Criminal
05-05-2002, 08:21 PM
On May Day it was customary for the ancient Romans to march in a procession to the grotto of Egena, where they carried out ceremonies honoring the revival of vegetation and to assure abundant crops.
May Day, which was also called Beltane (Bright Fire) by the Anglo-Saxons, was considered the first day of summer. May Day was symbolic of a return to life, of the defeat of the hard winter, with new hopes for good planting and rich harvests. Beltane was the time of milk and honey, the primary time of pleasure, of blossoming and blooming, of desire and satisfaction, so the cow and the bee were both significant symbols for this celebration. The cow's miraculous ability to create great amounts of milk and the bee's creation of honey, the sweetest food on earth, were absolutely magical. After blessing the cows with protective bonfire smoke, they were turned out to pasture. Because of the abundance of grass, the milk was of finer quality, the cows yielded much more abundantly, and had to be milked 3 times each day. So it was in May that the Anglo-Saxons began making cheese. Special May Day sacrifices were offered, even including human beings. The people built great bonfires on hillsides, leaped over flames, or drove cattle through them. Large oatcakes, called bannocks, were eaten as part of the festivities. Traditionally a portion of the cake was burned or marked with ashes. The unfortunate soul who received the marked piece was sacrificed to the gods. More recently, the recipient simply jumped over a small fire 3 times instead. It is said that the custom of leaping over flames continued in some parts of Britain as late as the 18th century--the height of their leaps was supposed to forecast the height of crops.
While a German farmer's calendar of 1493 shows all other months of the year illustrated by hard-working farm folk, May alone represents leisure time with luxuriating lovers. A man attentively plays a lute for a bathing woman. Beltane especially celebrated love, attraction, courtship and mating--that yearly groundswell of desire we know as "spring fever." Long before our current high school prom king and queen, villages elected a young, attractive couple to represent the King and Queen of the May, also known as John Thomas and Lady Jane. Folks danced around the May pole, the skyward symbol of life; they gathered flowers and spent nights together under the stars in the forest.
Since ancient times, May 1 has been a day for outdoor festivals. The English have observed May Day since medieval times. All classes of people used to rise at dawn to go “a-maying.” They would return laden with flowers and branches of trees to decorate their homes. A May Queen was crowned to reign over the games, dancing, and festivities. Flowers, fruits and other sweets, and a May pole with streamers were featured. Alfred Lord Tennyson referred to the custom in these words:
For I’m to be Queen o’ the May, Mother,
I’m to be Queen of the May.
Italy: The people of ancient Rome honored Flora, the goddess of flowers and springtime, with a festival called Florialia. The goddess was represented by a small statue wreathed in garlands. A procession of singers and dancers carried the statue past a sacred blossom-decked tree. Later, festivals of this kind spread to other lands conquered by the Romans. Today May Day is known as the happiest day of the year in Italy. All varieties of flowers are placed in and around places of worship. Boys often serenade their sweethearts on this day.
Switzerland: In Switzerland, a May pine tree is often placed under a girl's window.
Germany: German boys often secretly plant May trees in front of the windows of their sweethearts.
Czechoslovakia: At night, boys at night place maypoles before their sweethearts' windows.
England: The festivals begun in Italy reached their height in England during the Middle Ages. On the first day of May, English villagers awakened at daybreak to roam the countryside gathering blossoming flowers and branches. A towering maypole was set up on the village green. This pole, usually made of the trunk of a tall birch tree, was decorated with bright field flowers. The villagers then danced and sang around the maypole, accompanied by a piper. Usually the Morris dance was performed by dancers wearing bells on their colorful costumes. Often the fairest maiden of the village was chosen queen of the May. Sometimes a May king was also chosen. These two led the village dancers and ruled over the festivities. In Elizabethan times, the king and queen were called Robin Hood and Maid Marian. Maypoles were usually set up for the day in small towns, but in London and the larger towns they were erected permanently. They were considered heathen eyesores by the Puritans. May Day festivals became so gay and wild that the Puritans were able to force the government to forbid them. They soon sprang up again, however, and still continue in many English villages. Today in London children go from house to house bringing flowers in return for pennies. After the pennies are collected, they are thrown into a wishing well. Special wishes are made with hopes they will be granted. The pennies are later collected and given to different charitable organizations. The traditional English chant used when handing out May baskets is:
Please to smell my garland 'cause it is the first of May.
A branch of May I have brought you, and at your door I stand;
It is but a sprout, but it's well budded out,
The work of our Lady's hand.
