May Day/Talk

May Day: Quasi-Pagan holiday, right? May poles, boinking in the fields, that sort of thing? Who knows about this?

Well, I know that in Appalachia (i have folk there) they still preserve two terms which relate to May Day. "The fool of the May" is kind of like an anti-king who might rule over a party... usually this is reserved for any loudmouth at an event who is getting out of hand, but I seem to recall this being an actual folk-traditional character in Pre-Christian Europe... Also, there was the "Queen of the May" or "May Queen" which my mom frequently uses to either mean--"isn't she just as pretty as the Queen of the May" or "well, doesn't she think she's the May Queen." So it has a positive and a negative. Certainly both of these instances hint at a possible Pagan connection. I would assume that it isn't altogether Neo-Pagan because my folk are otherwise conservative rural folk who don't truck with such nonsense... at least that's how they would put it. My only other assumption would be that it must carry over from some older definition... Like I said, I have heard this and that, but I haven't any concrete stuff. I'll do some research... but this is what I know off the top of my head. --trimalchio

I think he means Beltane. --Dmerrill

Well, that certainly simplifies things. :) I should have asked Sara. --trimalchio

I think it's worth distinguishing between Beltane observed as a religious holiday and May Day observed as a quasi-secular excuse for merrymaking, but I really don't know.