May Day / Beltane

When I was a small child in the 1950s, our mother encouraged us to pick flowers on May Day. We gathered them together into paper cones that we decorated with crayons and ribbons. Then she pointed out the houses in our neighborhood where older women lived alone, probably widows who didn’t get out much. We would tiptoe up to the door, hang the flowers from the doorknob, ring the doorbell, and run. It felt exciting to try to get away before she opened the door to see us, and to imagine how happy she might be to find the flowers. Although this practice has faded into history, I love the memory of following a tradition that my mother and grandmother celebrated before me.

When I was a bit older, in the 1960s, our recreation center had a Maypole. It was really just the flag pole at the park, but once a year it was decorated with ribbons attached to a ring at the top. We neighborhood girls each held the end of a ribbon and walked around and around, winding and weaving our ribbons onto the maypole.

Since growing up, I rarely think about May Day any more, other than to notice and appreciate the flowers in our garden and around town. I know now that May Day is a European festival involving not only flowers and maypoles, but also gathering green branches to decorate (bringing in the May) and bonfires on warm spring nights.

By the way, have you ever wondered why pilots and ship captains shout, “May Day! May Day!” when they need help? It has nothing to do with the first of May. It is an Americanization of a French phrase which is pronounced the same, “M’aidez!” It simply means, “Help me!”

What I didn’t realize when I was growing up was that our secular holiday, May Day, has its roots in a Pagan or Wiccan holiday, Beltane. This is a Gaelic celebration of the end of winter, welcoming spring and summer. It marked the time when the cattle were returned to the fields after wintering in barns and stables. Rites for protection and growth were performed for the cattle and the community as a whole. Bonfires were lit, and people jumped over the fires as part of the festivities. Yellow May flowers adorned houses and doors, and some believe the yellow color was symbolic of the Beltane flames.

Today Beltane is still celebrated by Wiccans and NeoPagans, contemporary believers in pre-modern earth-centered religions. As for May Day, I like the idea of bringing back the tradition of surprising someone with an unexpected bouquet. Something as simple as flowers on the first of May has the potential to bring a lot of joy.