Beltane, may Morris - dancers what they all mean?

Beltane, may and Morris dancers are bound together by a tenuous thread which extends through history at the time that it is almost lost in the mists. Almost, but not quite.

Celts have begun to arrive in the UK, about 600 B.C.E. and the iron age. They have invaded ever in Britain. themselves were too fragmented to do so. They never had a central Government because they loved much too much fighting. If they could find an appropriate enemy, then they would happily fight one another.

But they brought with them, except iron, Beltane, festival (pron.. 'Be-eltunna') probably may. The difficulty of these moments of celebration of dating is in fact, as I've pointed out, that they have been translated in the United Kingdom by the Celts. They were already in existence, so origins could return at least old stone age.

The beginning of Beltane was on the eve of what we now call may first. Thus on the 30th of April, bel-fires were lit on the hills to celebrate the return of the fertility of the Earth. Celebrations 'Jumping bel-fire', and driving cattle through the smoke and ash in order to ensure a large quantity of milk and fertility.

Beltane is known as a Sabbath. This is one of the four great Sabbaths. The word "Sabbath" comes from Abraham, Judaism and Christianity, is the original Hebrew. The neopagans and Wiccans adopted the word to mark their festivals, such as Beltane.

It is at this time, also, that the God and goddess are said to marry and may is part of the ceremony. The pole itself is a phallic symbol and ribbons, red for men, for women are cloth together as the dance of people around him. This symbolizes the coming of God and goddess.

Dance Morris himself not only is a complex set of symbolism with measures ordered and disciplined movements of hands and arms, but there are many types of dance. Fundamentally, however, it has been claimed is the remnant of a fertility dance before druidic origin.

There always seems to me that if we are unsure of the origin of something, say us it comes from the Druids! The point here is that so little is known of the Druids themselves that anything is possible!

Nevertheless, dance is said to have magical powers and serves to bring good luck and to ward off evil. The bells, the fluttering of scarves and butting clubs are supposed to external drive evil spirits.

While the origins of the Beltane and the may are unknown, I think that it fairly certain they would have been celebrated at Stonehenge in the first phase of construction.