May Day (May 1) is celebrated as a spring festival in many countries. It marks the revival of life in early spring after winter. May Day celebrations may go back to the spring festivals of ancient Egypt and India.

The English and other peoples whom the Romans conquered developed their May Day festivals from the Roman festival called Floralia. In the April festival of Floralia, the Romans gathered flowers to honor the goddess of springtime, Flora. Eventually, Floralia was combined with a Celtic celebration called Beltane, which was held on May 1. The Celts believed that on Beltane, the fairies were especially active.

In medieval times, May Day became the favorite holiday of many English villages. People gathered flowers to decorate their homes and churches. They sang spring carols and received gifts in return. They chose a king and queen of May. Villagers danced around a Maypole, holding the ends of ribbons that streamed from its top. They wove the ribbons around the pole until it was covered with bright colors. Dew collected on May Day morning was said to restore youth.

Other European countries had their own May Day customs. In some, the day became a time for courting. In Italy, for example, boys serenaded their sweethearts. In Switzerland, a May pine tree was placed under a girl's window. In France, May Day had religious importance. The French considered the month of May sacred to the Virgin Mary. They enshrined young girls as May queens in their churches. The May queens led processions in honor of the Virgin Mary.

The Puritans disapproved of May Day, and the day has never been celebrated with the same enthusiasm in the United States as in Britain. But in many American towns and cities, children celebrate the day with dancing and singing. They often gather flowers in handmade paper baskets and hang them on the doorknobs of the homes of friends and neighbors on May Day morning. At May Day parties, children select May queens, dance around the Maypole, and sing May Day songs. May is also celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church by electing May queens who wear flowers and lead parades called May processions. Such customs are probably pre-Christian in origin.

Ancient ceremonies around the Maypole were annual festivals to celebrate the excitement of the coming of spring. Bright flowers springing from the earth would be more exciting if you lived in primitive dwellings as people did over two thousand years ago. Today when a trip to the supermarket yields fresh blossoms any day of the year, there is not as much incentive to gladden our hearts over spring.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, 1945, the earliest picture of the maypole was found in a drawing in a window in Betley Hall in Straffordshire built by King Edward IV. Size of the window or where Betley Hall is in Staffordshire county the article does not specify. Maybe the building no longer exists although many 600 year old buildings are still standing. The drawing of the entire window is shown below. We are beholden to the artist at any rate because maypoles were not considered worthy of woodcuts or other methods of printing. The festival was ridiculed by Roman conquerors as they introduced Christianity.

Early mention of the ritual describes choosing a standing birch tree - they grow straight and tall in the forest - attaching streamers to the branches and weaving them around and around in movements appreciative of the coming spring. Modern maypoles can be constructed from a pole either set in the ground or in cement with streamers attached to the top. In 1905 ladies decorated their streamers with flowers and made a grand affair of their festival.

One way to celebrate this holiday is to pick a tree in your yard and adorn it with ribbons and bows. You could put out a large bowl of floating flowers. Baskets of fresh flowers picked moments before sunrise can be hung on the front door and the mantle can be laden with greens and flowers. Flower petals can be strewn about the circle and later swept up into a pile distributed around the perimeter of the house for protection. You could make an old-fashioned wedding feast! Try oatmeal cakes or cookies sweetened with a dab of honey. Just make a lovely wedding feast, and you are sure to enjoy yourself! An early morning walk through a local park or forest could be fun for everyone. Gather up some plants or flowers to display in your home. Mom and daughter could braid their hair, and weave in a few tender blossoms. Be creative and have fun.