May Day / Beltane

In honor of May Day on Sunday (yesterday, for those who are keeping track), one of my gal friends here in Portland had recommended that we go see the Morris Dancers in Washington Park's Rose Garden. Of course, they were performing at dawn — ack! — so I got up at 4:30 am to walk the dogs and then to carpool over to the mountain.

I am SO glad we did this! The early morning weather was perfect: no rain, and temperatures slowly creeping from the mid-40s into the low 50s. I admit that I'd not heard of Morris dancing before, or if I had, I hadn't remembered. These are traditional country dances from the English countryside, and Sunday's hour-long performance was intended to help the sun come up and to celebrate the fertility of the season.

Here's the website for the Morris dance groups in Portland:
http://www.portlandmorris.org/


Beltane is, of course, one of the fire festivals in the pagan calendar or wheel of the year, and this day is traditionally filled with fertility rites to encourage a plentiful harvest.

We started with a group May pole — an ages-old phallic symbol, with the dance curiously practiced annually by private girls' Christian schools (including the alma mater of yours truly). As everyone was invited to participate, you know I jumped right in. Many of the May pole dancers were new to the activity, and in the early morning hours there was some confusion and quite a few traffic jams. Afterwards, the three Morris troupes took over and did a great job enticing the sun up over the horizon. I was impressed by the large number of dancers, and their enthusiasm for the dance. Lots of high jumps! They are quite athletic. It was fairly evenly split between men and women, with the rose and "knife" dancing done solely by the women.

The spectators were also entertaining, as many had dressed up for the occasion: lots of kilts and cloaks (on the men), children with fairy wings, and flowery women. One kilted man caused quite a stir amongst my lady friends (though they might balk at being called "ladies"), as there was a question as to whether there was anything beneath his kilt. Sitting on the stone steps with knees apart, he afforded just enough of a view to titillate sordid speculation. I plead ignorance, as the hammered dulcimer was convenienly blocking my line of sight.

There was one guy covered completely in green paint and a conical, leafy frame, dressed as a shrub — quite convincingly, too, as when he would squat down, he blended perfectly into the garden. Our Green Man was otherwise roaming about dabbing people's faces with green sparkle paint in honor of the day.

And, I got to meet an Alaskan husky dog named Odin, and Odin's owner, of course. As the proud pet of an Alaskan myself, I was prepared for Odin's excited greetings — I think that dog may have actually stuck his tongue in my mouth, not to mention all of the damp grass he spread across my trousers.

The only thing that was missing was the media. Not that I would have wanted a bunch of cameras and pesky, sleep-deprived reporters getting in the way, but it would have been nice for more Portlanders to have been able to share in this event, even if vicariously.

This was the best May Day/Beltane! Who knew you could have this much fun outside for free at dawn (with your clothes on)? I want to do this every May Day for the rest of my life! (Or, at least, I want to go back again next year.)