29/04/2026
The Maypole
Beltaine (01 May) begins at sunset on Tuesday 30th April and ends at sunset on May 1st, or when the mead runs out!
The Maypole is one of the traditional symbols of Beltaine and represents the phallus.
Because Beltaine festivities usually started the night before, with a big bonfire, the Maypole celebration usually took place shortly after sunrise the next morning.
This was when couples came staggering in from the fields, clothes in disarray and straw in their hair after a night of bonfire-inspired lustiness.
The pole was erected on the village green or common, or even a handy field, thrust into the ground either permanently or on a temporary basis, and brightly coloured ribbons attached to it.
Young people came and danced around the pole, each holding the end of a ribbon. As they wove in and out, men going one way and women the other, it created a sleeve, the enveloping womb of the earth, around the pole.
By the time they were done, the Maypole was nearly invisible beneath a sheath of ribbons.
©️ Paula Wallwork
28/04/2024