[Oe List ...] Denise Long's May Musings

[Nancy Lanphear]

Dear Herman,

Thanks for the jump start in sharing about May Day.

Actually, we at Songaia celebrate Earth and May day together in what  
we call Festival of the Earth.  Our celebration is in just two days,  
May 10th.  Our Festival morning activities include a wonderful  
breakfast (as we always do on Saturday mornings), then a tour to the  
developing huge Brightwater Treatment Plant nearby.  The afternoon  
begins with:

1) nature walks in our woodland and/or site visits of the community

2) a celebrative gathering that includes singing (like This Pretty  
Planet, Let there be Peace on Earth, The river is Flowing) readings  
from "Thinking like a Mountain" by Joanna Macy, and declaring our  
intentions for this coming year as we dedicate ourselves with a new  
tree for planting.

3) May pole dance with young and old included (lots of fun and  
laughter) with live blue grass and Celtic music

4) Pot luck feast

5) dancing with the music of our friends (see above)  This gives the  
band a practice time and we al enjoy it so much!

6) clean up and off to rest!

Although pieces of the celebration have changed over the years, our  
community has celebrated the Festival since 1988.  Some years we have  
a more internal day, others years there are lots of folks.  Spme of  
you may have participated in our celebration over the years.

Remember that you are all loved and cherished,

Nancy and Fred Lanphear




On May 8, 2008, at 5:40 AM, Herman Greene wrote:

> I have always been intrigued by May Day, a collection of various  
> labor holidays and pagan and Christian Holy
>
> Days. In its social and political sense, May 1st is International  
> Worker’s Day, commemorating historic
>
> achievements of the labor movement and in remembrance of the 1886  
> Haymarket Riot in Chicago which led to the
>
> official sanction of the eight-hour workday. In many European  
> countries, May Day is an official government
>
> holiday that is often referred to as “Labor Day”.
>
>
>
> I am even more fascinated by the ancient spiritual roots of May  
> Day. It was originally a Celtic and European
>
> festival celebrating fertility and the return of spring and the  
> sun. As with many pagan holidays, it soon had its
>
> Christian overlay. May Day is exactly a half-year from November 1,  
> All Saints Day. It was also known as
>
> Beltane, the ancient Gaelic holiday celebrated in Scotland and  
> Ireland. May 1st was Cross-quarter Day, marking
>
> the midpoint in the Sun’s progress between the spring equinox and  
> the summer solstice. In rural areas, it was the
>
> beginning of the pastoral season when herds of livestock were  
> driven out to summer pastures and mountain
>
> grazing lands.
>
>
>
> The lighting of bonfires on mountains and hills was the most  
> important activity of Beltane. In fact, the word can
>
> mean “bright fire”, or “shining one”. The Druids would kindle  
> bonfires on top of a hill and rush the village cattle
>
> through the flames to purify them and get rid of the vestiges of  
> winter sickness. People would also jump between
>
> the fires to purify themselves and to seek good luck in the coming  
> year.
>
> In a May Day sermon, James Ishmael Ford, a Unitarian minister, said  
> that this holiday speaks to the spiritual shift
>
> we experience when winter cynicism and despair finally give way to  
> hope and a sense of possibility. It is a time
>
> for looking at new directions and possibilities.
>
>
>
> I like May Day with its complex layering of spiritual and political  
> elements, pagan and Christian roots, green earth
>
> and hot ashes. It is brim-full of image and metaphor. It reminds me  
> of the cross-points in my own life, the
>
> intersection of politics and faith, the convergence of activism and  
> fire-gazing. I feel a longing to gather together
>
> my many competing selves and herd them through a purifying fire,  
> cleansing away all that weighs me down.
>
> Next Sunday, May 11th, is Pentecost, another important Christian  
> festival where flames and wind are
>
> central images. In ecclesiastical calendars Pentecost is the  
> seventh Sunday after Easter and closes Eastertide. On
>
> this day, the church commemorates God’s Spirit descending on the  
> disciples in tongues of fire accompanied by the
>
> sound of a rush of wind. Pentecost is observed as the birthday of  
> the church, marking the time when God made
>
> visible the divine sparks that live in each human soul. And like  
> the early disciples, we in our time and place can
>
> also feel freshened by a season of energy and action, reminded that  
> our vocation is to reach out across differences
>
> to create new community.
>
>
>
> _________________________
>
> Center for Ecozoic Studies
>
> 2516 Winningham Road
>
> Chapel Hill, NC 27516
>
> USA
>
> 919-942-4358 (ph & fax)
>
> www.ecozoicstudies.org
>
>
>
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