Aloha readers!
We all passed another spoke on the Wheel of the Year last weekend - on Sunday, May Eve, or Beltane, as it's known by Celtic Paganfolke.
May Day means a lot to many around the world - for a sizeable number, it's a political statement. I fully support May Day as a day to make a stand on some very repressive things going on in societies all over the world.
For me, first and foremost, it's a celebration of fertility, fun, and the first day of Summer.
Most of us (including me for a while, until I changed my thinking) follow a four-season year - spring, summer, fall, and winter. It's what we were taught in school. It's what mundane calendars say. However, people of an earlier time treated them as primarily two seasons - summer and winter.
To them, at least in European climes, Summer began on May 1, and Winter, November 1.
Here in Hawaii, and other tropical places, we follow this same two-seasonal view, with the Wet season (winter) and the Dry Season (summer). Though our weather has been a bit bonkers lately, in that it's been very wet, we are entering the Dry season. Thus, May Day for us is the first day of the Dry season.
Some friends and I met in Kapi'olani Park on May Eve to sing and dance around a magnificent bamboo pole I snagged that morning.
The May Pole is a very old dance. The pole, of course, celebrates fertility, representing the male principle. Coupled with the male principle, is the female one, the wreath you see on top of the pole in the picture below. In cold climes, this dance celebrated the beginning of summer, as the buds of spring exploded into verdant, rich life.
Approximately 25 people showed up for this, across from Sans Souci Beach park. My sincerest thanks to WayneBow and Arianna, Brandon, Deborah M and Chris, Trish and Deyvn, Kelly, and especially to *Anna Applegate* who was the major instigator of the songs and celebration held this past May Eve! That's me holding the pole, dressed in white, explaining how the dance was to be done to wrap the ribbon finely around the pole.
Thanks to Photographer Frank, we have some pictures of the dance. It was grand, though we had a little breeze that kept me, Frank, and May King Kelly as anchors, holding the pole down some of the time so it wouldn't bonk our dancers on the head! The stakes I bought I don't think would have held the pole during the more breezier moments - plus, we ended up moving it a couple of times for better performance. And I could very much feel the energy dancing up and down the pole as the ribbons were woven around it, with much fanfare, laughing and singing.
Thanks Brandon and Wayne for the suggestion to move the pole more mountainward and away from the snagging tree - it was a major improvement to the dance track and for photography.
As the ti-leafed wreath descended it snagged a few times on the pole, causing the ti leaf to be woven into the ribbons on the pole - now, how evocative is that, knowing what the pole and the wreath signify?
It was fun! Approximately 16 people participated in the dance - a good mix of adults and children.
Some of my readers probably think that Maypoles are for children, as today in American society, Maypole dances are held in many elementary schools. Maypole dances were danced by adults long ago, and, later, were adapted for children. Since Maypoles are truly evocative of the sexual union between man and woman (the pole being the phallus, and the wreath the womb), they were not originally designed for children. For many in this culture, the original meaning has been forgotten, and the outward trappings of the pole, wreath, and ribbon have been supplanted by other explanations. Just another example of a beautiful culture's philosophy dumbed down for the ignorant and the fearful.
There are more photos and a few small movies - I'm going to put them on my blog in a few days. My blog could handle more activity - some of you keep encouraging ('naggin') me to write more - perhaps I will now that a najor writing project is winding down (see below).
And I haven't forgotten about the March Hare photos I took as well but haven't gotten around to processing yet - I took pictures of our beautiful rabbit rangolis and the circle itself, shrouded in the mist.
On another note:
Whee! I feel liberated - I *just* gave my talk in the Linguistics Department today as a prelude to my Thesis defense in the fall, and got the best compliment from the most influential and published person in the department - he said it was the best Powerpoint he's ever seen! And I'm a PPT newbie really - I think my new toy, a remote PPT slide changer, helped in that I didn't have to be tethered to the PC! Partner Frank gave some valuable suggestions on how to do good PowerPoints - thanks, sweetie!
See you all soon!
Kevin
