MAY DAY 2016 – Reconsidering the Revamping of Pagan Ways to Christian Doctrines in Modern Times

During May Day in  northerly parts of Britain, we usually have by this time seen attractive cherry trees blossoming, hanging in beautiful pink and white clusters.  However, the damp and chilly spring weather appears to be clinging on tightly at all costs. 

The so-called ‘Resurrection’ ethos found within death cults like that of Christian Churches is nothing more than a hollowed out, rehash of ideals, deviously grounded upon the natural rebirth within the universal cycles of nature.  The shrewd leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, in fact, built their “Jesus Myth” around the seasonal cycle and older pagan agricultural calendar. 

Traditionally, the wonderful month of May gains its name from the Roman/Greek fertility goddess ‘Maia’, mother of the god Mercury.  She was equated with Fauna, Cybele and Ops, goddesses who were deeply loved and cherished by the masses.

Fauna’s feast day was held on the opening night of May.  It was a sacred occasion exclusive to women, as the men honoured Fauna’s masculine partner, Faunus, instead.  During Fauna’s carnival wine and music blended with mystical ritual.  This produced an outlandish yet blissful mixture of reverberation and adulation for the divinity.

The Roman poet, Virgil, claimed that young folk would venture out at the Floralia celebration to pick summer flowers from field, wood and meadow.  Much singing and dancing took place and this natural pagan love of life has come down to us today in the form of contemporary Maypole/Mayday celebrations. 

The May Queen and King Parades in Celtic lands can easily be traced back to ancient Rome and beyond.  Roman children happily adorned diminutive clay statues of this goddess with beautiful wild blossoms as a token of love and respect.  The early Church, ever eager to crush “Pagan religions,” cunningly usurped Flora and swapped her image for one of “Maria,” i.e., the Virgin Mary, thereby gaining spiritual monopoly over the unsuspecting, myth-censored population. 

To trace more origins of May Day in the British Isles, we need to look toward the teachings and belief system of the Celtic race.  The Celtic May Day is known as Beltane/Beltaine (meaning fire of Bel/Bile). 

Bel has associations with the Roman Pluto and Dis-pater, Lord of the Underworld/Death.  Numerous legends claim he arrived from “Spain” (which is actually a misleading euphemism for the Celtic Hades.)  This is plain evidence of early missionary interference with pagan myths, deviously inserted to deprive Bel of his traditionally divine nature. 

On May eve, all household fires would be extinguished then later rekindled from a great druidic hilltop blaze outdoors.  The Druids, being the Pagan priests of the Celts, believed that it was sacrilegious to worship the gods in dwellings made by mortal man.  Beltane marked the commencement of the Celtic summer and the blaze spiritually connected with the increasing solar power needed to sustain life. It was brought joyously to each homestead as a vital mystical token of new life, which every grateful occupant accepted with a glad heart. The mysterious green life energy was flowing in nature and it couldn’t be ignored.

Photos (above) courtesy: https://www.fest300.com/festivals/beltane-fire-festival

The Celts, unlike many of their predecessors, were fundamentally cattle-rearing folk.  Their four most important festivals being:

Imolg/Imbolc (Feb 2nd) Beltaine/Beltane (April 30th) Lughnasadh/Lugnassad (July 31st) and Samhain (Oct 31st).

One British legend sees the ruler of the Welsh Otherworld, ‘Gwen ap Nudd’ (son of Nudd), mount fierce battle for the hand of the beautiful maiden Creudylad.  His adversary is another Welsh god, Gwyrthur ap Greidawl.  This duel took place every Beltaine (May Day) which was the start of the Celtic summer, until the end of time itself. 

The old native festivals like May Day that we take for granted hold ancient clues to where we all came from and what we really are today.

Pat Regan    

Lacashire, England

May 1st, 2016

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