May Day!

It is the first of May, and I am struck by the thought of the coincidence of May Day holiday and Mayday as 'please help'.  According to wikipedia, they are unrelated- the holiday and the call of distress (which is from a French word), but according to me, I find them synchronous in a way.  May Day itself is an old seasonal celebration, heralding the beginning of summer back when the seasons were defined differently.  A day for celebration and dancing, maypoles, may baskets, may queens, may wine.  The Greek goddess Maia was the eldest of the Pleiades, a minor goddess of fertility, nurturing and the earth. This later got wrapped up in with the church celebration of Pentecost, and the return of the holy spirit as the flame of inspiration.  King Arthur made his knights renew their Pentecostal Oath on  Mayday- to uphold the laws of Chivalry and allegiance.  He also set the rule that no one should eat until they were confronted with a great marvel or quest~ the questing beast itself arrived on a May Day.  And so did the Green Knight, the first sighting of the Holy Grail and other assorted wonders.

May Day is also International Workers Day- a sort of Labor day for the world (with the exception of the US, which has it's own labor day because we just *have* to be different.  Much like the other celebrations, the day is spent in festivities and celebration- a day of rest with the prescription of fun.

Now the distress call- 'mayday'- I connect it like this:  on the hand of the International Workers Day, it was a distress call for work reform- the creation of the day broken into 8 hour segments: 8 for work, 8 for sleep, 8 for what you will.  Balance.  In the context of King Arthur and his court, the oath was a call to aid for the right, the good- and the quest was a direct call to aid.  As for Pentecost, a call to aid the establishment of the church, and in the pagan sense, the aid to renewal and growth- the may pole, wine, maidens, baskets are all symbols and rituals to help fertility.  Many, many babies got their starts on a mayday in the past.

For me, it is one of the forgotten holidays. I have this thing about forgotten holidays- they were important and the ancestors of other things we celebrate- either in a grand scale or a local one.  (Here we call it Springfest, and it is in a few weeks).  I want to remember them though, and teach the kids about them- what they are, where they come from, what to do in celebration.  So today I will take a few flowers to school and talk about it.  Tonight I will light a white candle and drink some May wine (which I actually got to make this year!)  I found woodruff in NYC, and was able to create a batch- I haven't had it since long ago in California.  I will have a small glass- wine gives me a monster headache and I have been living already with one for days and days, maybe persuade Mr. Owens to taste it.  It is a day for sunshine and good magics, a night for inspiration and love.  Cheers to all!