Skip to main content

Queen of the May

May is named after the ancient Italic goddess of spring, Maia. She was identified with Terra and Bona Dea by the late antiquarian writer Macrobius. He also associated her with Fauna, Cybele, Ops, Juno, and Carna. This treatment of the goddess was probably influenced by the 1st century BCE scholar Varro, who tended to resolve a great number of deities into one archetypal Mother Earth.

On the first day of May, observed in the lunar calendar with the first appearance of the crescent moon, ancestor spirits were honoured and a pregnant sow was sacrificed to Maia. On the full moon, Maia's son, Mercury, was honoured as patron god of merchants. 

According to Greek mythology, Maia was the eldest of seven sisters, the Pleiades. Hers is the fourth brightest star in the Pleiades cluster, also known as the Maia Nebula, which is part of the constellation Taurus. "Maia of the lively eyes: Atlas fathered her, outstanding in beauty, among his seven dear violet-haired daughters who are called the heavenly Peleiades (flock of doves)." Simonides, Fragment 555 (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric III) 6th to 5th century BCE.

In 13th century Britain, the May Queen was a young lady selected to personify the summer.  This may have been a survival of Anglo-Saxon customs. The earliest written record of a Maypole in Britain comes from a Welsh poem written by Gryffydd ap Adda ap Dafydd in the mid-14th century, in which he described how people used a tall birch pole at Llanidloes, central Wales. The Maypole probably derives from the Germanic veneration of sacred trees and wooden pillars which represented the axis mundi or world tree. In medieval Britain, Roodmas was celebrated on the 3rd of May. The word "rood" is Old English for "pole" so Roodmas may be connected to the Maypole.

The first day of May's lunar month (called Beltane by the Goidelic Celts) may be observed on the date of the New Moon, which occurs on the 10th of May this year. You may wish to celebrate the Queen of the May on this night, perhaps by making a wreath of flowers to adorn an image of the goddess on your altar. 





Labels:

Comments

  1. Neopagan Priestess25 April 2013 at 06:34

    We become so accustomed to calendar months, I'd never thought about using the lunar month for a May day celebration, though of course it's done for Easter. Lots of interesting information, thanks for sharing :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OathBoundSecrets25 April 2013 at 10:42

      Thank you :) Yes I sometimes feel like the modern calendar is too artificial, and following the moon is more natural. You're welcome :)

      Delete
  2. Anonymous25 April 2013 at 18:09

    I didn't know that about her thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank you for sharing your thoughts )O(

Popular posts from this blog

Back Again

I found my old blog by accident. I forgot all about it. Apparently I have to pay a subscription fee to be able to access the same features that used to be free. Maybe that's why I stopped blogging. I've been using instagram as a blog for a few years now. So it's been almost a decade since I last logged in here. What can I update you with? There's a little bit too much to say. I split up with the boyfriend I was blogging about last. He was a lovely guy, but it ran its course. I found a little studio flat in the centre of town and lived by myself for a year. That was a really nice experience. While I was there I met a new guy and started a whole new chapter. We moved to Weymouth in 2021. It will have been 4 years in August. The time has passed quickly. I turned 40 last year. I don't feel any older than when I was 30, but I feel frustrated that I could have done more with my time. The state of the world hasn't gotten any better, and I'm increasingly aw...
Post a Comment
Read more

Approaching Summer Solstice

The tarot card I pulled today was The Knight of Swords. This card provokes us to consider activities we want to do, travel, being out and about, getting things accomplished. I feel lately that I just don't have the time or energy to do all the things. I am feeling tired, a little lost, somewhat fed up. I am trying to connect with what brings me joy, my passion. The Knight points to a need for silence and space to deepen our understanding. Clear cut answers are revealed when we focus our minds in meditation. The oracle card for today is Mystic Mermaid. She reminds us to pamper ourselves with a heavy dose of self-love. I think it's been difficult for me to remember to look after myself with the most basic things like a healthy diet and good sleep. I am having to remind myself to drink water and stop doomscrolling on my phone. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Mother's Day

Back in the Middle Ages, life revolved around folk religion, devoted in most of Europe to the Mother Mary. The beliefs of common people gradually changed as literacy increased and they were able to read the Bible for themselves and make their own interpretations. The printing press was a cultural revolution which allowed all kinds of previously forbidden books to be mass produced. I think that era would have felt similar to the emergence of the internet, and the way that suddenly new ideas could spread. Then as now there were a lot of conspiracy theories driving folk mad. Fear of physical and spiritual attack increased the intensity of Marian worship among all classes. With the dissolution of the monasteries and the Catholic church losing influence, public shrines to Mary became increasingly popular in England. Some conflated all the Marys of the Bible into one "mother of all". Mary represented every woman, and everyone was a child of Mary. She is explicitly linked to Eve, bu...
Post a Comment
Read more