a merry occasion and was accompanied by much rejoicing and a bit of amorous loveplay. Who could forget the scene in CAMELOT as Gwenivere and her ladies sing about the pleasures of May? 

        From early times in England, the custom prevailed on May Day of  “bringing in the May” … going to the woods before dawn and picking flowers and branches to decorate the houses. Groups of small girls, crowned with leaves and flowers, went form door to door singing and begging. There was always a May Queen, chosen from among the girls of the village, to reign over the May Day festivities. (Our own Miss America Pageant is an offshoot of this custom). A king was also crowned in some villages, as Jack in the Green, or Robin Hood, the Greenman of the Forest. The Union or Sacred Marriage between him and the May Queen insured the fertility of the Land.

        Maia, Mother of Mercury, was the goddess of increase. She gave her name to the fifth month of the Julian calendar. Through dancing and feasting her blessings were sought.

        The Goddess was once thought of as a source of all … feeling, intuition, dreams, passion, love and creativity. She was connected to the cycles of the moon and to the Earth. The Moon was thought to be the source of dew, sacred healing water. Water as a cleansing or purifying agent always played an important part in ancient festivities associated with a new year. It was believed in both Europe and Great Britain that dew taken from the Hawthorne bush before dawn on May Day was an effective preservation of beauty. Today, rather than a way to preserve beauty, we wash our faces in the fresh dew of the grass to symbolize renewal of our spirits and the wish to be healed. It is a beautiful symbol of hope.

         The May Pole represented the mystic point of center, the Tree of Life, of all life’s essence. It housed the forest wisdom. It was the world tree, with its roots sinking deep into the earth, its branches reaching high up into the sky. The energies of the tree spirits were invoked, as the May Tree was given a place of honor. A wreath representing the feminine principle was fashioned of leaves, wheat and flowers, and placed atop the pole to signify the fertility of male and female. In Greece and Ireland, the top of the Maypole was decorated with two globes, one silver and one gold to represent the Moon and Sun. From the tip of the poles, streamers of various colors were attached and trailed out to represent the rays from the Father and the Mother. Later these colorful streamers were used in a dance that left all the dancers pressed together and intertwined, another representation of the Mating of the Moon and Sun. 

        One May custom that you can incorporate into your life is a pretty child’s custom from years past, in Europe and New England, the May basket. The idea is to leave a little basket filled with ferns and Spring flower on an unsuspecting friend’s doorknob. Some use baskets woven of sturdy paper, others a small wicker basket, lined with foil that contains some wet moss or florist’s oasis to keep the flowers fresh. Half the fun is going out late at night with your basket and sneaking up to a friend’s door after you’re sure they are in for the night …knowing they will be delighted in the morning with a lovely bouquet, that could have been left by the fairies for all they know!!! 

        A traditional spring drink in Germany is May Wine …light white wine flavored with fresh or dried woodruff, an aromatic woodland herb that blooms in May. When dried, a delicious scent of vanilla emanates from the whorls of leaves. Some herbalists also add a bit of lemon verbena and rose scented geranium leaves to the blend. We recommend a box of strawberries be chopped and added to your May wine, along with some ice cubes in which flowers have been frozen. 

        The May celebration exudes life and energy, and stirs the passions. It is a time to continue the inner renewal begun at the Spring Equinox, a time to celebrate our creative energies, the fire of our souls. May Sarton, writer and poet offers: “Be a poet …allow the life force to flow through you, rather than forcing it into mold …live towards essence.” In May, we are all poets. Dance around the May Pole, wash your face in the morning dew and bring in the May. Green Blessings to you all.