Bring Back May Day!

May Day Photo from Library of Congress 

Today is May Day, and at the risk of sounding...well, OLD, I have to say they don't celebrate it like they used to when I was a girl. In my elementary school, we'd make May Baskets, fill them with flowers (although in Upstate NY, they were more likely the paper variety, as typically we still had snow on the ground) and give them as surprise gifts to random friends or neighbors.

It was like Ding-Dong-Ditch, but with a much happier ending.

And we'd do the May Pole dance. Erm, except in my class, they'd give you crepe paper instead of ribbons to wind around the flagpole, and when you're in your snow-boots instead of frilly dresses, it sort of loses something. But still. We celebrated the coming of summer, and that's the point.

In all my years as a mom of elementary kids, there has been nary a single May Day basket. No tromping around a May Pole. No random gifts of flowers to friends or neighbors.

I can't help feeling like we've lost something.

I wonder if it's because the origin of May Day points to the Celtic festival of Beltane (or Gaelic, Beltaine) where the cattle were driven by hand-lit bonfires to mark the return of the sun and promote health and fertility--a custom that is still observed in Ireland.

In Wicca, Beltane is one of the Major Sabbats, or holidays, and is the opposite on the calendar wheel to Samhain. Where Beltane signals the beginning of the growing cycle of the year, Samhain signals the end, and as such, the veils between the worlds are said to be thinnest at these times of great change.

As I've written about Samhain in my novella "ANY WITCH WAY", I'm thinking I need a continuation of
Joshua and Lily's story on the opposite--the growing and fertile--side of the year. It's said on Beltane, you can see fairies, and if you washed your face with morning dew on Beltane, you'd be gifted with beauty. And with all of the Celtic and pagan tradition behind Beltane, I think it would make a lovely follow-up.

Now I've just got to get my writing muse to agree!

Happy May Day. Blessed Beltane. And...

Happily My Ever After,
Dylan

P.S. Want to check out my novel that takes place on Samhain, the ending of the Wiccan year? Check out the video for ANY WITCH WAY here, and read the first few pages of my novel here.

P.P.S. What to read more from the sources I consulted for this article? Check out Witchvox website for more on the Wiccan holiday, or read up on the history of May Day at the Washington Post, or the online Encyclopedia Brittanica. 

WITCHIN' Book Party Giveaway: Test your Witch knowledge for a chance to win!

{This blog hop and contest are now closed, but feel free to take the Witch Quiz and test your knowledge!)

As my newest book deals with a WITCH, let's test your WITCH-y knowledge.

Take my 5 Question WITCH TEST ...then enter my WITCHIN' DRAWING to win 1 of 5 signed copies of ANY WITCH WAY, sent free to your door (US only), plus a little surprise...

1. YOU may be a WITCH...Do any of the following apply to you?
A. Are you female?
B. Do you live alone?
C. Do you own any pets (especially cats or dogs)
D. Have you ever argued with your neighbor?
E. Do you have any moles on your body?

ANSWER: If you answered yes to any of the above, at one point in history, this could have placed you under suspicion of witchcraft!

2. Followers of what religion might refer to themselves as 'witches'?
A. Christianity
B. Wicca 
C. Muslim

ANSWER: B--Wicca. Wicca is a religion based, in part, on ancient, northern European Pagan beliefs in a fertility Goddess and her consort, a horned God. My heroine, Lily, in ANY WITCH WAY, found out many of the notions she had about witches were wrong...lucky for her, she had an ancient, sexy hero for a tutor! Click here to see my book trailer in a new window.

3. TRUE/FALSE: 
The super sexy ritual "The Five-Fold Kiss" that appears in your book isn't a real thing in Wicca. You made it up to create a steamy love scene!

ANSWER: False. 
The Five Fold Kiss ritual does exist..but in practise, it's not as...sexy as in ANY WITCH WAY. It's more of a dedication ritual, and conducted with more pure intentions. Discovering the ritual during my research, I absolutely KNEW it would have to be a love scene in my novel--and so I took the real ritual and...well, steamed it up some. ;)

4. A male witch is called a:
A. Sorcerer
B. Warlock
C. Witch

ANSWER: C--Witch.  The term 'warlock' is an insult from its original definition as "oath breaker."

5. If a Wiccan performs magick to harm someone else (like a curse), what are the consequences?
A. Since Wiccans are taught to do no wrong, they believe their evil curse will come back on them threefold.
B. They get beheaded by their Goddess.
C. Nothing. A Wiccan can use spells for good or evil without consequence.

ANSWER: A--The curse will rebound on them threefold. My ancient hero, Joshua, was cursed because of an impulsive, ill-intended spell he cast. Part of his penance involves righting that wrong with Lily, who suffers from something far darker than a curse. Click here for my WICCAN-LY good book trailer!

How'd you do? Post a comment below and be one of my winners for a brand, spanking new copy of ANY WITCH WAY, autographed and sent to you (US shipping only) with one of these adorable pens!







Oh, don't forget to follow the Snarkology Paranormal Hop at the top of this blog for some amazinngly spooky fun and giveaways, plus you could WIN A $60 AMAZON GIFTCARD! Complete the rafflecopter below to enter for the Amazon gift card, and don't forget to comment to win a copy of my book!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for stopping by--hope you had a WITCHIN' time...

Happily My Ever After,
Dylan

P.S. Want to see my trailer for ANY WITCH WAY? Check it out here.