Post by Mysti on Aug 6, 2007 19:09:48 GMT -5
The Maypole
At dawn on the morning of Beltane, after spending the night coupling in the woods, the young men and women would return to the village in a merrily singing procession. The men carried the Maypole and other green or flowering boughs they had cut for this occasion, and if the village had chosen a young man to play the Harvest Lord, he would lead the procession carrying the Maypole himself. The young women would carry baskets or wreaths of flowers and the whole troupe would parade through the village waking people up and calling them to the day's festivities, giving out flowers at each door for blessings upon their neighbors. When everyone had joined the procession, the Maypole was carried to the village green where it was decorated and then erected in the ground.
The Maypole itself is an unabashed phallic symbol, visually representing the vital life force of the god, and creating connection between earth and sky as it reaches sunward from the ground. Some resources say that the Maypole is traditionally a tall birch tree, but others say that it could be any tree that was tall and straight. Maypoles at our local festival are generally 20' tall and are made of heavy dowel rods.
During the Middle Ages, the tree would have been stripped of limbs and bark up to the top or "crown" area of the pole, which would have retained its leafy branches. These branches were then decorated with flowers, wreaths, and long streamers of brightly colored ribbon or narrow strips of colored cloth. In some areas, decorated eggs like those we associate with Ostara would be tied to dangle from these crowning branches. In later times, these top branches were also stripped from the Maypole and a large wreath of flowers with the streamers was affixed to the top of the pole. This wreath represented the yoni of the goddess and its placement at the top of the Maypole symbolized the sexual union of Lord and Lady.
Throughout the day the Maypole would be at the center of the festivities with dancing and singing and feasting conducted all around it. One resource notes that in the small rural communities the Maypole was only set up for the one day, while in London and other larger cities it was a permanent fixture in the public square, often ignored for the rest of the year.
The Puritans considered these permanent Maypoles to be a "heathen eyesore" and as the May Day festivals became more wild and free, the Puritans were further shocked and scandalized until they were able to get the Maypole declared illegal in 1644. The law was not able to curtail the will of the people to celebrate the union of their goddess and god in these ways, however, so these customs remained alive in the small agricultural villages and continue to this day.
ã Lady Ursula Grey, 2004. This article may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes only, providing that no changes are made to the original text, and providing that this copyright notice remains intact and in place at all times. Blessed be. FourElementsOneCircle
At dawn on the morning of Beltane, after spending the night coupling in the woods, the young men and women would return to the village in a merrily singing procession. The men carried the Maypole and other green or flowering boughs they had cut for this occasion, and if the village had chosen a young man to play the Harvest Lord, he would lead the procession carrying the Maypole himself. The young women would carry baskets or wreaths of flowers and the whole troupe would parade through the village waking people up and calling them to the day's festivities, giving out flowers at each door for blessings upon their neighbors. When everyone had joined the procession, the Maypole was carried to the village green where it was decorated and then erected in the ground.
The Maypole itself is an unabashed phallic symbol, visually representing the vital life force of the god, and creating connection between earth and sky as it reaches sunward from the ground. Some resources say that the Maypole is traditionally a tall birch tree, but others say that it could be any tree that was tall and straight. Maypoles at our local festival are generally 20' tall and are made of heavy dowel rods.
During the Middle Ages, the tree would have been stripped of limbs and bark up to the top or "crown" area of the pole, which would have retained its leafy branches. These branches were then decorated with flowers, wreaths, and long streamers of brightly colored ribbon or narrow strips of colored cloth. In some areas, decorated eggs like those we associate with Ostara would be tied to dangle from these crowning branches. In later times, these top branches were also stripped from the Maypole and a large wreath of flowers with the streamers was affixed to the top of the pole. This wreath represented the yoni of the goddess and its placement at the top of the Maypole symbolized the sexual union of Lord and Lady.
Throughout the day the Maypole would be at the center of the festivities with dancing and singing and feasting conducted all around it. One resource notes that in the small rural communities the Maypole was only set up for the one day, while in London and other larger cities it was a permanent fixture in the public square, often ignored for the rest of the year.
The Puritans considered these permanent Maypoles to be a "heathen eyesore" and as the May Day festivals became more wild and free, the Puritans were further shocked and scandalized until they were able to get the Maypole declared illegal in 1644. The law was not able to curtail the will of the people to celebrate the union of their goddess and god in these ways, however, so these customs remained alive in the small agricultural villages and continue to this day.
ã Lady Ursula Grey, 2004. This article may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes only, providing that no changes are made to the original text, and providing that this copyright notice remains intact and in place at all times. Blessed be. FourElementsOneCircle