No, this is not a call for assistance. Just wondering who intends to get up at dawn, put on weird costumes/flowers/paint, and play, sing, and dance for the pagan gods?
We had a picnic planned for Walpurgisnacht. Since the day runs from sunset to sunset, Bealtaine starts at sundown on 30th April - the same as Samhain starts at sundown on October 31st. As it's been p*ssing with rain all yesterday and today, we've rearranged it to one of our number's house.
But we'll have pennywhistles and drums and guitars and willowflutes and mead and stuff, and might even sing the Pagan version of "Old Time Religion".
Seriously now ~ I'm up early and I'm going to do some planting. I'll also harvest some more wild garlic ~ 'tis the season... Don't lose out on enjoying one of the best wild foods around... Tonight it is 3 types of crushed potatoes on a bed of wild garlic leaves with a mustard and horseradish sauce (butter/almond oil/ricotta/parmeggiano) ~ & mackerel... mmmmmm!!!
The selection of May Day as a bank holiday was obviously engineered by the brewers, as only they could possibly profit by it.
Conned into warm fuzzies of belief - or not, as the case may be - in the notion that this is the day of all days to walk tall in one's worker-hood and contemplate the gains of the great social pioneers in a relaxed and appreciative frame of mind, millions are deceived into leaving their beds, and in due course their front doors.
They are met by stupendous down-draughts of intergalactic chill as the battering of opposing weather systems - the end-of- winter rains and the beginning-of-summer rains - bring tons of ice and water down on their heads, while fearful bangs and flashes make it clear the thunderstorm season has begun. This is certainly the normal pattern in the North-East, admittedly an egregious cockpit of climatic revenge much of the time.
So they go to the pub.
I don't know what brainless pamphleteer first pushed May Day as the indispensible public holiday. It may be that it was some ancient fertility festival, but I know the difference between myself and a leek, and being ludicrously cold and wet does not make me flourish.
At our English session (where else!) yesterday there was some discussion of the difference between dawn and sunrise - two or three will be playing and dancing at that unearthly hour tomorrow. Some came up with suggestions of specific lengths of time between dawn and sunrise. Dawn is the start of a twilight zone before the sun rises, but I don't know if there is a precise scientific definition, which would presumably include latitude and date somewhere in the calculation. One pragmatic definition of dawn which someone once told me about, and which is apparently still used in the Middle East, is when you can just distinguish between a light-coloured thread and dark thread held at arm's length.
Years ago I did a lot of fly-fishing. This included trying to catch sea-trout at night. There was the odd occasion when I caught, or lost, a fish right at the very end of the night, in the last 15-20 minutes or so before the black of the tree leaves very subtly began to fade and lighten into green. There seemed to be an exact moment when it did this, and that was cut-off for any more chance of a fish; but this brief window could give the best chance of a fish in the whole night, in low water and hot weather.
This was very early on a summer morning in settled, fine weather. What I've described was the beginning of the dawn, at any rate as I perceived it. Dawn proper, with everything visible in its daylight colours though in a subdued light, was well before sunrise.
I usually get up at dawn, all year round. My alarm clock is a robin that makes a few timid trills by my window, then quiet for about ten minutes before it repeats. By that time it's usually getting just about light enough to see the ground between your feet, although it depends a lot on the weather conditions.
My coven will be celebrating Beltane in grand style, and the fiddle and I will be participating. We are all supposed to wear masks. Wonder what on earth the planners have planned.
"Tonight it is 3 types of crushed potatoes on a bed of wild garlic leaves with a mustard and horseradish sauce (butter/almond oil/ricotta/parmeggiano) ~ & mackerel... mmmmmm!!!
3 types of potatoes ~ different coloured flesh and skins..."
Oh ceolachen, can I come round for supper tonight? It sounds woooonderful!
I need cheering up. We were defeated by molehills.
c.g. ~ if you're passing by the door is open. The season for wild garlic continues through May and I've managed to get some to take just outside our door, ready to flower by the weekend...
My May Day session has turned out to be a one-man session - not intentionally, but no-one else turned up, so I just got on with it and chatted with people there between tunes.
