The Maypole Dance, Ancient Affirmation of Cosmic Union

" Nature always wears the colors of the spirit. "

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

One of the greatest blessings of community is when a large circle of people can come together to collectively celebrate the Living Mysteries. Each culture understands these in a different way with a distinct set of Names, Forms and Traditions. The expressions of these vary but they share a common root in the human desire to experience immersion in a shared experience of the Divine.

In ancient times, and in many cultures still, the primary community gatherings take the form of religious holidays, processions or observances. In recent times, the reasons for humans to gather are more nationalistic or sports/entertainment oriented. These serve their own purposes but may leave some of the deeper motives for gathering with others unfulfilled. There are many symptoms of this lack of fulfillment in modern life. There are also many signs of a cultural quest to discover the remedy for this disconnection.

The few last decades have witnessed a resurgence of seasonal folk-festivals. These are inspired by customs such as the Maypole Dance, an ancient custom that was continued into modern times as a community folk-dance and which is now being performed by Pagan and non-Pagan groups alike. Here is offered one vision of why the Maypole Dance is happening in more and more places over recent years.

The Pagan calendar of holy-days is based upon the process of life throughout the cycle of the year. Beltane marks the high point of the year’s vitality, in mid-Spring. This is the best time to ride the upwelling currents of enthusiasm for life itself. The energetic currents that are passed between living beings and that perpetually renew the natural world are welcomed and honored. When worshiped, the forces that make up our being are understood on a cosmic scale. The love between us is adored in the form of the God and Goddess, Who manifest as humanity, the animal realm, the plant realm, and the entire life-system of this planet, and beyond.. Divinity is found in all things in heaven and earth.

This is the path of making the mundane into the sacred through the power of appreciation. Periodic deep reminding of this attitude is one of the central purposes of ritual. For the entire community, seasonal gatherings can serve to amplify the intentions that we bring to them, watering the seeds of devotion that we plant in our daily practices of meditation, art and prayer.

More and more people are becoming interested in earth based devotional paths. One expression of this interest is the desire to promote customs that derive from the perception of the Divine within the natural world. This view is the antidote to the deep disconnection and psychic isolation that is the root cause of so many modern maladies of both body and soul.

What values can a group of those seeking to be true to themselves as individuals share in common? What intentions are worthy of unanimous focus by the community? In this time, there is a thirst for rituals of collective healing. These are necessary not just of the individual, but of the relationships between individuals and families, and ultimately the relationships between humanity and the rest of the living planet. This healing is a return to attunement with our own nature and the natural world., the end of the war against the earth.

A major shift that is currently happening in many regions is that people are beginning to view the role of culture as best served in a diversity of expressions rather than any one culture being destined to assimilate all of humanity. A project of this shift is the burgeoning interest in all world cultures, and in the stories of those that have been suppressed or conquered during the era of colonial expansion and empire. To this end, many folk traditions are being revived, not as relics of the past, but as carriers of valuable messages for the present and future.

All of these ideas are expressed in the simple but elegant symbol of the Maypole Dance.

A pole is set into a hole in the ground, a pivotal Tree of Life that connects Earth and Sky. From the top of this pole there are many long ribbons. People gather in a circle around this pole, each with a ribbon in hand. They then dance in a pattern around this circle, passing each other in such a way that the ribbons weave together and eventually cover the pole. The community comes together to celebrate the union of the emblems of the Divine Mother and Divine Father by weaving together through a dance of cooperation, and synergy.

This reminds the whole village that the natural forces of the Divine interplay not only through the cycle of the year, but in the relationships between individuals as they dance together. The joy of this ceremony reflects not only the amorous delight of Spring, but also the internal Mystery of Love that weaves the world together. Many are seeking this wholeness as the sacred traditions of dance, and intentional gatherings revive.

May all who seek to affirm the Divine within the cycles of the natural world fine community with whom to share this sacred dance.