gladly in the bright day,
sings loudly of May -
fair-aspected season."
___ John Matthews, "from the Isles of Dream"
Since before dawn this morning, many people all over Britain and Ireland
have been up to greet the May, to sing to the rising sun and to gather greeny
and flowers. Others have been preparing to celebrate with May-pole dancing
and community festivities, which may include the election and crowning of a
king and queen of the May. Most often the holiday royalty are a boy and girl
from a local school, but once they would have been the lustiest young man
and woman of the district.
This is a day that is still honored in every part of Britain. Despite many
efforts to quell its rowdy good humor and lusty enjoyment down through the
centuries, it has survived in very good shape up to our own time. The sheer
exuberance of May overwhelms the restrictive and humorless reformers who
have tried to stop it.
The explosion of May-blossom, sunlight and burgeoning life needs expression
at this time, when workday commonplaces can be thrown to the four winds
and the bright joy of living can bubble up within us with natural ecstasy. All
who have waited at dawn to welcome in summer have felt the sudden burst of
brightness that ignites the deep happiness of the living earth as the sun rises.
This brightness is the sign of the ancient Celtic god Bel, whom the Gauls called
Belenos - the Shining One - the bright-faced splendor of green summer whose
glad arising spreads a shining honey of golden light over the waiting earth. It
is hard to witness this sunrise without feeling a part of it.
Cancel work today. Go and enjoy May Day by doing something that
gives you great pleasure. Try to be outdoors all day if you can. Leave
formal meditation alone and let your natural joy find its best outlet.
[From The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]
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