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<\/figure>\nShe typically refers to ancient festivals, such as Lemuria and Rosaria, which reveal this dual dimension of the day: on the one hand, the fear and need to appease the dead and, on the other, the expectation of rebirth and life. “The whole month of May is considered favorable for magic<\/b>,” he notes, adding that this connection is even reflected etymologically in May’s relationship with “magic.”<\/p>\n
In this context, the “magic” of May is not only about the supernatural, but also about the power of nature, which people were trying to approach, understand and – to some extent – influence.<\/p>\n
A central element of May Day customs is the May Day wreath, which is made on the eve of the celebration.“It is almost the only custom that still binds us to the traditional May Day”,<\/b> Ms Polymerou-Kamilaki stresses, underlining that it is a spring celebration with “ancient roots”.<\/p>\n
The wreath was not just decorative. As she describes, it was made of flexible sticks of skull or vine and decorated with flowers, but mainly with bushy branches of fruit trees – almond with almonds, fig with figs, pomegranate with pomegranates – as well as with wheat and barley straw.<\/p>\n
This choice was symbolic. “The use of greenery and not so much flowers”<\/b> was, as he explains, the key element of Mayan customs, as the aim was to transmit the bounty and fertility of nature to man. At the same time, elements with a deterrent function were added to the wreath, such as garlic and onion, “for the eye”, as well as thorns or other plants that were thought to ward off evil.<\/p>\n
In rural areas, these customs appeared with variations. It was not always necessary to weave a wreath, as in many cases the inhabitants placed bundles of pale olive, fig, water-lily or orange branches above the door of the house, accompanied by flowers.“The existence of plants that deterred evil was indispensable”, Ms. Polymerou-Kamilaki notes, mentioning indicatively nettles, garlic, demon’s bane and thorns.<\/b><\/p>\n
At the same time, May Day acquired a special character depending on the region. In Corfu, for example, the “Mayoixilo” is recorded: a trunk of a young cypress tree, decorated with flowers, ribbons, scarves and fruits of the season, such as mousse, but also grasses. Its procession was a lively, collective event associated with the rebirth of nature.<\/p>\n
The significance of May Day was particularly strong in northern Greece. As she points out, “the severe winter” with its low temperatures, rain, snow and frost reinforced the expectation of spring.<\/b> Thus, this day was “celebrated characteristically and solemnly”, signalling the improvement of the weather and the imminent arrival of summer, but also – most importantly – the rebirth of nature.<\/p>\n
However, this period was not free of concerns. Farm populations viewed May as a month critical to production, but also dangerous. As Polymerou-Kamilaki explains, sudden hailstorms could destroy the vines with their tender leaves, while the rains made it difficult for the trees to bear fruit.<\/p>\n
At the same time, there was also “the pervasive fear because of the dead who, according to popular beliefs, ‘walk’ on the earth” until their return to the underworld on Pentecost or Gonuklisia Sunday. This belief reinforced the need for rituals of protection and appeasement.<\/p>\n
“As was usually the case in agricultural customs, the necropolitan celebrations intertwined and coexisted with the fertility rituals,” she points out, explaining that it is a unified worldview, where death and life are not opposites but interrelated elements.<\/p>\n
In modern times, May Day has acquired a different content. For most people, it is a day off for workers and an opportunity to get out into nature. It is “barely connected anymore” to the efforts of rural populations to influence the forces of nature and protect their production, notes the former director and emeritus researcher of the Centre for the Study of Greek Folklore at the Academy of Athens.<\/p>\n
Despite these changes, however, some elements remain alive. The May wreath, the spring excursions and the collective experience of the day retain, even if in fragments, the connection with the past. The ‘magic’ of May, he concludes, ‘is nowadays limited to naturalism’, but it nevertheless remains a link that connects the present with the deep cultural roots of Greek tradition. A link that reminds us that nature is not just a landscape, but a force that defines life.<\/p>\n
Source: APE-MPA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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