May Day

Beltane, or May Day is the fertility festival marking the beginning of summer. People often decorate their neighbor's doorsteps with fresh flowers (hence the tradition of May Day Baskets), enjoy picnics with their families, and dance around a maypole to insure fertility for the coming year. This represents the Goddess in ascendancy as the Mother, and the death of the God after the conception of the Divine Child.

What is your favorite May Day activity?

I haven't received a May basket in years. The last time it happened I opened up the front door to answer the doorbell. Of course no one was there. But I could hear a small child's giggle around the side of the house. Fewer and fewer people celebrate May Day anymore. I wish that wasn't true.

One May Day when I was in grade school I remember cutting strips of colored paper (green & pink) and with a little bit too much glue constructed a sorta handsome basket. My mother helped me rummage through her cupboards looking for some special treats. We found some minature marshmellows and some raisins to tuck inside my basket along with a handful of freshly picked violets from along the creek behind our house. I was the the girl with the giggles that year.

My lilacs are in bloom here in Iowa. They would fill a basket just fine!I think I"ll go outside for awhile... >>> leaving now to run barefoot in the grass.

Article Dateline - May 1998