May Day

No my plane's not crashing.

You gotta love this neighborhood. I got home from work today and found this on my front door.

The kids at the elementary school down the street hang these on doors in the area while the rest of us are off somewhere working. I totally forgot today was May Day.

I've read up a lot on pagans, particularly the Celts and they celebrated today as Beltane, long before Christianity took root. The festival marked the end of winter, and rituals were performed to encourage a bountiful harvest and good health for livestock and humans alike in the coming year. Druids lit "need fires" to drive the livestock through and to relight the hearth fires of the community. Celtic couples performed the Great Rite of the God and Goddess by wandering off into the woods to, well...bone. Fertility everywhere! A maypole with young women dancing around it? Not at all bone-like, right?

I just surfed a little on the web and found that in Ireland, there is a tradition of leaving boughs of flowers anonymously on doorsteps.

It was a pleasant surprise to come home to this May wreath. Happy May Day dear readers! And Happy May Day to you too, Matt! How delightfully and sweetly pagan of you. Thank you!