May Holiday (Maifeiertag)

May Day by Joseph Nollekens (1737–1823)May Day (Maifeiertag) is a fun day in Germany. On it you can dance, sing, buy useful and funny things at the fair of masters, listen to music. In a word, have fun, relax.

The celebration is made in honor of the resurgent nature, the blooming spring. Winter is over, nature begins a new life.

This holiday is associated with symbols of Easter and Trinity. Blossoming greens, the combination of red and green have a special magic. However, the custom of this holiday dates back to pagan times.

Even the ancient Greeks on this day dressed strips of wool sacred pine Attis (wife of mother Earth – Cybele) in honor of his resurrection. The pine was with the branches cut off. It was solemnly carried with a procession to the temple, during the procession everyone danced around the tree. In the ancient world, this day became the Feast of Hilaria, and later among the northern peoples – the Day of the May Queen and Green Man. In the Middle Ages, this custom was adopted by the Germans, which still exists today.

As usual, the May holiday begins the day before, on Walpurgis night. In the evening of April 30, the festival “Dance (dance) in May” is held everywhere, which, according to the old tradition, welcomes the onset of the best month for the awakening of spring. It is mandatory to decorate the house (inside and outside) and the garden with young shoots, flowers. All this ensures success, health, a rich harvest.

At night, bonfires are lit, around which dances are led, dancing, jumping over the fire. The choice of May Queen and King.

In the morning, the fun continues: this is a mandatory solemn carrying of a decorated May tree (Maibaum), which is installed in the center of the village. Around the tree again there are dances that glorify the ancient customs of his Majesty the sun.

The May tree symbolizes the world axis around which the universe revolves.

The symbol of May Day is the May tree (Maibaum). This is a tall trunk with a green wreath on top, dressed up with young greenery and flowers. The wreath is decorated with 7 colorful ribbons, most often red. The May tree is dedicated to agriculture and the resurrection of the image of the Tree of Peace. It represents life, flowering, spring fertility, health.

The May tree symbolizes the world axis around which the universe revolves. A tree without leaves (pillars) is a symbol of change, an unchanging axis, or center. Seven ribbons are the seven colors of the rainbow, which appears after rain during the sun and brings harvestable weather. Unwinding ribbons from the center is a symbol of creating the world from the center.

The pole is the symbol of a man, and the wreath is a woman. Together they represent the renewal of life, sexual connection, resurrection and spring.