May Day, which is May 1, is a celebration of spring. It is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate with your little ones. It’s a good time for making a Maypole, wearing a flower crown and singing some May Day songs. I will be posting about all of these in the next week or so–links are coming!
It’s also the beginning of fairy season!
May Day Now
I never celebrated May Day until I became part of the Waldorf community. But I remember hearing about it as a child and being enchanted by the idea of dancing around the Maypole. I felt so amazed when I went to my first Mayfair (which we actually celebrate mid-May because it’s often too cold to have an outdoor festival here in Chicago at the beginning of May) and saw the Maypole with rainbows of ribbons. I felt like I had been transported to a magical land when the grade school children–3rd or 4th graders-started weaving the ribbons around the pole, skipping to recorder music played by another group of children. And they all wore flower crowns, too!
Many Waldorf schools celebrate May Day–some other schools and groups do, too. If there’s a celebration near you (that’s appropriate for children!) check it out!
A Little History of May Day
According to “All Year Round,” by Ann Druitt, Christine Fynes-Clinton, and Marije Rowling, May Day comes out of the European folk tradition. It involves flowers and sometimes the crowning of a May Queen. It originated as a Roman festival which honored Flora, the Goddess of Flowers and bride of the West Wind. (the link is to a new version of this book, which I haven’t read, but I love my old version!)
May 1 is also the Celtic celebration of Beltane, which marks the beginning of summer–and used to be celebrated by jumping over fires.
May Day–the Adult Version
It was originally a fertility festival, and not suitable for children. But if you’re interested in reading about the adult version of May Day, check out this article from Bustle–
May Day Traditions Around The World Are Surprisingly Feminist, So Here’s How To Celebrate
Celebrate!
But May Day today is most often just a chance to celebrate spring by gathering flowers, making flower crowns and dancing outside around the Maypole.
And here’s a fun May Day superstition that I found in the Encyclopedia Brittanica entry on May Day–if you wash your face with the dew on May Day morning, it will beautify your skin.
Maypoles were originally just trees–sometimes very tall ones. A friend of mine from Germany told me that often people from nearby towns would try to steal another town’s Maypole!
I hope that you will celebrate May Day with your children. You can really celebrate it all month long, or whenever you want. You can even celebrate today!
And as I said, songs, flower crowns and some simple Maypole ideas are coming soon.