(Editor’s note: DeeDee Wood is the owner of Black Cat Curiosities, an online antiques research and sales venue.)
May pole participants dance around the base of the pole, holding ribbons as they circle the poll, which creates complex patterns and designs as the ribbons intertwine.
Recently, I was in an antique store, and picked up a souvenir cup from a European country, no doubt, with depictions of children holding onto ribbons, dancing around a large pole.
It seemed festive and celebratory, and it got me wondering about the origins of the maypole, and the traditions of the object, ribbons, and celebrations surrounding it.
The maypole is a tall pole erected, often, on May Day, which is May 1.
Participants dance around the base of the pole, holding ribbons as they circle the poll, which creates complex patterns and designs as the ribbons intertwine.
Steeped in European folk culture traditions, often times the dancers dress in traditional costumes of the region in which the celebration takes place, as a nod to the past heritage of a particular country or region.
In the antiques world, sometimes in European markets, you can still find very old ribbon weavings from old time celebrations, as well as the poles themselves.
You can also find the actual act of dancing around the poll, and celebration depictions on cups, plates, oil paintings, wall hangings and more.
The maypole is an iconic symbol of the beginning of spring, and the end of the harsh winter.
Origins of the pole and traditions themselves don’t have a definitive point or location to point to as the beginning of this custom, but some theories include Germanic paganism of the Iron Age and the theory that these ancient Europeans performed this rite of spring around live trees to celebrate the return of the sun.
It is also thought Medieval and early cultures of Europe converted and changed the ancient traditions to a more conformed activity, with more standard celebrations of drink, dance and ritual, becoming more of a tradition, with some meaning being lost as the practice changed over time.
It then included not a tree, but a pole, not branches, but ribbons-weaving tradition and history together.
As indelible as the image is of costumed participants with flowers in their hair, dancing on warm, sun-filled days, ribbons in hands in a circular motion, the act is not prevalent in society as it once was in the past.
As a folk tradition still celebrated as custom and history, you can still find a variety of celebrations take place, in many different countries in the spring and mid-summer, including Italy, England, Belgium, Germany and others.
Games, songs and different foods and beverages have formed and changed per region and custom.
Influences of Christianity, religious wars and laws, influences of different cultures, and changing times keep the maypole as a historic reminder of ancient pagan roots and customs shaping an area, influenced heavily by nature and the changing seasons.
In early May this year, think about the maypole and the customs of ancient Europeans, honoring and celebrating spring.
