Betty Reeder ( my Granny) Queen of The May.May Day, one of my most favourite holidays. Living in Hawaii, in kindergarten and first grade we celebrated May Day as Lei Day. There were parties and maypole dances and a big lei making contest. I remember one of my classmates won by cutting up ( or rather watching her mother cut up...) the class photo and making each persons photo a "flower" on the lei. Man, if that isn't kissing up to teacher I don't know what is! Teachers love the whole every child is a flower, together the flowers make the most wonderful bouquet ( in this case lei) thing. I know, they start drilling it into you in the early teacher training classes...I am pretty certain someone tattooed it to my skull. Anyway, I loved lei day! I loved the flower crowns that the girls all wore, I loved the dances and the songs. It wasn't until adolescence that I became aware that lei (lay) day had other meanings. Which sort of brings me full circle, since now I celebrate Beltaine on the first of May ( or would if my husband were in town...) Beltaine is one of those neo pagan parties that makes non pagans blush, or run for the hills. Really, I've never personally witnessed a Beltaine orgy but I bet I know where you can find one. I prefer my sex to be a little more private, but I'll still take the floral crown, Thank you.
May is also the day in which the inhabitants of a small coastal town in Cornwall go nuts. Its great. They decorate the town in flowers and streamers and bunting and noise! There's the red 'os and the blue and the pints and singing and oh the accordions, hundreds, more than you could ever imagine. I hear the locals hate it when the tourists come for May Day in Padstow. I don't blame them, it sucks when some one tries to commandeer your holiday. But still the money spent by drunk tourists can't hurt. Unless one of them is foolish enough to drive off that pier. I was one of those tourists once. It was overwhelming and exhilarating and I definitely recommend it, with a local you might even manage to get a drink in the pub. You can find out more about Padstow's May Day here. I first learned about Padstow from my friend Jack Langstaff and the Revels community. The first Revels I was a part of included an 'os and a long, long line of dancers mimicking the steps in Padstow. A bit incongruous circling the Scottish Rite Temple here in Seattle, but suitably damp.
This is also the day that many in the social justice and labour communities regard as Labour Day, or International Workers day. It also seems to have turned into a day for immigrants in this country ( both legal and not) to try and make their voices heard. What a lot of things for one tiny day. Remember the huge spectacle parades in Moscow?
According to the catholic church May is also Mary's month. Celebrated by depicting the Virgin Mary with flowers or a floral crown. hmm....sound familiar. It's the chicken and egg argument. Were the Christians the first to adorn their goddess with flowers or were the pagans? Does it matter? Both celebrate blessings and fertility and beauty. Both take this time to honor the feminine, the life givers, the nurturers (men nurture too guys!)
Check out this Wiki article. I wish there was a larger community here to celebrate May Day with. We made May crowns for the kids in Doodle's class last week, but other than that, I am very sad to say that today for the first time in many years I did nothing. I didn't sing with my boys, I didn't pick flowers or make May baskets, I didn't dance around the living room to the sound of Jack singing. I didn't even call my closest friends and wish them a blessed and fruitful day. I am a total slacker. Given all the work that May 1st does, labourers, immigrants, socialists, pagans, catholics, school children in Hawaii the least I could have done was manage some kind of small offering. But hey, I still have five hours and a little bit of daylight. I think I might be able to fit in some singing.
May is also the day in which the inhabitants of a small coastal town in Cornwall go nuts. Its great. They decorate the town in flowers and streamers and bunting and noise! There's the red 'os and the blue and the pints and singing and oh the accordions, hundreds, more than you could ever imagine. I hear the locals hate it when the tourists come for May Day in Padstow. I don't blame them, it sucks when some one tries to commandeer your holiday. But still the money spent by drunk tourists can't hurt. Unless one of them is foolish enough to drive off that pier. I was one of those tourists once. It was overwhelming and exhilarating and I definitely recommend it, with a local you might even manage to get a drink in the pub. You can find out more about Padstow's May Day here. I first learned about Padstow from my friend Jack Langstaff and the Revels community. The first Revels I was a part of included an 'os and a long, long line of dancers mimicking the steps in Padstow. A bit incongruous circling the Scottish Rite Temple here in Seattle, but suitably damp.
This is also the day that many in the social justice and labour communities regard as Labour Day, or International Workers day. It also seems to have turned into a day for immigrants in this country ( both legal and not) to try and make their voices heard. What a lot of things for one tiny day. Remember the huge spectacle parades in Moscow?
According to the catholic church May is also Mary's month. Celebrated by depicting the Virgin Mary with flowers or a floral crown. hmm....sound familiar. It's the chicken and egg argument. Were the Christians the first to adorn their goddess with flowers or were the pagans? Does it matter? Both celebrate blessings and fertility and beauty. Both take this time to honor the feminine, the life givers, the nurturers (men nurture too guys!)
Check out this Wiki article. I wish there was a larger community here to celebrate May Day with. We made May crowns for the kids in Doodle's class last week, but other than that, I am very sad to say that today for the first time in many years I did nothing. I didn't sing with my boys, I didn't pick flowers or make May baskets, I didn't dance around the living room to the sound of Jack singing. I didn't even call my closest friends and wish them a blessed and fruitful day. I am a total slacker. Given all the work that May 1st does, labourers, immigrants, socialists, pagans, catholics, school children in Hawaii the least I could have done was manage some kind of small offering. But hey, I still have five hours and a little bit of daylight. I think I might be able to fit in some singing.
No comments:
Post a Comment