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Hello All,

I wish you and your family, friends, near and dear........

A very happy, prosperous and joyful May Day wishes (01/05/09).

May Day occurs on May 1st every year and followed as a public holiday in many countries. May Day is synonymous with International Workers' Day, or Labour Day, which celebrates the social and economic achievements of the labour movement. As a day of celebration the holiday has ancient origins, and it can relate to many customs that have survived into modern times. Many of these customs are due to May Day being a cross-quarter day, meaning that in the Northern Hemisphere it falls approximately halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. While February 1st is the first day of Spring, May 1st is the first day of summer. May Day marks the end of the half of the year in the Northern hemisphere, and it has traditionally been an occasion for popular and often raucous celebrations, regardless of the locally prevalent political or religious establishment.

The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian Europe, with the festival of Flora, the Roman Goddess of flowers, the Walpurgis Night (Bon-Fire festival) celebrations of the Germanic countries. The day was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-Christian European Pagan cultures (The term Pagan is from the Latin paganus, an adjective originally meaning "rural", "rustic" or "of the country". As a noun, paganus is used to mean 'country dweller, villager'). In the Roman Catholic tradition, May is observed as Mary's month, and in these circles ‘May Day’ is usually a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In this connection, in works of art, school skits, and so forth, Mary's head will often be adorned with flowers. Fading in popularity since the late 20th century is the giving of "May baskets", small baskets of sweets and/or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbours' and friends' doorsteps.

Traditional English May Day rites and celebrations include Morris dancing, crowning a May-Queen and celebrations involving a May-pole, a pole around which traditional dancers circle with ribbons. May Day has been a traditional day of festivities throughout the centuries. With Christianity came agricultural feasts such as Plough Sunday (the first Sunday in January), Rogation-tide, Harvest Festival and May Day. It is most associated with towns and villages celebrating springtime fertility and revelry with village fetes and community gatherings. May 1st in 1707, also was the day the Act of Union came into effect, joining England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.

May Day was also celebrated by some early European settlers of the American continent. In some parts of the United States, May Baskets are made. These baskets are small and usually filled with flowers or treats/sweets and left at someone's doorstep. Modern May Day ceremonies in the U.S. vary greatly from region to region and many unite both the holiday's "Green Root" (pagan) and "Red Root" (labor) traditions. Among the largest is the May Day Parade and Pageant created by ‘In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask’ Theatre, an event that has happened every year since 1975 in Minneapolis and now attracts many people.

May Day can refer to various labour celebrations conducted on May 1st that commemorate the fight for the eight hour day. May Day in this regard is called International Workers' Day, or Labour Day. The idea for a "workers holiday" began in Australia in 1856. With the idea having spread around the world, the choice of May 1st became a commemoration by the Second International for the people involved in the 1886 Haymarket affair. As such, May Day has become an international celebration of the social and economic achievements of the labour movement. Although May Day received its inspiration from the United States, the U.S. Congress designated May 1st as Loyalty Day in 1958 due to the day's appropriation by the Soviet Union. May 1st also is recognized in the United States as Law Day.

Many many happy returns of the day.

All the best and take care….

With thanks, regards and best wishes,
G.Srikanth.

# posted by Srikanth @ 2:21 PM