France: Since the French considered the month of May to be sacred to the Virgin Mary, they enshrined young girls as May queens in their churches and May queens led processions in honor of the Virgin. Cows also play important roles in French May Day festivals, and bunches of flowers are tied and draped around their tails as they are led in parades. Everyone tries to touch the cows because it is believed to be good luck. On May Day morning, everyone drinks milk still warm from the milking to assure good luck during the year.
Greece: Greek children set out early in the morning to search for the first swallow of spring. When the bird is located, the children go from door to door singing songs of spring. For their efforts, neighbors offer special treats to eat, such as fruits, nuts, and cakes.
United States: The Puritans frowned on May Day and brought that attitude along to the New World, so it has never been celebrated with as much enthusiasm in the U.S. as in Great Britain. But May Day is celebrated by dancing and singing around a maypole tied with colorful streamers or ribbons. The dancers twist the streamers around the pole to make a pretty pattern to be enjoyed by all. On college campuses a May queen is often chosen and the old dances are performed around a maypole. Children often gather spring flowers, place them in handmade paper May baskets and hang them on the doorknobs of relatives and friends--they ring the doorbells and run away, leaving their flowers as a surprise. At May Day parties children select May queens, dance around the maypole, and sing May Day songs. These festivals often occur in parks or schools.
Away before me to sweet beds of flowers:
Love thoughts lie rich when canopied with bowers.
--William Shakespeare
May Day Trivia:
Traditional May Day celebrations were pre-Christian agricultural festivals. Eventually the significance was lost and the practices survived merely as popular festivities. (Which can also be said about other holidays: Halloween, Christmas, Easter.)
A widespread superstition held that washing the face in the May Day morning dew would beautify the skin.
In Hawaii, May Day is Lei Day. Everyone gives the gift of a lei to another, putting it around the receiver's neck and accompanying the gift with the traditional kiss. Observing practices of the islanders for centuries, Lei Day began to be observed officially in 1928. Some Hawaiian celebrations are complete with pageants, a Lei Queen and her court.
In 1889, a congress of world Socialist parties held in Paris voted to support the U.S. labor movement's demand for an 8-hour day. It chose May 1, 1890, as a day of demonstrations in favor of the 8-hour day. Afterward, May 1 became a holiday called Labor Day in many nations. It resembles the September holiday in the U.S. The holiday is especially important in socialist and Communist countries--when political demonstrations are held.
May Day, which was also called Beltane (Bright Fire) by the Anglo-Saxons, was considered the first day of summer. May Day was symbolic of a return to life, of the defeat of the hard winter, with new hopes for good planting and rich harvests. Beltane was the time of milk and honey, the primary time of pleasure, of blossoming and blooming, of desire and satisfaction, so the cow and the bee were both significant symbols for this celebration. The cow's miraculous ability to create great amounts of milk and the bee's creation of honey, the sweetest food on earth, were absolutely magical. After blessing the cows with protective bonfire smoke, they were turned out to pasture. Because of the abundance of grass, the milk was of finer quality, the cows yielded much more abundantly, and had to be milked 3 times each day. So it was in May that the Anglo-Saxons began making cheese. Special May Day sacrifices were offered, even including human beings. The people built great bonfires on hillsides, leaped over flames, or drove cattle through them. Large oatcakes, called bannocks, were eaten as part of the festivities. Traditionally a portion of the cake was burned or marked with ashes. The unfortunate soul who received the marked piece was sacrificed to the gods. More recently, the recipient simply jumped over a small fire 3 times instead. It is said that the custom of leaping over flames continued in some parts of Britain as late as the 18th century--the height of their leaps was supposed to forecast the height of crops.
While a German farmer's calendar of 1493 shows all other months of the year illustrated by hard-working farm folk, May alone represents leisure time with luxuriating lovers. A man attentively plays a lute for a bathing woman. Beltane especially celebrated love, attraction, courtship and mating--that yearly groundswell of desire we know as "spring fever." Long before our current high school prom king and queen, villages elected a young, attractive couple to represent the King and Queen of the May, also known as John Thomas and Lady Jane. Folks danced around the May pole, the skyward symbol of life; they gathered flowers and spent nights together under the stars in the forest.
Since ancient times, May 1 has been a day for outdoor festivals. The English have observed May Day since medieval times. All classes of people used to rise at dawn to go “a-maying.” They would return laden with flowers and branches of trees to decorate their homes. A May Queen was crowned to reign over the games, dancing, and festivities. Flowers, fruits and other sweets, and a May pole with streamers were featured. Alfred Lord Tennyson referred to the custom in these words:
For I’m to be Queen o’ the May, Mother,
I’m to be Queen of the May.
