The first day of May is a festival combining a welcome to Spring, courtship rites, dances and games. Celebrating a flourishing of nature and fertility in humans and animals, the festival is believed to have originated in the ancient Roman Floralia, beginning in 258 b.c., in honor of Flora (Greek, Chloris), the goddess of flowers and Spring. At that time, flower dances and processions were common. With the Roman occupation, such celebrations took hold in Britain and continental Europe.

In the Middle Ages, May Day became one of the merriest holidays in Britain. People went into the woods after midnight to gather Spring flowers and hawthorn branches, returning at dawn singing and dancing. The major events of the day were dances around the Maypole, the selection of the fairest village maiden as Queen of the May, and rustic morris dances featuring such characters as Robin Hood (whom local youths impersonated in dances and dramatic performances) and Maid Marian, the hobbyhorse, and the fool. Cornucopia

It is the tradition on May eve for people to tear branches from the Hawthorn, to bedeck the gates and lintels of their homes. The Hawthorn (or Whitethorn) is the tree of hope, pleasure and protection. It is sacred to Persephone, Queen of the Underworld who came into the sunlight for six months of the year, until winter.It is also dedicated to Flora, the goddess of the Roman May festival of Floralia. Hawthorn heralds the coming of summer when hedgerows throughout the countryside are filled with its white blossom. The branches which are used to adorn the house bring protection to your home and boundaries at a time of boundary between the seasons. For good luck the hawthorn branches should be kept outside the house. It is said that if you sit under a hawthorn in May the fairies may put you under their spell. Mayday/Bealtaine

A Riddle

The modern celebration of Mayday as a working class holiday evolved from an early struggle of the labor movement. On May 1, 1886 Chicago police attacked striking workers killing six. The next day at a protest demonstration in Haymarket Square a bomb exploded in the middle of a crowd of police killing eight of them. The police arrested eight anarchist trade unionists claiming they threw the bombs. In what was to become one of the most infamous show trials in America in the 19th century, but certainly not to be the last of such trials against radical workers, the State of Illinois tried the anarchist workingmen for fighting for their rights as much as being the actual bomb throwers. Four men were found guilty and executed by the State of Illinois.

In Paris in 1889 the International Working Men's Association (the First International) declared May 1st an international working class holiday in commemoration of the Haymarket Martyrs.

The Origin and Traditions of Mayday

Pagan Origins of Mayday

What is Beltane?

Mayday on the Web - History