May Day History and tradition

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May Day

History
Traditions
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History

Mayday is the feast of Beltane which means the fire of Bel (the Celtic god of life and the sun).

The Saxons started their celebrations on April 30th, climbing up o the top of hills and rolling burning wheels (symbolising the sun) back down. Others would wear animal heads and mime the hunt with the Horned God, Herne.

This was referred to as Walpurgisnacht in Eastern Europe – the night of the witches. This is similar to Halloween which was the start of the Norse Great Hunt.

As the people moved to a more agrarian economy Herne (and Diana) transformed into fertility gods instead of hunters. Diana became the Queen of the May (the agrarian life) while Herne became the Green Man, Robin Goodfellow (the hunter still).

As the Christian Church became more powerful it tried to absorb Mayday as it had the original Easter and Christmas feasts. However it lacked any strong Christian festivals so had to use Saints instead, just as it tried with Halloween.

The Church attempted to suppress May Day celebrations and the May-Pole by making them illegal. Ultimately the effort failed and although the festivals were certainly toned down (Beltane had been a particularly wild affair) the election of a Queen of the May and numerous localised celebrations continued, even if the original meaning was lost.

It is only in the last 30 years that the practice of school children learning May-pole dances and dancing them on May Day have disappeared.