May Day is approching.
All the staffs of our company wish you to have a wonderful holiday.
Do you know the origins and celebrations of May Day?
The earliest known may celebrations occurred at Floralia, the Roman festival of the flower goddess, which took place from April 27 to May 3 during the Roman Republic, and the Maiouma or Maiuma, a festival celebrating Dionysus and Aphrodite, which took place every three years in May. The Floralia theatre opened with a dramatic performance. In Floralia, Ovid said hares and goats were released as part of the celebration. People threw wild peas, beans and lupines into the crowd, Perseus wrote. A ceremony called Florifertum takes place on April 27 or May 3, during which a sheaf of wheat ears is carried into the shrine, though it is not clear whether it is dedicated to Flora or Ceres. Florias end with sporting events and pageantry and sacrifice to Florias.
Maiouma was celebrated as early as the 2nd century AD, and records at the time show that the cost of the month-long festival was appropriated by the Emperor Commodus. According to the 6th century Chronicle of John Malalas, the Maiouma was a "nocturnal theatrical festival, held every three years, called the Carnival, the Mystery of Dionysus and Aphrodite." It was called Maioumas because it was celebrated in the month of May Artemisios. During this time, the government set aside enough money to buy torches, lights and other expenses to sustain a 30-day "all-night carnival" festival. Maiouma is celebrated with lavish feasts and offerings. During the reign of Constantine the Great, it became notorious for debauchery and was suppressed. However, a less depraved version of it was briefly revived during the reigns of Arcades and Honorius, only to be suppressed again at the same time.
In late May, Germanic countries celebrated a holiday, Walpurgis Night, commemorating st. Walpurge's official canonization on May 1, 870. In Gaelic culture, the evening of April 30 was celebrated as Beltane (which translates to "lucky fire"), the beginning of summer. First confirmed in 900 AD, the celebration focused on the symbolic use of fire to bless cattle and other livestock as they were moved to summer pastures. The custom continued into the early 19th century, when cows were required to jump over fires to protect their milk from being stolen by fairies. People also jump over fires for good luck.
Since the 18th century, many Roman Catholics have honored the Virgin Mary on May and May 1. In artwork, school skits, and more, Mary's head is often decorated with flowers in the May crown. May 1 is also one of the two feasts of Saint Joseph, the Patron saint of Catholic workers. St. Joseph was a carpenter, the husband of his mother Mary, and the foster father of Jesus. In 1955, Pope Pius XII chose the date to replace another St. Joseph's holiday as a counterpoint to the communist International Labor Day celebrations.
The best known modern May Day traditions, observed both in Europe and North America, include dancing around the maypole and crowning the Queen of May. Fading in popularity since the late 20th century is the tradition of giving of "May baskets," small baskets of sweets or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbours' doorsteps.
In the late 20th century, many neopagans began reconstructing some of the older pagan festivals and combining them with more recently developed European secular and Catholic traditions, and celebrating May Day as a pagan religious festival.
