Maypole
Maypole
The 1st of May is the time for a maypole, associated with love, but also with a new beginning and the birth of a new life. May’s freshly green nature evokes youth, freshness, and energy. Trees, which have their special position among plants, symbolized the myth of the struggle of spring with winter, or life with death.
The custom is alive all over Slovakia. In the Middle Ages, maypoles were erected in front of the churches and town halls as symbols of respect. Since the 15th century, young men built maypoles and placed them in front of young girl’s homes to show interest.
But it wasn’t always just about love and showing affection, people also put up the maypoles in front of their houses as protection against evil spirits and diseases. May greenery should have brought a good harvest to the farmers.
Maypole
Maypole is a several meters high tree, usually, it is a fir, spruce, or birch. Its trunk is cleaned of bark and branches, which are left only at the top of the tree. It is decorated with various ribbons and bows. On the eve of the 1st of May, a young man who liked some unmarried girl secretly placed the maypole in front of her house. Sometimes, when there were more young men interested in one girl, the suitors destroyed each other’s maypoles.
So, a maypole meant serious interest, while the tree had to be really nice, symmetrical, and nicely decorated. If the maypole is also decorated with a wreath with long ribbons, it should mean that the girl will marry the suitor soon. Maypole with a wreath is therefore a symbol of a love promise. This tradition was accompanied by singing and dancing, which celebrated not only the birth of new love but also the definitive victory of spring over winter.
These old customs and traditions slowly die out. Fortunately, we still can find dozens of villages where people still follow the maypole tradition by putting up the maypole in the middle of the village. In large cities, beautifully wreathed maypoles are used to put up symbolically in front of local administration offices or cultural centers, where they stand for the whole month. At the end of May, the maypole is ceremoniously removed during the so-called maypole fall celebration.
Some of the traditions of our ancestors have disappeared, some have been preserved to this day, such as building the Maypole.
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Peter, founder & CEO of Best Slovakia Tours
