By Celli

We've been Rambling all the Night, And some time of this Day Now returning back again, We bring the Garland Gay , A Garland Gay we bring you here, and at your door we stand , It is a Sprout well Budded out, The work of our Lord's Hand 

Traditional mummer's song from Abingdon in Oxfordshire 

What is it about the Maypole that even to this day, we still dance around it? The Maypole has survived being banned and outlawed by religion, it's original meanings lost in history and time, changes made in meaning and use. But it survived!

According to several people the Maypole was brought to the English and Irish by the Saxon and Germanic/Nordic tribes that invaded them. But versions of the Maypole and May day activities can be found in several cultures. Bonfires, central poles, dancing and the shooting of arrows to ward off evil are found in Jewish and Native American culture.

How old is the Maypole? In England the Cerne Giant was carved into the hillside around 2,000BC. There is a Maypole Mound above his head. The Giant Himself has been maintained for that long by generations of the villagers below it. But Maypole dancing was still done there until 1635 when it was outlawed. A note here - a site line taken along the Giant's Penis will point to the sun as it raises over the Maypole Mound on May day. There is still belief in that a childless couple who have sex on the Giants Penis will have a child. I would assume that this was to be done on May Eve. During the same time that Maypole dancing was banned the outline of the Giant's penis was covered with grass and dirt to hide it.

But some of the meaning of May Day are reflected in the Maypole. What is May day? it is a time of mating, when greenwood marriages took place, the seeds for harvest have been planted and are now growing. A joyous time, the air is warm the sun is out, flowers are in full bloom. A time of the union of the Male and Female in the beauty of Creation. We cannot talk about May day with out talking about the bonfires of May eve. To the Celts the Fire was Female passive (Brid) and the Light was Male active (Lugh). The Maypole is the opposite of this - the pole being Male passive and the ribbons Female active. On this day we celebrate Creation and Life, not only as a whole but on a individual level. Here we find the Celtic/Druid threes at work again, the mating of Intuition and Inspiration (Brid), with the Knowledge and Skill (Lugh) Manifesting in physical creation. The life and future of the people, Halloween is the other side of this  - the honored dead, Ancestors and the past. . Here were see the cycle of active and passive being passed between male and female and several levels of thought, so the creation of Life can be renewed.

The May Eve allows for the "Greenwood" marriages and the chance of pregnancy (male active), while the day allows for growth of the hoped for child (female active). This is the time of the great union of the God and Goddess. And It is believed that a child conceived at this time and born on Winter Solstice will be bound for greatness. The Maypole dancing allows us to contain these creatitive forces within, within the land, within the crops and within ourselves. A bit of symbolic magic the weaving of the ribbons. If they didn't come out correctly, it could be a bad omen. So where the dancing was joyous, it did have it serious side.

Tradionally a Maypole was up to 9 feet tall with colored Ribbons one and a half times as long as the pole is high. It is decorated with Flowers and new green growth. The ribbons need to be in lots of 4. The dancers stand in two circles an inner one and a outer one. There are 2 ways to dance the Maypole. One in which Both inner and outer dancers weave and one where the outer circle does the weaving. This weaves the ribbons either in a very close weave or a very open one. I have not found any references to the inner circle of dancers doing the weaving.. The Maypole was decked with flowers and a green new growth garland was placed at the top.

These are some weaving styles I found: The Barber's Pole - This forms a striped pattern, spiraling down the pole like the traditional barber's sign.

The Single Trace - The inner ribbons are held vertically against the pole whilst the outer ribbons weave a pattern over them.

The Double Trace - Inners and Outers work as pairs and make a basket-weave pattern down the pole. 

Outside Trace - A basket-weave using both inners and outers.

The Spider's Web - A conical open plait

The Gypsy's Tent - A complicated open plait.

Plait the Rope - Dancers work in groups of four. The two outers plait the pattern don the two inners to form a rope.

In 1644 Maypole and May day festivals were banned. Philip Stubbe wrote in his "Anatomy of Abuses", a puritan tract against all kinds of fun things, there is a chapter called 'Against May'. He writes - "Every parish town and village assembles themselves together. Men and women and children, old and young and go off, some to the woods and groves, some to the hills and mountains, where they spend the night in pastimes. In the morning they return bringing with them birch-boughs and trees to deck their assemblies with. I've heard it credibly reported by men of great gravity, credibility and reputation. That forty, three score, or a hundred youths, going to the woods over night. They have scarcely the third part of them, returned home again undefiled." In 1660 Kings Charles II restored May Day when he was king. But allot of the sexual meaning was removed. In Victorian days innocence was connected with Mayday, they laughter of children as they danced around the maypole. And now we have it as a school child's dance.

But let us not forget the meanings behind the Maypole, the Bonfire and May Day. It is the celebration of Life, Creation, and Growth, not only for the universe but ourselves.