| Countryside Festivals of Antiquity. By Andrew Verney Crabtree Press Many of us know of an ancient festival, or two, even if we do not know the true significance or origins of the event. I have traversed Britain’s ‘green and pleasant’ land, to experience and study many of these antique festivals, and note them down in this collection. Many of the festivals
listed have regional variations and some do not share the same calendar
month, but one thing is very clear: these festivals survive today as instinct
among the people of this land, only to be celebrated through our unconscious
actions, traditions and everyday duties. From the optimism that springs
from May Day, to the cold depressing dread of the winter, our ancient
past is never too far away when you live alongside nature; in bud and
bosom, tooth and claw. May Day Eve and May Day itself, April 29th – May 1st: Of all the ancient festivals it is Beltane and May Day, which survive unaltered and uncorrupted by modern religion. This could be partly explained by the importance of the event and the role it plays in life. May Day is the beginning of Summer, when both landscape and those who live within are recognised as fertile and ready to seed, or take seed. Human fertility rites are performed at this time, some bawdy Morris Dancers bashing their sticks in dance, or the village young skipping around the May Pole. Our modern times, are perhaps, rather embarrassed by these pagan ceremonies, due, I feel, to a prudishness, which has crept into our lives through church and mis-education. For, although it is not outwardly stated, these ceremonies continue today as strong as they were in antiquity. The mighty Roman’s celebrated May Day and it’s Eve by offering flowers to Flora, goddess of nature and fertility. Both the Roman’s and the ancient land people of Europe lit mighty bonfires of birch, oak, rowan, willow, hawthorn, apple, vine, hazel and fir. Amorous young men, and women, were encouraged to jump across the sacred flames and seek physical love in the hours which follow; there was a belief that a child conceived on May Day Eve would grow to be strong and powerful in all they performed. In darker times, Beltane (which
translates from Gaelic, meaning “fire of Bel”, Bel being the
Celtic god of light), is thought to be the opposite ceremony to Samhain
(also known as Halloween). The veil between the world of people and the
land of beasts, mystical animals and the spirits was thought to be it’s
most transparent. In other words, ghosts, daemons, fairy folk and earth
sprites were thought to wander the fertile land alongside us mere mortals.
Many a ghost story finds its foundations in Beltane, during the darkest
hours of the night, before the arrival of Summer itself. Anyone seeking
the supernatural is advised to apply extra caution on this night, as the
forces that govern the unknown are very powerful indeed. Darkling Room 2007: http://www.darklingroom.co.uk |