May Notebook: The Magical Issue

Here be magic...

Hello,

A very happy May Day to you!

Ooh, this is a really good month isn’t it.

The birds are singing, there’s May Blossom on the trees, May Day festivities to be had and a general sense of all good things ahead of us.

It also feels like there’s some strong magic swirling around today.

In the ancient calendar, May Day marked a threshold between the dark half of the year and the light half - one of those magical days when boundaries suddenly feel thin between worlds and anything could happen.

So in this newsletter, we’ll be washing our face in dew, lighting spring fires, dancing around Maypoles, and just going fully, joyfully pagan.

Who’s with me?

Photo by Darrien Staton on Unsplash

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Three Things to love about May

1. Ancient rituals

If you love a folklore festival or an ancient ritual then you’re in luck - May is bursting with them!

Wash your face in dew, dance around a maypole, make a wish, cover your front door in yellow flowers…. this month is filled with old magic and folklore traditions so if you’ve wanted to embrace your wilder side, this is the month to do that.

Place your hands on the ground, hug a tree, listen to the birds with your eyes closed and let all that natural goodness soak into your bones.

If you’re open to finding natural magic this month, then I guarantee it will find its way to you.

2. May Trees

Hawthorn Trees are one of my all time favourite trees and they’re in full blossom this month (hence why they are known as May Trees). Sometimes also called fairy trees, they’re full of magic, popping up frequently in folk tales as guardian trees, standing at the threshold of the fairy realm.

Don’t have any near you? Plant one! They make excellent hedging plants - I’ve filled my garden with them and they’ve completely taken it over. All I can see from my windows this month is Hawthorn Blossom. It’s heaven.

On a side note, according to folklore it’s considered bad luck to bring the blossom indoors. But to be fair, you probably wouldn’t want to anyway as the blossom has a very strong, sickly smell, which is probably where this superstition came from.

Enjoy it on the tree instead.

3. Maypole dancing and May Queens

I realise this is a kind of niche interest, but we learnt maypole dancing at my school in the 1980s and it has a special place in my heart. It’s colourful, fun and excellently pagan. Tree worship at its best.

Each year at my school we spent May Day making flower posies, causing mayhem with maypole ribbons and lazing around on the grass outside. A May Queen was chosen from the top class to oversee the day from a flower-decked throne in the school playground. It was brilliant.

In fact, if you’d asked me back then what my life’s ambition was, I would have said without hesitation it was to be the May Queen. Before you ask, no, sigh. I was never chosen.

And if you need any clues as to why I now embrace all things pagan and seasonal, I think we can all see my school years are fully to blame.

There are still a few places in the UK where you can watch or try out Maypole dancing, or if you have children you could make them a Maypole using something like this.

Photo by Diana Parkhouse on Unsplash

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Things to do in May

Feeling inspired? Here are three magical rituals to try out this month:

1. Light a Spring fire

After the dark half of the year it was believed that a fire could revitalise and re-energise as well as bring good fortune in the important growing months of the calendar.

Traditionally communal bonfires were lit on the evening before the 1st May, but you could also light a candle at home, to mark the end of the dark season and make a wish for the light half of the year.

2. Wash your face in dew

According to folklore, rising early to greet the rising sun on May Day and bathing your face with dew was thought to bring beauty and good health for the year ahead.

Some sources also suggest rolling around naked in the dew, but I’ll leave it up to you how enthusiastically you decide to embrace this ritual.

3. Bring in the May

Decorating front doors and thresholds with flowers (Bringing in the May) is another ancient May Day ritual. Traditionally yellow flowers would be used like rowan, gorse and marsh marigold.

These flowers were gathered and placed around windows and doorways on the night before May Day. As well as making homes look beautiful and festive, they were also used as protection against any wayward spirits or fairies that might be out and about.

Can’t be too careful on this day of magic…

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And finally…

If you love all things seasonal and want a deep dive into ancient pagan festivals and traditions, just a gentle reminder that I have a new book available for pre-order now!

The Solstice Yearbook is out 2nd September but it can be pre-ordered now from all good bookshops and online. It’s packed with Solstice and Equinox rituals, recipes, folklore and crafts.

I wrote this book especially for you - my fellow moon-watchers, forest lovers and folklore fans - so I hope you like it!

p.s. Pre-orders really do help to boost a book’s visibility, so I assure you any pre-orders are very much noticed and appreciated.

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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 magic and fun.

Now it’s over to you to share your May rituals and traditions in the Comments.

How do you celebrate? Did you also go to a rural primary school and learn Maypole dancing as a child?

I’ll see you next month for a June edition of the Monthly Notebook. We’ll be diving into all things Summer Solstice. 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.

Until then, Happy May Day!

And I’m anointing us all May Queen for a day.

Vicky xx

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