May Day and the Fairy People

Hah ha! I'm baaack. Been hanging out in the Fairy realm celebrating May Day. No easy task mine you, lots of supernatural transformations, dimensional trans-teleportation and plain old avoiding the black-hole pit traps set by under developed lesser species of fundamental hypocritical Christians.
I spent the weekend with a serious group of extra-terrestrial, who inhabit a piece of terrestrial space, they call Sproutwood, a organic co-op farm. It is a thriving experiment in communal living using a modern practical approach to sustainable community farming. Most of the organic produce grown on the farm is sold in local supermarkets on Earth. They promote practices that are teach Earth friendly living, and work with the outside community teaching classes on astronomy, solar energy, and straw-bale building construction.

Yet, hovering outside of the festival grounds in lower atmospheric space were protesters. One of their complaints was that global climate change is near, and the children tying ribbons around the maypole were anti-christian. Oh, and the over 100,000 people visiting were acting against God.

Twice a solar year Sproutwood farm celebrates living in harmony with the Earth. The beginning of the spring planting season, May day, with the Fairy Festival, and then again in the fall, with the harvest festival.

Well, it is a fact that May Day, which the children do enjoy with all vibes, is not an overly prominent holiday in America. Yet, it does have a long and notable history as one of the world's principal festivals. The origin of the May Day as a day for celebration dates back to the days, even before the birth of Christ. And like many ancient festivals it too has a Pagan connection.
For the Druids of the British Isles, May 1 was the second most important holiday of the year. Because, it was when the festival of Beltane held. It was thought that the day divides the year into half. The other half was to be ended with the Samhain on November 1. Those days the May Day custom was the setting of new fire. It was one of those ancient New Year rites performed throughout the world. And the fire itself was thought to lend life to the burgeoning springtime sun. Men, with their sweethearts, passed through the smoke for seeing good luck.

Then the Romans came to occupy the British Isles. The beginning of May was a very popular feast time for the Romans. It was devoted primarily to the worship of Flora, the goddess of flowers. It was in her honor a five day celebration, called the Floralia, was held. The five day festival would start from April 28 and end on May 2. The Romans brought in the rituals of the Floralia festival in the British Isles. And gradually the rituals of the Floralia were added to those of the Beltane. And many of today's customs on the May Day bear a stark similarity with those combined traditions.

Roots of May Day celebration in America:
The Puritans frowned on May Day, so the day has never been celebrated with as much enthusiasm in the United States as in Great Britain. But the tradition of celebrating May Day by dancing and singing around a maypole, tied with colorful ribbons, survived as a part of the English tradition. The kids celebrating the day by moving back and forth around the pole with the ribbons or streamers, choosing of May queen.

Fairies, according to the Scoto-Celtic belief, are a race of beings, the counterparts of mankind in person, occupations, and pleasures, but unsubstantial and unreal, ordinarily invisible, noiseless in their motions, and having their dwellings underground, in hills and green mounds of rock or earth. They are addicted to visiting the haunts of men, sometimes to give assistance, but more frequently to take away the benefit of their goods and labours, and sometimes even their persons.

Faerie : from the Latin term for "fate" (fata), faeries (or fairies) are a "host of supernatural beings and spirits who occupy a limbo between earth and heaven" (Guiley). This is in recognition of the skill faeries had in predicting and even controlling human destiny. Faeries could be either good or evil creatures, and at various points in history have been confused with witches and demons.

I guess this would explain the protesters. They were just "Dark Fairies".

Bumbas,...Happy Trails!