1st Annual Mayday Celebration at KLEINeFARM

Two weeks ago we celebrated Mayday at the KLEINeFARM.  Mayday is an earth based celebration in which we recognize the time between spring equinox and summer solstice.  It has been celebrated here in Austria and around the world for longer than we know and we are excited to keep the tradition alive.  As small towns in Austria were raising their large, beautifully carved Maypoles and celebrating with food and song, we began our own celebration which is a mix of California coastal flower child tradition and that of the European pagan tradition.  After eating a nice meal together prepared by all of the participants, we created wreaths for our heads made of willow branches and flowers harvested from the surrounding fields and meadows.  Then the men gathered and headed to the forest where we choose a pole to be cut.  After much deliberation as to which pole to take, we decided upon the chosen one and a boy in the group began the tradition of cutting the pole.  We cleaned the pole and reconvened with the woman and girls.  Ulli gave a beautiful talk about the tradition of dancing around the maypole as a fertility dance to enliven our souls and soils and then the rumpus began.  Music was made and the pole was dressed in a colorful pattern of ribbon.

We at KLEINeFARM are grateful for all who participated here and beyond and we know that traditions and ceremonies like these are moments, symbols of our gratitude for what the earth provides us.  It is becoming warm now, the fields are planted, we are harvesting, eating and sharing.  Mayday has come and gone but we know it will come once again and we will greet it with song and dance, gratitude and community.

Alles Gute, Scott