May Day and Third Quarter Moon

May Day, on May 1st, is a spring celebration of the blooming flowers. It's an ancient holiday that originated with the festival of Floralia which honored Flora, the Flourishing One, the Roman goddess of spring. Flora is a bright nature goddess who makes trees bloom- she is a “lady of pleasure", but also a symbol of motherhood. She wears a garland of flowers in her hair, and in her right hand she holds a columbine, for fertility. In England a young woman is still chosen as May Queen, representing Flora, and is crowned with hawthorn blossoms. She is often accompanied by a May King.

Maying is what we call the things we do to celebrate this beautiful month-- going on picnics, picking flowers, dancing around a maypole, and sharing our love.

Today is also the Third Quarter Moon: This waning moon energy is yin - quiet, internal, heart-driven, intentional Being-ness. At this phase we can ease off a bit on actively pursuing goals, slow down, go within, and attend to inner work and self-care.

Agenda today:

1. Renewal plan

2. Evaluation House

3. Monthly journal brainstorm

4. Prepare a Beltane fire
5. Bring in the May
6. May baskets
7. Make Tippaleivät (Finnish May Day Fritters)
8. Maypole Dances

9. Surrender, rest, recuperate

1.

 Renewal plan:

I try to renew all four dimensions of my life (body, mind, heart, and spirit), as Stephen Covey taught: I spend about an hour each day on a combination of physical, mental, and spiritual regeneration activities, plus work to improve my social skills and relationships. Today's waning half moon is my opportunity to review how I'm doing, and make note of new ideas for the month ahead.

May is a when I flower into Being, into wholeness! I am ready to take action and finish what I have started. I am ready to permit my tender heart to open a little wider:

1. Persistence: Be clear on my priorities, act with integrity, and cut out whatever is extraneous.
2. Synergy focus: Take time to ponder and prepare how to communicate with my teams, and release obsessive inner talk.
3. Daily walk or stretches: Continue my short walks or if I can't, then take time to stretch my tight body.
4. Self-expression: Get really clear about my goal for art. Memorize a statement and intention.

2. Evaluation House:

Today I get to reflect back on the first 3/4 of the Sleepy Moon lunar cycle that I'm passing through. My theme has been joy and creativity. I reviewed the intentions I set at the new moon and drew a house with 2 rooms: 

• A room for celebration of all I have accomplished already this month.
• A room for discerning what to do with the unfinished parts (Some of these I will finish in the next couple days, some I will save for next month, and some I will release because they have become irrelevant or didn't go as planned.)

3. Monthly journal brainstorm:

At the new moon (next week) I will transition from one focus to another, and a whole new field of opportunity. This week I'll take time to write down my goals, dreams, and exciting ideas for the next 30-days, including at least a few crazy, improbable notions.

4. Prepare a Beltane fire:

In some places, May Day celebrations still begin at sunset on April 30. May Day Eve is called Beltane or, in Germany, Walpurgisnacht, named for the English missionary Saint Walpurga (ca. 710–777).

A few year's ago I managed to collect oak, grape, birch, fir, apple, and hawthorn
from our yard in preparation for a fire. (I couldn't find the hazel, rowan and willow, so wisdom,
life and death were unrepresented.)

Beltane means "fire of Bel"; Bel is a Celtic Sun God. On Beltane the Celts would build two large Bel Fires, lit from the nine sacred woods: 

• birch for the goddess
• oak for the god
• rowan for life
• willow for death
• hawthorn for purity
• hazel for wisdom
• apple for love
• grapevine for joy
• fir for immortality

The Bel Fire was an invocation to Bel, asking him to bring his blessings and protection to the tribe. 
It celebrated the return of fruitfulness to the earth. The ashes were smudged on faces and scattered in the fields, to heal and purify.

5. Bring in the May:

 

Hawthorn is called the May bush, because it blooms now in England; ours is just on the verge.

Cutting the may blossom symbolizes the beginning of new life. I will hang a sprig of hawthorn at our front door to protect and purify our home.

6. May baskets: 

When I was very young, my siblings and I used to run around our neighborhood on May Day morning with flowers from our yard. We would put the flowers on the mat, ring the doorbell, and run and hide. It was scary and exciting!

Today I made simple may baskets and collect flowers from our garden to share.

Supplies: Wallpaper, hot glue gun, lace, scissors.

1. Cut a square of wallpaper. 

2. Roll it into a cone and hot glue one edge and the bottom.

3. Cut slits at the top and tie on a piece of lace.

4. Fill with flowers and hang on a door.

7. Make Tippaleivät (Finnish May Day Fritters):
The recipe is here.

8. Maypole Dances!
I have a clothesline post in my yard that we have used as a Maypole. My friend Georgia and I made ribbons from 4-inch strips of cloth sewn together, and attached one end of each to a plastic salsa container lid. We rolled the ribbons up for easy storage. When it is time to dance, I nail the plastic lid onto the top of my clothesline pole, and unrolled the ribbons.

I did organize Maypole dances one year with my art class students, but I didn't get photos. It was very disorganized- we could have used some practise. I will try it again someday.

Here are the dances we tried. 

9. Surrender, rest, recuperate: 

This next few days is a time to be empty; the time for striving is past. As the moon’s light fades into darkness I get to relax and surrender to the universe. 

Some things will always be out of my control. As the moon's appearance dwindles, I let go of useless beliefs, unreasonable expectations, grudges, defensiveness, projects that don't fit into my life, and anything else that isn't working for me. I turn these all over to the Divine and give thanks, my way of opening to receive new intentions in the new month.

Then I give myself permission to rest!