May day
May day
No, this is not a call for assistance. Just wondering who intends to get up at dawn, put on weird costumes/flowers/paint, and play, sing, and dance for the pagan gods?
# Posted on April 30th 2008 by oldstrings
Re: May day
No flowers, no paint, no weird costumes just playing and dancing.
Longsword, by the way.
# Posted on April 30th 2008 by c.g.
Re: May day
And no getting up at dawn either, unless for a quick Werris
# Posted on April 30th 2008 by mcknowall
Re: May day
I'll be knocking down a few.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7ZDO2g-gsQ&feature=related
# Posted on April 30th 2008 by Bodhi
Re: May day
GASP!
Auntie Em, I am frightened.
# Posted on April 30th 2008 by Rook
Re: May day
We had a picnic planned for Walpurgisnacht. Since the day runs from sunset to sunset, Bealtaine starts at sundown on 30th April - the same as Samhain starts at sundown on October 31st. As it's been p*ssing with rain all yesterday and today, we've rearranged it to one of our number's house.
But we'll have pennywhistles and drums and guitars and willowflutes and mead and stuff, and might even sing the Pagan version of "Old Time Religion".
# Posted on April 30th 2008 by Innocent Bystander
Re: May day
"Let us Worship like the druids
In the fields and in the woo-ids,
Drinking strange fermented fluids,
And it's good enough for me!"
(and another eight or so verses...)
# Posted on April 30th 2008 by Innocent Bystander
Re: May day
http://www.holtlaborlibrary.org/images/MayDayCartoon%20lg.JPG
Oh you Pagan hippies, dancing around with flowers when you should be toppling the global corporate banking ruling class like a proper May Day .
# Posted on April 30th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: May day
That would be me, and plenty of other people in the area; there's been a May Day gathering in Cambridge (Mass.) for about three decades.
Here's a look at the last few years:
http://www.freewebs.com/morrisgalleryone/mayday07/mayday07.html
http://www.geocities.com/morrisgallerytwo/mayday06/mayday06.html
http://www.geocities.com/morrisgallery/mayday2005/mayday05.html
# Posted on April 30th 2008 by sts
Re: May day
"Just wondering who intends to get up at dawn, put on weird costumes/flowers/paint, and play, sing, and dance for the pagan gods?"
Huh? ~ Sounds like my regular routine...
# Posted on April 30th 2008 by ceolachan
Though ~ actual sacrafice has dropped in these modern times to bimonthly...
# Posted on April 30th 2008 by ceolachan
Re: May day
Seriously now ~ I'm up early and I'm going to do some planting. I'll also harvest some more wild garlic ~ 'tis the season... Don't lose out on enjoying one of the best wild foods around... Tonight it is 3 types of crushed potatoes on a bed of wild garlic leaves with a mustard and horseradish sauce (butter/almond oil/ricotta/parmeggiano) ~ & mackerel... mmmmmm!!!
# Posted on April 30th 2008 by ceolachan
3 types of potatoes ~ different coloured flesh and skins...
# Posted on April 30th 2008 by ceolachan
Re: May day
The distress call is from Fr. m'aider, shortening of venez m'aider "come help me!"
# Posted on April 30th 2008 by dafydd
Re: May day
What's wrong Dafydd, having problems getting your May Day costume on? Just go au natural with some flowers in your hair...
# Posted on April 30th 2008 by ceolachan
Re: May day
"If you're going to San Francisco....................."
# Posted on April 30th 2008 by dafydd
Re: May day
The selection of May Day as a bank holiday was obviously engineered by the brewers, as only they could possibly profit by it.
Conned into warm fuzzies of belief - or not, as the case may be - in the notion that this is the day of all days to walk tall in one's worker-hood and contemplate the gains of the great social pioneers in a relaxed and appreciative frame of mind, millions are deceived into leaving their beds, and in due course their front doors.
They are met by stupendous down-draughts of intergalactic chill as the battering of opposing weather systems - the end-of- winter rains and the beginning-of-summer rains - bring tons of ice and water down on their heads, while fearful bangs and flashes make it clear the thunderstorm season has begun. This is certainly the normal pattern in the North-East, admittedly an egregious cockpit of climatic revenge much of the time.
So they go to the pub.
