by Corinna Wood
May Day is the half-way point between the spring equinox and summer solstice. It is the time that marks the greening of the earth and the move into greater abundance and fertility. All around flowers are beckoning us and insects are pollinating.
At Earthaven – the community where I work and live – we honor this transition with a traditional May Day celebration. Three generations come together to weave crowns of flowers, dance around the May Pole (which becomes winter’s Yule Log), and jump over the Beltane fire. Jumping the fire traditionally symbolizes the stengthening of bonds between lovers, but at Earthaven we welcome all bonds that wish to be affirmed – those between mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, whole families, and friendships we wish to strengthen. By the end of the jumping, pairs and triplets of children and adults alike are running at the fire from every direction!
For me, May Day also signifies a turning of my energy, from my more inward, body dance of winter to the more outward, mind engagement of summer. From now through October, I will be more focused on teaching, writing, organizing, cultivating and harvesting.
May is a fertile time – the plants, the pollinators and the community. May you receive the fruits of the season as well.
