Beltane
Mel has the right idea in her comment about today. Today is a holiday known as Beltane, a pagan holiday, but there are those of the Christian faith who celebrate it too by calling it May Day. My father remembers it in his youth, dancing around a mullberry bush, they actually celebrated it in schools back then.
But the majority of people will recognize the holiday by the maypole. A maypole is a large pole that is erected from the ground with several spring colored ribbons dangling from the top. The children each take a ribbon and dance around the pole, weaving in and out of each other in celebration. I’ve known several churches that have done this, but none of them really know why. A lot of Christian customs are done without explanation, they do them because they’ve been doing them for hundreds of years. I bet they would freak if they realized most of them were actually pagan customs.
Beltane is a celebration of the Lord and Lady, God and Goddess, Male and Female aspect of the divine. It celebrates their union, their ‘marriage.’ The maypole, and its phallic shape, represents the God, and the earth (as in Mother Earth), represents the Goddess. And in celebration of that union, we dance around. Many partake in making love this day as their own personal symbolization of the union. (There are no orgies, so shaddap.) The pagans did, and still do these acts so that their crops will be blessed in the upcoming harvest season.
There is a lot more about Beltane, but I think those are pretty much the basics. Each holiday has it’s special symbolization, history, and quirky Christian followers unknown. I just felt like talking about it.
I plan to garden today, my friend Emily is coming over later to make some dreamcatchers and look at the website I’ve been making for her. I think this week is going to be pretty boring considering I’m all anxious for the Fairie Festival this weekend. But right now I have to clean. Ta ta
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