May Day

  Morris dancing, parades of various sorts, door to door begging of treats and hobby horses are also associated with this holiday. 

This was also one of the festivals with which human sacrifice was associated.  Certain groups believe that in ancient times the year king, enemies from last summer’s wars or other humans were slain to encourage the crops to grow.  It is difficult to know precisely how accurate these allegations may have been.

In Germany, April 31st or May Eve is called Walpurgisnacht.  It is so named in honor of St. Walburga (or Walpurgis), the abbess of the monastery of Heidenheim.  St. Walburga was responsible for helping bring Christianity to Germany in the 8th century.  This saint’s day coincides with an older tradition, which included rites to protect one against witchcraft.  Goethe used this tradition to create a pivotal scene in his play, Faustus.  

When the Romans invaded Britain, they blended their springtime deity, Flora, with the existing celebrations. 

May Day was celebrated well into the 15th century, as immortalized in the “Court of Love”, written in 1561:

     And furth goth all the Court, both most and lest,
     To feche the floures fressh, and braunche and blome;
     And namly, hawthorn brought both page and grome.
     With fressh garlandes, partie blewe and whyte,
     And thaim rejoysen in their greet delyt.

However delightful this gathering of greens may have been, May Day was not incorporated into the growing list of Christian holidays.  Whether it was because the Church was running out of reasons for a holiday (unlikely) or whether because of the fertility and ritual sacrifice associated with the holiday is unknown.

Instead, it was picked up by the secular world, where it became a celebration of labor.  On May 1, 1886, unions across the United States went on strike, demanding that the standard workday be shortened to eight hours.  While not immediately effective (in spite of violent demonstrations), continued effort did bring about the desired effect.  Interestingly enough, Labor Day in the United States is now celebrated on the first Monday in September, not on May 1st.

May 1st has become a traditional day to celebrate labor unions, however, with parades and bonfires (sound familiar?).  In more recent years, it has become a day to focus on environmental issues, as well as a time to protest various governmental practices associated with working class people.

Perhaps all this fracas harkens back to times when the weather had warmed, the spring rains had ceased to turn roads into rivers of mud, making it possible for kings to move their armies about.  Whatever the reason, May 1st has become one of those days marked on the Julian Calendar as a special moment in many cultures.  Steeped in tradition, smudged with hints of blood and wrong-doing, as well as sprightly celebrations of a new season, it seems to be a moment of passion as warmth returns to the northern hemisphere.