Today Is . . .

Today Is . . .

 

The Furry Dance – There are several explanations for the derivation of the word Furry, for instance, that it derives from Flora, the Roman Goddess (see Apr 28) or from the word for fire? But most likely it comes from the Latin word for fair (feria). It is the name given to the Beltane-like festival celebrated in Helston Cornwall, and featuring decorating with greenery, dancing and singing. It is one of the oldest communal Spring festivals in Great Britain, celebrated for centuries.

In Cornwall, England, the annual Furry Dance is performed in the streets of Helston on this day in honor of the old Celtic Horned God in the guise of Robin Hood. The festival, which features street dancing and a daylong procession throughout the town for good fortune, is one of the oldest surviving Springtime ceremonies in the world.

Theosophists commemorate the death of Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky on this day, which they call White Lotus Day.

The festival on May 8th, has a formal structure. On May 1st, there is a preliminary event, with music in the morning and night, and spontaneous dancing by children.There is an Early Morning Dance at 7 am (getting up early is always a feature of May Day rituals) and like most of these early morning rituals is celebrated by the young people, who all wear lilies-of-the-valley (also the flower of May Day in France). Other young people are out in the woods gathering green branches. There is a procession with young men dressed as St Michael, St George, Robin Hood and his men, who sing an ancient song, welcoming the Summer. At ten o’clock children, dressed in white and wearing lilies of the valley, dance. At noon, there is another dance led by the Mayor in his official regalia, and followed by men and women in couples, the men in top hats and morning coats, the women in summer dresses. They dance through the main streets and in and out of all the gardens, shops and houses. There is another dance at 5 pm, which visitors can join, so that the whole town is dancing. In earlier times, there was also a ball at night.

Like other May Day festivities, there’s also an association with water. The young people took anyone caught working on this holiday to the river where they were ordered to either pay a fine or leap across it (which because of its width meant getting wet). They could also demand a toll of any stranger entering town. Hole, Christina, A Dictionary of British Folk Customs. Paladin 1978

Birthday of the Buddha – On the 8th day of the fourth lunar month, the Chinese celebrate the birthday of the Buddha by distributing beans. Blackburn, Bonnie and Leofranc Holford-Strevens, Oxford Companion to the Year, Oxford University Press 1999

 

Courtesy of GrannyMoonsMorningFeast