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BBC News, Beltane, blogging, dictionary.com, John Maler Collier, May Day, May Pole, Monday, S.A. Young author
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Ahhh “Camelot”. I love that musical. I love the film version too, not least because we’re watching Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero fall in love as well as Guinevere and Lancelot. *sigh*
Good morning and Happy Monday! Happy May Day!
I know that doesn’t mean what it once did and you probably did not get the day off, nor does anyone, to my knowledge, refer to May as the “Month of Three Milkings” anymore.
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May Day celebrations, which have been around since the Romans celebrated Flora, the Goddess of Flowers (duh) with the Floralia, as well as festivals held by Etruscans, Ligures and Celts, all of which were woven into the rhythms of nature, have not disappeared completely. The Gaelic celebration of Beltane, is still commonly held on April 30, as it was last night in Edinburgh, with fires on Calton Hill.
Now that looks like a party!
In the villages and towns of rural Great Britain, planting (or “seeding”) has (usually) been completed by May first, so it became a convenient day to give farm workers a day off. The day was for celebrating springtime fertility – of the land, the livestock, as well as the “lusty” human inhabitants – with revels, fests and community gatherings, which included dancing around the May Pole (although the exact reason for this seems to have been lost to the ages. I’m not going where you think I might.)
-The Maying of Guinevere by John Maler Collier (I’m crazy for the Pre-Raphaelites)
In 1904, an organization of socialists and communists designated May 1 as International Workers Day to recognize the 1886 Haymarket Riot in Chicago.There have been marches and demonstrations every May Day since, including today. However, I’m choosing to focus on the more bucolic meaning of the day.
My part of the world is turning green with splashes of color both vivid and pastel and there are only four more days of classes. Forget winter. Summer is coming.
Will you be dancing around a pole today? Or, if the spirit moves you, marching in solidarity with other workers around the world? Either way, I hope there flowers. See you next week?
C C Cedras
K R Brorman
S A Young
6 Comments
May 1, 2017 at 12:44 pm
Reblogged this on Lost Dudeist Astrology.
May 1, 2017 at 1:49 pm
No prancing about, Maypoles or otherwise, today…it’s raining and blowing here, but everything is looking lushly green at last. Most especially the weeds. 😳
May 1, 2017 at 5:17 pm
I hope you have a lovely Spring and Summer. As we are heading down into winter here in Australia I shall have to live vicariously through you all for the next few months. The girls and I are heading into hibernation . . .
May 1, 2017 at 6:32 pm
Thanks Sally! We’ll send you pics of our half of the world in full bloom to get you through the winter! 😀
May 6, 2017 at 9:40 am
Too much rain to do what I really want in May…FINALLY DRIVE MY MUSTANG CONVERTIBLE!
May 6, 2017 at 9:47 am
I hear that. The rate we’re going it will be nice enough for that up here by the 4th of July. Send pics when you finally get to take that baby out for a spin!