May Day

(May 1, 2013) Today, May 1, is May Day, a traditional spring holiday in many cultures. Usually the weather (without the threat of frost) allows the beginning of flower and crop planting.

May Day is related to the Celtic festival of Beltane and the Germanic festival of Walpurgis Night. May Day falls exactly half a year from Nov. 1, another cross-quarter day which is also associated with various northern European pagan and the year in the Northern Hemisphere, and it has traditionally been an occasion for popular and often raucous celebrations.

As Europe became Christianized, the pagan holidays lost their religious character and either changed into popular secular celebrations, as with May Day, or were merged with or replaced by new Christian holidays as with Christmas, Easter, Pentecost and All Saint's Day. In the 20th and continuing into the 21st century, many neopagans began reconstructing the old traditions and celebrating May Day as a pagan religious festival again. Some countries celebrated the date as Labor Day.

A more secular version of May Day continues to be observed in Europe and America. In this form, May Day may be best known for its tradition of dancing the maypole dance and crowning of the Queen of the May.

The day was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures. While Feb. 1 was the first day of spring, May 1 was the first day of summer; hence, the summer solstice on June 25 (now June 21) was midsummer.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, May is observed as Mary's month, and in these circles May Day is usually a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In this connection, in works of art, school skits and so forth, Mary's head will often be adorned with flowers in a May crowning.

Fading in popularity since the late 20th century is the giving of  May baskets, small baskets of sweets and/or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbors' doorsteps. The person receiving the basket tries to catch the fleeing giver. If they catch the person, a kiss is exchanged.

Modern May Day ceremonies in the United States vary greatly from region to region and many unite both the pagan and labor traditions.

May 1 is recognized in the U.S. also as Law Day.