Goddess Maia and Greek May Day Traditions

 

 

The Ancient Greek Goddess Maia

 

The month of May, a month celebrating spring and the summer ahead, a month of rebirth, nuture and flowers.

 May takes its name from Maia, in Greek mythology the eldest of the seven nymphs of the Pleiades, daughter of Atlas, the Titan god, doomed to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders and mother of Hermes, messenger of the gods.

 

 

Born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia, where she lived alone in a cave, Maia was an Earth goddess, a nurturer, a mother, a nurse, and grandmother of magic.

The goddess Maia was also a midwife, (Maia also means midwife in Greek), bringing new life into the world, her name is also linked to ‘μαῖα’ (maia), a title, in ancient Greece, for older women.

 

 

The reunion of Demeter, goddess of harvest,

with her daughter, Persephone

 

Along with goddess Maia, according to Greek mythology, the month of May was also a celebration of the reunion of Demeter, goddess of harvest, fertility and agriculture, with her virgin daughter, Persephone.

Persephone returned to Earth, after being kidnapped, and held prisoner by Hades, god of the underworld.

 

 

Demeter, demented by grief on the loss of her daughter, Persephone, (who was destined to live six months underground, and six months on Earth) cursed the earth, so that nothing would grow, land was left barren.

These were the winter months, the months in which Persephone lived underground, but with the coming of May, and the return of her daughter, Demeter lifted the curse, and the land was reborn and bloomed.

 

Anthesteria

 

May, the last month of spring, was the victor of summer against winter and of life against death.

Spring and the month of May have been celebrated in Greece since ancient times, one the oldest celebrations was the Anthesteria, an ancient Greek flower festival, one of the four Athenian festivals in honour of Dionysus, the god of wine, where flowers were carried to various sanctuaries and temples.

 

Modern Day Greek May Day Traditions

 

 

The first of May, May Day (protomagia in Greek), is a public holiday in Greece, the usual tradition is for families to take picnics to the countryside, where they collect flowers, said to represent the beauty of God, and bring health and happiness.

 May wreaths, symbolising fertility and fruitfulness, prosperity and happiness, are made with wild flowers and are taken home to hang on doors.

Greenery is mostly used for the May wreath, the ‘magiatikio stefani’, garlic and nettles are intertwined with the flowers to ward off evil, along with fruit, such as pomegranate, or figs, symbolising  fertility.

 

 

The wreaths are meant to stay in place until 24 of June, Eve of Saint John the Harvester and Midsummer’s Eve, when they are taken down, the villagers then burn them altogether on a bonfire.

 

The May Stick – Mayioxylo

 

 

The  Mayioxylo, or Maystick, the Greek equivalent of the Maypole, both phallic symbols, representing fertility, is a branch from a fruit tree, usually pomegranate or almond, bearing tender young leaves, decorated with flowers, fruits and colourful ribbons and adorned with small phials of honey, sweet wine and olive oil, all of which symbolise fertility.

If a young man happened to have been struck dead by the husband of a beautiful, but married young woman, who he had taken a fancy to, nudging him with a May stick was said to bring him back to life, illustrating the renewal and rebirth of the month of May.

Any youthful man, touched by the May stick, was blessed with fertility and guaranteed many offspring.

Much fun and bawdiness is to be had at Greek May Day celebrations, where women ‘pianoun to Mai’ – ‘grab May’, or are asked if they have ‘έπιασε το μαγιόξυλο?’- epiases to mayioxylo?- did you grab the May stick?

 

Fire Jumping

 

 

After sunset, on the Eve of May Day, the women of the village gather together to build a bonfire, when the fire has been lit, they dance around it, singing songs of May and spring.

As an act of absolution, people jump over the fire three times, at the end of the celebrations, a human effigy, made from straw, is thrown on the fire as a scapegoat, to get rid of all evil.

 

May Day Traditions in Northern Greece

 

In Northern Greece, May Day is associated with magic and spells, so no weddings take place in May, to avoid any bad luck and misfortune befalling  the happy couple.

In Roman times, as May was connected with death, locals of northern Greek villages, visit cemeteries, to clean up and tend to the graves of loved ones, often sharing food there, in the hope this will bring forgiveness for the souls of the departed.

The Vlachs, an ethnic group native to the Balkans, traditionally living in northern and central Greece, believe that on the first of May, all magic spells come true, and the only way to prevent being cursed by a spell, is to carry with you, the head of a viper, this custom is doubly effective if the viper has been killed on the first of May.

 

 

Zafiris

 

In Zagoria, Epirus, a region in northern Greece, young children dress up, or dress an effigy,  as Zafiris, who is then covered in leaves, and plays dead.

The children mourn Zafiris by singing and dancing around him, until, by the powers of spring, Zafiris is brought back to life.

 

Kali protomagia

 

All over Greece, on the first of May, people are heard calling out to each other, ‘Kalo mina’ – have a good month, or ‘Kali protomagia’ – have a good May Day, determined to ‘grab May’, one way or another!