Sunday, May 1, 2011

Happy May Day!!!

April has ended and May has just begun. Today is May Day, a holiday that I THINK is not quite as popular in the United States as it was when I was a child. Back in the 1960s, children gathered fresh flowers, homemade cookies, etc and delivered them to the older people of the community the first day of every May. Children left their small gifts of love right next to the front door of the person whom they were giving them to. They would quickly knock or ring the doorbell before they made their quick escape to hide before the front door was opened and the gift taken inside. To this day, I don't know why the giver was supposed to hide... I would like to see us revamp our May Day traditions!

May Day Traditions

May Day is a holiday with two faces. It is known as a fertility ritual complete with celebrations and dances, and also as a holiday that honors the efforts of the labor movement all over the globe.

May Day As Spring Ritual

May Day is linked to Beltane, a Celtic ritual celebrated in Ireland and Scotland that marks the start of summer. During this time, farmers raced their livestock through bonfires to purify them. Today, the Beltane Fire Festival is held in Edinburgh, Scotland, to honor the tradition.

In England, people used to celebrate by gathering flowers and bringing them home. In towns, people would assemble a maypole with ribbons attached to the top, and people would dance around the maypole, winding ribbons around it. Plus, a May Queen would be crowned. All these traditions represent past pagan fertility rituals.

May Day As Celebration of the Labor Movement

For some, May 1 is known as International Workers Day in both Communist and non-Communist countries. The day was celebrated in the former Soviet Union, but it is also important to the American Labor movement because on May 1, 1886, workers went on strike in favor of the eight-hour work day. In 1889, the International Working Men's Association made May Day a holiday in honor of those who died in the Haymarket Riots.

However, May Day as a labor holiday grew less popular because of its ties to Communism, especially in the United States. With the decline of Communism, May Day is enjoying a recent resurgence as part of the global labor movement. Immigrants have become involved with May Day, and May 1, 2006, marked the first "Day Without Immigrants," in which many immigrants withheld their labor to fight for better working conditions and improved immigration policies.

Celebrating Beltane in Ireland and Scotland

Since the 10th century, people in Ireland and Scotland have celebrated the Gaelic custom of Beltane. This tradition usually takes place near the beginning of May and celebrates Ireland's first day of summer as well as the new growing and crop seasons.



VLE-B

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