May Notebook: The Joyful Issue

Early dawns, Summer-opening rituals and flowers in our hair

Hello,

Well this is an absolutely beautiful month we’re about to dive into isn’t it.

We have song-filled mornings, blossom-drenched trees and a general sense of all good things ahead of us. In the ebb and flow of the year, this is a season of warmth, light and outdoor activity. How could anyone not like May?

In this newsletter, we’ll be waking up with dawn rituals, embracing a bit of Springtime silliness (cheese rolling anyone?) and continuing with our May Day festivities.

This is the time to follow the lead of our pagan ancestors by giving in to the joyful energy of the month, welcoming the dawn and officially opening the Summer season.

Who’s with me?

Photo by Duong Ngan on Unsplash

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Things to love about May

1. Bank Holidays

A good month for adventure, May gives us not one but two Bank Holidays in the UK. Perfectly timed to coincide with the warmer weather, we can stretch our weekends out nicely this month, making space for getting outside and taking mini-adventures.

Who’s ready to switch the out-of-office on?

2. Cowparsley and tree blosom

Ah, it’s looking beautiful out there right now isn’t it. Tree blossom is at its peak, Hawthorn is covering hedgerows with great branches of white, and cow parsley is having its moment. I absolutely love cow parsley, it’s so frothy and pretty and just very rural. It instantly makes any path look like a painting from the 1800s. It also plays havoc with my hayfever, but we’ll forgive it that.

3. Cheese rolling

There’s a general sense of silliness to May that I strongly applaud. What other month brings you an annual cheese-rolling festival?

Held in Gloucester on the last Bank Holiday of the month, this annual festival is thought to date back to at least the 1800s. No one knows the origins of chasing a giant wheel of cheese down a very steep hill, but there is speculation that this practice could have been a way of ascertaining grazing rights, marking ancient fertility rituals, or - my personal favourite - just linked to the ‘pagan practice of rolling things down hills.’

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash - Cowparsley, making hedgerows look like oil paintings since the 1800s

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Things to do in May

Feeling suitably May-ish yet? I hope so. Right, here’s your list of things to do, see and eat this month:

1. Celebrate May Day

Washing your face in dew, chasing a giant cheese downhill, bringing back maypole dancing… whatever you decide to do this month, I strongly recommend taking a leaf out of our ancestors’ book and using May Day as an excuse for general merriment and slight silliness.

Take a look at my May Day newsletter for more ideas of how to make the most of this ancient festival day.

2. Make a daisy chain

It’s Bank Holiday season and daisies are in abundance, so why not wear a few flowers in your hair. Think of it as a warm up to the Summer Solstice where flower crowns are essential.

Weaving daisy chains was a pretty standard way to spend a sunny lunch break when I was a child, but now I’m old and jaded I can’t even remember the last time I did it. If you’ve also forgotten how to make one, now is the time to relearn that essential childhood skill.

3. Ask for a water blessing

Well dressing is an ancient tradition that is linked to this time of year. Ancient Roman and Celtic seasonal rituals often involve water as this was believed to be a sacred gift from nature and May Day is no exception. According to folklore, rising early to greet the rising sun on the 1st May and bathing your face with dew was thought to bring beauty and good health for the year ahead.

In the Peak District in the UK, May is the start of the Well Dressing season, where elaborate images made of clay, flowers and natural materials are left by wells and springs as an offering in Spring and Summer.

Less elaborate offerings of flowers, leaves or beautiful stones would also be very acceptable things to place near your local stream or river this month.

Photo by Ranurte on Unsplash

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May Folklore

Much of the folklore attached to this month is concerned with protection of livestock and homes, ahead of the important summer grazing season.

Here are a couple of pieces for you to squirrel away, ready to impress, surprise or completely baffle someone at the appropriate moment.

1. Don’t give away milk or cheese on May Day

I’m not generally in the habit of giving away milk or cheese, but I’ll make sure to definitely not do it on May 1st. According to folklore it’s very bad luck to do so on May Day, a time when it was thought supernatural folk were roaming about looking to steal milk and butter from homes.

2. Don’t bring Hawthorn indoors

Confusingly, while Hawthorn blossom is considered to bring good luck and protection when used outside your home on May Day, it is considered very bad luck to bring it indoors.

Some say this is because it’s a fairy tree. Others think this is actually because the smell of Hawthorn (which I love) contains a chemical which is also found in decaying animal tissue. So the smell was linked with illness and decay, hence why it was feared.

I’m really questioning my own sense of smell right now, as I have Hawthorn in my garden and it smells like honey to me! Either way, I won’t be risking it or bringing it in this year.

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Photo by Diana Parkhouse on Unsplash

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Ok, that’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed your May newsletter and I hope you have a wonderful month filled with beautiful dawns, abundant blossom and jolly May Day celebrations.

Now it’s over to you to share your May rituals and traditions in the Comments. I’m really interested to know who else loves this month and if so what your rituals and traditions look like?

I’ll see you next month for a June edition of the Monthly Notebook. We’ll be diving into all things Summer Solstice as well as trying some delicious seasonal cakes and breads. I’ll add a sprinkling of weird and wonderful folklore for you too. Look forward to seeing you there. If you haven’t already Subscribed then just click below to make sure that post arrives safely in your inbox.

Vicky xx

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