Italy: The people of ancient Rome honored Flora, the goddess of flowers and springtime, with a festival called Florialia. The goddess was represented by a small statue wreathed in garlands. A procession of singers and dancers carried the statue past a sacred blossom-decked tree. Later, festivals of this kind spread to other lands conquered by the Romans. Today May Day is known as the happiest day of the year in Italy. All varieties of flowers are placed in and around places of worship. Boys often serenade their sweethearts on this day.
Switzerland: In Switzerland, a May pine tree is often placed under a girl's window.
Germany: German boys often secretly plant May trees in front of the windows of their sweethearts.
Czechoslovakia: At night, boys at night place maypoles before their sweethearts' windows.
England: The festivals begun in Italy reached their height in England during the Middle Ages. On the first day of May, English villagers awakened at daybreak to roam the countryside gathering blossoming flowers and branches. A towering maypole was set up on the village green. This pole, usually made of the trunk of a tall birch tree, was decorated with bright field flowers. The villagers then danced and sang around the maypole, accompanied by a piper. Usually the Morris dance was performed by dancers wearing bells on their colorful costumes. Often the fairest maiden of the village was chosen queen of the May. Sometimes a May king was also chosen. These two led the village dancers and ruled over the festivities. In Elizabethan times, the king and queen were called Robin Hood and Maid Marian. Maypoles were usually set up for the day in small towns, but in London and the larger towns they were erected permanently. They were considered heathen eyesores by the Puritans. May Day festivals became so gay and wild that the Puritans were able to force the government to forbid them. They soon sprang up again, however, and still continue in many English villages. Today in London children go from house to house bringing flowers in return for pennies. After the pennies are collected, they are thrown into a wishing well. Special wishes are made with hopes they will be granted. The pennies are later collected and given to different charitable organizations. The traditional English chant used when handing out May baskets is:
Please to smell my garland 'cause it is the first of May.
A branch of May I have brought you, and at your door I stand;
It is but a sprout, but it's well budded out,
The work of our Lady's hand.
France: Since the French considered the month of May to be sacred to the Virgin Mary, they enshrined young girls as May queens in their churches and May queens led processions in honor of the Virgin. Cows also play important roles in French May Day festivals, and bunches of flowers are tied and draped around their tails as they are led in parades. Everyone tries to touch the cows because it is believed to be good luck. On May Day morning, everyone drinks milk still warm from the milking to assure good luck during the year.
Greece: Greek children set out early in the morning to search for the first swallow of spring. When the bird is located, the children go from door to door singing songs of spring. For their efforts, neighbors offer special treats to eat, such as fruits, nuts, and cakes.
United States: The Puritans frowned on May Day and brought that attitude along to the New World, so it has never been celebrated with as much enthusiasm in the U.S. as in Great Britain. But May Day is celebrated by dancing and singing around a maypole tied with colorful streamers or ribbons. The dancers twist the streamers around the pole to make a pretty pattern to be enjoyed by all. On college campuses a May queen is often chosen and the old dances are performed around a maypole. Children often gather spring flowers, place them in handmade paper May baskets and hang them on the doorknobs of relatives and friends--they ring the doorbells and run away, leaving their flowers as a surprise. At May Day parties children select May queens, dance around the maypole, and sing May Day songs. These festivals often occur in parks or schools.
Away before me to sweet beds of flowers:
Love thoughts lie rich when canopied with bowers.
--William Shakespeare
May Day Trivia:
Traditional May Day celebrations were pre-Christian agricultural festivals. Eventually the significance was lost and the practices survived merely as popular festivities. (Which can also be said about other holidays: Halloween, Christmas, Easter.)
A widespread superstition held that washing the face in the May Day morning dew would beautify the skin.
In Hawaii, May Day is Lei Day. Everyone gives the gift of a lei to another, putting it around the receiver's neck and accompanying the gift with the traditional kiss. Observing practices of the islanders for centuries, Lei Day began to be observed officially in 1928. Some Hawaiian celebrations are complete with pageants, a Lei Queen and her court.
In 1889, a congress of world Socialist parties held in Paris voted to support the U.S. labor movement's demand for an 8-hour day. It chose May 1, 1890, as a day of demonstrations in favor of the 8-hour day. Afterward, May 1 became a holiday called Labor Day in many nations. It resembles the September holiday in the U.S. The holiday is especially important in socialist and Communist countries--when political demonstrations are held.