I don't know what brainless pamphleteer first pushed May Day as the indispensible public holiday. It may be that it was some ancient fertility festival, but I know the difference between myself and a leek, and being ludicrously cold and wet does not make me flourish.
# Posted on April 30th 2008 by nicholas
Re: May day
At our English session (where else!) yesterday there was some discussion of the difference between dawn and sunrise - two or three will be playing and dancing at that unearthly hour tomorrow. Some came up with suggestions of specific lengths of time between dawn and sunrise. Dawn is the start of a twilight zone before the sun rises, but I don't know if there is a precise scientific definition, which would presumably include latitude and date somewhere in the calculation. One pragmatic definition of dawn which someone once told me about, and which is apparently still used in the Middle East, is when you can just distinguish between a light-coloured thread and dark thread held at arm's length.
# Posted on April 30th 2008 by lazyhound
Re: May day
"Huh? ~ Sounds like my regular routine..."
You will notice, ceolachan, that I diplomatically did not name The Usual Suspects.
# Posted on April 30th 2008 by oldstrings
Re: May day
Good stuff, sts. Thanks.
# Posted on April 30th 2008 by oldstrings
Re: May day
A little general background, for those unfamiliar with the concept.
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/mayday.htm
# Posted on April 30th 2008 by oldstrings
Re: May day
Dawn and sunrise...Yes, I know the difference.
Years ago I did a lot of fly-fishing. This included trying to catch sea-trout at night. There was the odd occasion when I caught, or lost, a fish right at the very end of the night, in the last 15-20 minutes or so before the black of the tree leaves very subtly began to fade and lighten into green. There seemed to be an exact moment when it did this, and that was cut-off for any more chance of a fish; but this brief window could give the best chance of a fish in the whole night, in low water and hot weather.
This was very early on a summer morning in settled, fine weather. What I've described was the beginning of the dawn, at any rate as I perceived it. Dawn proper, with everything visible in its daylight colours though in a subdued light, was well before sunrise.
# Posted on May 1st 2008 by nicholas
Re: May day
I usually get up at dawn, all year round. My alarm clock is a robin that makes a few timid trills by my window, then quiet for about ten minutes before it repeats. By that time it's usually getting just about light enough to see the ground between your feet, although it depends a lot on the weather conditions.
# Posted on May 1st 2008 by wolfbird
Re: May day
Power to the people - the anniversary of the Haymarket massacre.
I wonder if Chief O'Neill was living in Chicago at that time (188?)
# Posted on May 1st 2008 by Hup
Re: May day
My coven will be celebrating Beltane in grand style, and the fiddle and I will be participating. We are all supposed to wear masks. Wonder what on earth the planners have planned.
# Posted on May 1st 2008 by cathrynb
Re: May day
George WWW Bush will be celebrating his
"Mission Accomplished Day" with an afternoon nap.
# Posted on May 1st 2008 by Bodhi
Re: May day
Huh? There's a difference between you and a leek nicholas?
# Posted on May 1st 2008 by ceolachan
Re: May day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_Riot
The Haymarket Affair / The Haymarket Riot / The Haymarket Massacre
Tuesday the 4th of May, 1886 ~ Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
# Posted on May 1st 2008 by ceolachan
Re: May day
"Tonight it is 3 types of crushed potatoes on a bed of wild garlic leaves with a mustard and horseradish sauce (butter/almond oil/ricotta/parmeggiano) ~ & mackerel... mmmmmm!!!
3 types of potatoes ~ different coloured flesh and skins..."
Oh ceolachen, can I come round for supper tonight? It sounds woooonderful!
I need cheering up. We were defeated by molehills.
# Posted on May 1st 2008 by c.g.
Re: May day
I am in college for mayday while loads of my friends bugger off to fun things.... :(
# Posted on May 1st 2008 by An Kammneves
Re: May day
c.g. ~ if you're passing by the door is open. The season for wild garlic continues through May and I've managed to get some to take just outside our door, ready to flower by the weekend...
# Posted on May 1st 2008 by ceolachan
Re: May day
My May Day session has turned out to be a one-man session - not intentionally, but no-one else turned up, so I just got on with it and chatted with people there between tunes.
# Posted on May 1st 2008 by lazyhound