The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian Europe, as in the Celtic celebration of Beltane, and the Walpurgis Night of the Germanic countries. Many pre-Christian indigenous celebrations were eventually banned or Christianized during the process of Christianization in Europe. As a result, a more secular version of the holiday continued to be observed in the schools and churches of Europe well into the 20th century. In this form, May Day may be best known for its tradition of dancing the Maypole and crowning of the Queen of the May. Today various Neopagan groups celebrate reconstructed (to varying degrees) versions of these customs on 1 May.
The day was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures. While February 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. 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.
Today is May Day, and I am very pleased with the way FEEL FREE TO READ has matured in the short five months of its existence. I hope that readers and droppers-in may find poetry, film reviews, and narratives that are interesting, challenging, and esoteric. I need to thank the other contributors to this blog site, starting with Doug Palmer, who was kind enough to set it up as a book end to his premier blog site, FEEL FREE TO LAUGH. His humor, wit, and rants are legion and legend already in the area. Alex Shapiro has been very gracious as well, contributing her essays, her comments, and her poetry regularly. A newer additon is Janet Leigh, a wonderful poet who also is a Shapiro fan, and who is gracious enough to share the limelight, and let's us reprint her poetry; and her comments are lengthy and lovely. Without their specific knowledge, others have contributed as well, folks like Sherman Alexie, Michael Madsen, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, the Beatles, Charles Bukowski, Raymond Carver, Walt Whitman, and others too numerous to name. Please continue to enjoy the ride.
Glenn Buttkus
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