May Day: For Something Completely Different

The story behind May Day, like most contemporary noteworthy 'holidays', begins in pagan times, when May 1st was marked as the first day of summer; which, in turn, allowed for the Solstice on June 21st. It marks the end of the winter half of the year in the northern hemisphere, and typically began with a festival. 

In pre-Christian times, the Roman goddess of flowers, Flora, served as the centerpiece of the celebration called the Floralia, which included chariot-races and licentious theatrical performances. This was a time of renewal and "pollination". Re-birth was the central theme, which carried itself into the most raucous behavior one can imagine.  It was even considered to be a high holy day for prostitutes!

Throughout most of northern Europe, Walpurgisnacht (Walpurgis Night) was celebrated through dancing and bonfires. The celebration was named after St. Walpurga, a Saxon princess who was beatified on May 1st, coincidentally the same time asViking fertility celebrations, which also included nightly bonfires.  Over the years, as the Vikings rampaged through Europe, the two events merged into Walpurganacht.

Walpurgisnacht in Heidelberg, Germany

 Some regional areas adopted the rite of burning witches in effigy; however, most have perpetuated the folklore that Walpurgis Night is a night when witches gather around fire in a celebration of Renewal.

In Germania, it is said that the witches celebrate on the Brocken, the highest mountain in the Harz Mountains in northern Germany, to await the arrival of Spring. In fact, during the 15th and 16th centuries, German literature described this event as the Witches' Sabbath.

Today, of course, the day is mostly meaningless to western culture, culminating in overnight pranks on one's neighbors, bringing flowers to a friend, or celebrating the rise of the worker in socialist societies.

As for me ... where IS that stack of wood I was saving ....