About the Author
Raven Grimassi is the Editor of Raven's Call magazine, a journal dedicated to the preservation of pre-Christian European religion. Trained in the Family Tradition of Old Italy, he is also an initiate of the Pictish-Gaelic Tradition, Gardnerian Wicca, and Britonic Witchcraft. Raven has been involved as both a student and teacher of the Old Religion for the past twenty-five years. Living in the San Diego area, Raven has taught workshops at various community New Age shops, and has appeared on local radio and television programs. He is the author of three books including Ways of the Strega: Italian Witchcraft:It's Legends, Lore, & Spells and The Wiccan Mysteries: Ancient Origins & Teachings. Raven has also written for several magazines over the past fifteen years.


Excerpted from Beltane: Springtime Rituals, Lore and Celebration by Raven Grimassi. Copyright © 2001. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
1 THE CELEBRATION OF MAY I sing of brooks, of blossoms, birds, and bowers; Of April, May, of June, and July-flowers, I sing of May-poles, Hock-carts, wassails, wakes, Of bride-grooms, brides, and of their bridal-cakes. -Robert Herrick Since ancient times the May season has been a time of celebration and merriment. The appearance of flowers after a cold winter season signals the promise of warm summer days to come. Many of the modern celebrations of May are rooted in ancient pagan traditions that honored the earth and the forces that renewed life. In many pre-Christian European regions, Nature was perceived as a goddess and from this ancient concept evolved the modern “other Nature”personification. May Day celebrations are a time to acknowledge the return of growth and the end of decline within the cycle of life. The rites of May are rooted in ancient fertility festivals that can be traced back to the Great Mother festivals of the Hellenistic period of Greco-Roman religion. The Romans inherited the celebration of May from earlier Latin tribes such as the Sabines. The ancient Roman festival of Floralia is one of the celebrations of this nature. This festival culminated on May 1 with offerings of flowers and garlands to the Roman goddesses Flora and Maia, for whom the month of May is named. Wreaths mounted on a pole, which was adorned with a flowered garland, were carried in street processions in honor of the goddess Maia. With the expansion of the Roman Empire into Gaul and the British Isles, the festivals of May were introduced into Celtic religion. Various aspects of May celebrations such as the blessing of holy wells are traceable to the ancient Roman festival of Fontinalia, which focused upon offerings to spirits that revived wells and streams. Even the Maypole itself is derived from archaic Roman religion. In the Dictionary of Faiths & Folklore by W. C. Hazlitt (London: Bracken Books, 1995), the author states that in ancient Briton it was the custom to erect Maypoles adorned with flowers in honor of the Roman goddess Flora. The Maypole is traditionally a tall pole garlanded with greenery or flowers and often hung with ribbons that are woven into complex patterns by a group of dancers. Such performances are the echoes of ancient dances around a living tree in spring rites designed to ensure fertility. Tradition varies as to the type of wood used for the maypole. In some accounts the traditional wood is ash or birch, and in others it is cypress or elm. The Maypole concept can be traced to a figure known as a herms (or hermai) that was placed at the crossroads throughout the Roman Empire. A herms is a pillar-like figure sporting the upper torso of a god or spirit. The herms was a symbol of fertility and it was often embellished by an erect penis protruding from the pillar. The earliest herms were simply wooden columns upon which a ritual mask was hung. In time, to reduce replacement costs, the Romans began making the herms from stone instead of wood. In May, the herms was adorned with flowers andgreenery, and sacred offerings were placed before it. This and other practices of ancient Italian paganism were carried by the Romans throughout most of continental Europe and into the British Isles. For further information on this topic the reader is referred to Dionysos: Archetype Image of Indestructible Life by Carl Kerenyi (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1976, pp. 380--381). In 1724 the noted occultist Dr. William Stuckely, in his work titled the Itinerarium, describes a Maypole near Horn Castle, Lincolnshire, that reportedly stood on the site of a former Roman herms (a wood or stone carving of the upper torso of a body emerging from a pillar). The author records that boys “nnually keep up the festival of the Floralia on May Day,”and carried white willow wands covered with cowslips. Stuckely goes on to say that these wands are derived from the thyrsus wands once carried in the ancient Roman Bacchanal rites. For further information on this, I refer the reader to Hazlitt’ Dictionary of Faiths & Folklore (pp. 402--406). May festivals commonly incorporate elements of pre-Christian worship related to agricultural themes. In ancient times a young male was chosen to symbolize the spirit of the plant kingdom. Known by such names as Jack-in-the-Green, Green George, and the Green Man, he walked in a procession through the villages symbolizing his return as spring moves toward summer. Typically a pretty young woman bearing the title “ueen of the May”led the procession. She was accompanied by a young man selected as the May King, typically symbolized by Jack-in-the-Green. The woman and man, also known as the May Bride and Bridegroom, carried flowers and other symbols of fertility related to agriculture. The connection of the tree to May celebrations is quite ancient and is rooted in archaic tree worship throughout Europe. The belief that the gods dwelled within trees was widespread. Later this tenet diminished into a belief that the spirit of vegetation resided in certain types of trees, such as the oak, ash, and hawthorn. In many parts of Europe young people would gather branches and carry them back to their villages on May 1 morning, suspending them in the village square from a tall pole. Bringing newly budding branches into the village was believed to renew life for everyone. Dances were performed around this “aypole”to ensure that everyone was connected or woven into the renewing forces of Nature. The garland of flowers, associated with May rituals, is a symbol of the inner connections between all things, symbolic of that which binds and connects. Garlands are typically made from plants and flowers that symbolize the season or event for which the garland is hung as a marker or indicator. In ancient Greek and Roman art many goddesses carry garlands, particularly Flora, a flower...(Continues)

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Hail Spring with a "Bright Fire" Celebration!

Discover the roots of Beltane or "bright fire," the ancient Pagan festival that celebrates spring, and the return of nature's season of growth and renewal. In the only book written solely on this ancient Pagan festival, you'll explore the evolution of the May Pole and various folklore characters connected to May Day celebrations. Raven Grimassi reveals the history behind the revelry, and shows you how to welcome this sacred season of fertility, growth, and gain with: May Day magick and divination: Beltane spells to attract money, success, love, and serenityScrying with a bowl or glassBeltane goodies: Quick May Wine, Bacchus Pudding, May Serpent Cake, May Wreath CakeSeasonal crafts: Maypole centerpiece, May wreath and garland, pentacle hair braids, May Day basketSpringtime rituals and traditions: the Maypole dance, May doll, the Mummer's Play, Beltane fires, May King and QueenMyths, fairy and flower lore: Green Man, Jack-in-the-Green, Dusio, Hobby Horse; elves, trolls and fairies; spring flowers and their correspondences

This well-researched book corrects many of the common misconceptions associated with May Day, and will help you appreciate the spirituality and connection to Nature that are intimate elements of May Day Celebrations. Welcome the season of fertility, flowers, and fairies with Beltane: Springtime Rituals, Lore & Celebration.

FROM THE CRITICS

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