On the Mission
Reverend Chip's Weekly Column

Happy May Day! Whether you celebrate by dancing about a maypole, or marching with your fellow workers in a Labor parade, or by burning a bonfire on a nearby hillside, may it bring you joy and inspiration.

May 1st marked the first day of summer for the ancient Celts, who drove their flocks to their summer pastures on that day. They built bonfires on the hillsides, and drove the flocks between the fires to purify them. Many people who celebrate earth-centered spirituality celebrate this holiday as Beltane (which was the Gaelic name for May). One of the eight solar holidays (equinoxes, solstices, and the cross-quarter days between them), Beltane is often a celebration of fertility-the joining of the May Lord and Lady.

The Norse celebrated the night before, commemorating Odin's dying to learn the wisdom of the runes. They believed the separation between the living and the dead was thin on this date, and built bonfires to scare away ghosts. The holiday was Christianized by blending it with the feast day of Saint Walpurga. Thus Walpurgis Night is April 30th.

International Worker's Day originally marked the anniversary of the 1886 Haymarket Riots, in Chicago. Seven policemen and four workers were killed; an unknown number of civilians were harmed. The trials and executions brought more visibility to the international labor movement, and gave momentum to the fight for an eight-hour work day.

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