Summer's Dawn
May 1-2
Similar Holidays: May Day, Beltane, Floralia, Walpurgis Night
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Seasonal Dishes:
Flower petal salad with Violet Vinaigrette Pasta with Pesto and Grilled Vegetables Strawberry Almond Salad with Elderflower Vinaigrette |
About this holiday:
The sunlight is warm and filled with life. The birds are singing. Animals are mating. The roses are in full bloom and the air has an almost thick floral scent. May Day is a celebration of fertility and passion. It is a time to connect with the abundant and exuberant aspects of nature. It is a time to do something spontaneous and make a little extra time for romance. At this time of the year the walls between our world and the faerie world thins, in a similar way that the fall energy of Halloween thins the walls between our world and our ancestors. This makes May Day a good time for wish making and blessings. Modern May Day celebrations with maypoles and bond fires, are a combination of the Roman flower festival Floralia (a celebration of fertility, flowers and wine), the Druid fire festival (a celebration of spring and fertility where they would drive the cattle through smoke to purify them and make them more fertile and couples would jump over the flames for good luck), and the Nordic midsummer festivals (raising a pole to symbolize the world tree and dancing around it to connect with the dream realms and the faerie realms). Foods that include strawberries and the roses are great for this celebration. salads with edible flowers. Sangria and May wines. And it's a good time to get the BBQ cleaned up and ready to use. |