Growing up I always looked forward to the first day of May when my family celebrated May Day by leaving baskets of goodies on friends’ doorsteps, ringing the doorbell, and running away as fast as we could despite my natural distaste for running. We were one of very few families who celebrated the holiday, seldom receiving baskets in return, but we always took pleasure in spreading the tradition and joy that went with it.
Our church celebrated the more iconic part of the holiday known as the Maypole. Colorful ribbons are tied to a tall pole and children weave them around the pole by circling it in an elaborate dance.
I have continued to spread the excitement of May Day in college, but the scholarly environment made me curious to the origins of the holiday.
May Day came from the Gaelic celebration of Beltane, falls on April 30th, exactly halfway between the Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice. The holiday celebrated fertility and life, making it a good time for young couples to be married, fields to be sown, livestock to return to the fields, and celebratory bonfires to be lit. When Catholicism dominated Ireland, Pagan celebrations such as Beltane were prohibited, but the holiday became an important part of folklore. Celebrations began to focus on spring and were celebrated mainly by children who would dance around the maypole and leave candy or flowers on a friend’s doorstep before running away. Traditionally, if the child who receives the basket catches the child who leaves it, the two are to kiss.
People may be more familiar with Beltane’s counterpart holiday, Samhain, which marks the halfway point between the Autumnal Equinox and Winter Solstice. It celebrates the beginning of winter and the end of harvest. Samhain lives on as today as Halloween where children dressed in costumes harvest candy from their neighbors and people hold bonfires. Much of Halloween’s harvest imagery such as corn stalks, hay bales, and gourds galore come from ancient traditions of harvest.
The folk holidays lost popularity in Ireland, but reappeared in the United States when Irish immigrants began reviving traditions of their heritage in the new country. Once in the United States, similar traditions focused on harvest and the seasons blended with traditions of Beltane and Samhain to make them what they are today.
In the late nineteenth century, May first came to represent labor and labor rights when International Workers Day was launched to commemorate the Haymarket Affair in Chicago. It has gained world wide popularity as an opportunity to bring attention to workers rights, unions, and labor conditions. While International Workers Day is an important holiday, my heart will always belong to May Day with its candy, flowers, and kisses.
May Day may not have gained the popularity of Halloween, but with any luck, it will live on with children and devoted parents.
