May Day/Lei Day
May Day welcomes in Spring and marks the end of the Druid's Winter half of the year. The tradition of dancing around a maypole began in ancient Rome as dancing around a sacred pine tree during a festival to honor their goddess of flowers, named Flora. When the Romans conquered England, late on April 30th the English villagers would gather flowers and set a pole on the village green to decorate with flowers and ribbons. On May 1st, the people would crown a Queen with a wreath of flowers, and then a piper would play while they weaved the ribbons in a dance around the pole. Another tradition is to give flowers; many children make their own baskets, fill them with flowers or flowering weeds, and leave them hanging on neighbors' doorknobs. In Hawaii, it is called Lei Day. May Day is also a labor day, dating back to the Haymarket Martyrs arrested in the riots of 1866 in Chicago, Illinois. Scroll down for May Day worldwide.
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