Thursday 1 May 2014

may day


May Day and the beginning of summer.  

May is without doubt my favourite month.  My grandmother always marked the beginning of summer by having a May altar in her hallway decorated with wildflowers and a statue of the Virgin Mary. Combining the pagan traditions of the Gaelic festival Beltaine with her Catholic faith.

As a child I picked wildflowers from our hay meadows to fill the vases. Bunches of buttercups, marsh marigolds and cuckoo flowers picked throughout the month of May.

When Lou suggested we join her in reviving the ancient Pagan tradition of flower baskets to mark the return of Nature in the Home I was sold.  The idea is to leave little posies of flowers on friends and neighbours doorsteps to mark May Day.  

I filled an old jam jar with a few blooms from our garden and some pretty green foliage and left it on my friends doorstep. I really enjoyed making the posy, remembering my flower collecting years ago and my friend loved the surprise. It's definitely something I'd like to do again. 

Pop over to Lou's lovely blog to see more May Day prettiness.
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14 comments

  1. Lovely photo. I love May too, I love Spring and love Summer and May is just in the middle....and my birthday is in May :) xx

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  2. It's so pretty, Bee. I love that little spiky white flower in your posy.

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  3. Beautiful! I can't believe it's May already, you've inspired me to celebrate with flowers for the weekend!

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  4. What a very sweet thing to do & you did make a pretty posy.

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  5. Oh how lovely! Do I spy a stem of wild garlic there?

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  6. What a wonderful tradition to begin, and a perfect way to celebrate spring-summer bounty! I definitely would join you in this tradition next year! Chrissie x

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  7. What a lovely tradition to uphold. A pretty posie is the perfect way to brighten any day.
    Happy Sunday, Bee
    Xx

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  8. It's such a sweet idea, and I wish I'd known about it sooner and been more organised as I think it must be lovely to find a little posy of flowers hanging on your front door. Next year maybe. But a lovely tradition. x

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  9. what a lovely little gift, so pretty! x

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  10. Sweet white flowers - and I love wild garlic. The place we're moving back to, Ramsbottom, is named after Ramsons. That's what wild garlic's officially known as and it's prolific in that area...
    I like the idea of combining Pagan traditions with other beliefs. Reading up on Paganism you realise that it's not all about dancing naked in the woods!
    To me, worshipping nature and living in harmony with it makes an awful lot of sense.
    Have a wonderful month.
    Sarah x

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  11. Such sweet flowers! Here in Wales a similar tradition sees Hawthorn blossom hung on our doors, although sadly few still bother.

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  12. Its such a pretty posy and a lovely tradition. xx

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Bee x

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