Dancing the Maypole

On Saturday we drove up to the mountains for a God/Goddess party. We were supposed to dress for the occasion so we pulled out our Burningman clothes and adorned ourselves. We arrived just a bit before the Maypole Celebration. I know it's June but the Maypole waited for the party. Actually, in Sweden the Maypole is celebrated in the summer during the "midsommar" celebration.

The origins of the Maypole date back to the ancient Celtic Pagan festival of Beltane which is a fertility rite. Beltane, on May 1st, along with Samhain on November 1st, are the cross quarter holidays that divide the "Wheel of the Year" . They come between the solstices (summer and winter), and equinoxes (autumnal and vernal). Beltane is a New Years Rite (think crops) when new fire is set, lending life to springtime and welcoming in the summer. In days of yore, (and I like to imagine still currently in some places) it includes sex worship where young maidens dance around the Maypole weaving their ribbons to insure they will have children. Then it's off to the fields for a night of celebration and sexual debauchery with whatever partner or partners suit their fancy. Most Maypole festivals are a less sexually inclined, community dance, celebrating spring/summer.

The Maypole was traditionally carved from cedar, hawthorn or birch and is an obvious male phallic symbol. The hole that is dug into the earth where the Maypole is place represents the female yoni. Being the prudes that they are, Puritan Christian traditions have never approved of such symbolism.

The Wheel of the Year holidays are significant in that they remind me of my own roots in nature and that everything happens in its good time. They serve as anchors to the moment and reminders that all is as it should be. Acknowledging the sacred gifts of each season helps me stay connected to the natural cycles of life and encourages appreciation for all of the abundance I experience. They also offer me the opportunity to more personally identify with the unique archetypal expressions of the different Goddess energies.

Fifteen to twenty years ago I was very involved in women's groups, women's and men's groups and "Wheel of the Year" ritual celebrations such as Beltane with it's Maypole. It's been years since I've participated in this type of play with others.

Anyway, our friends have a lovely home in the mountains with a beautiful medicine wheel garden, fire circle, and for this particular party, other sweet sacred spaces created here and there throughout the woods. In a little meadow clearing they had dug the hole for the Maypole. Twenty something ribbons were attached and we lifted the Maypole into it's hole. Gravel was poured in to stabilize it and our dance began. We had a glitch in that the ribbons weren't strong enough and some of them started breaking when the dancers held them tautly in their weaving attempts. We adapted and everyone ended up dancing around the pole in the same direction so the Maypole was wrapped by a spiral of multicolored ribbons rather than the traditional weave. No matter. Everyone enjoyed the experience and afterwards we shared food and music into the night.

Here's a picture of our crazy wisdom weaving.














A little angel that was hanging out in the woods watching the festivities.