May
Sweet May hath come to love us,
flowers, trees, their blossoms don;
And through the blue heavens above us,
the very clouds move on.
May gets her name from the Greek Goddess Maia, the first daughter of Atlas and the ocean nymph, Pleione. She, herself was a mountain nymph and is frequently associated with the earth. Maia also means “midwife” in Greek. Quite fitting, as May gives us Mother’s Day. It is a nurturing month but also a flirty one, it loosens the reins. Abundant with birds and bees it is impossible not to follow their example. Flowers are in bloom, the air is fragrant, and we are awash in joy. Effervescent and graceful, May brings us a lightness of being.
Birth Customs of May
May Flower
In the shaded forest dale
Lily draws the nightingale
And leads him on a merry chase
To find his lover’s warm embrace.
May Zodiac
Taurus has an eye for glamour
As May’s heart she does enamor
Then Gemini will rise and shine
As the twins do intertwine
May Stone
Who first beholds the light of day
In the flowery month of May
And wears an Emerald all her life
Shall be a loved and a loving wife.
Magic of May
Correspondences
Herbs: Rose, Thyme, Hawthorn
Totems: Cat, Lynx, Leopard
Stones: Malachite, Amber
Birthstone: Emerald
Birth Flower: Lily of the Valley
Celtic Trees: Oak & Holly
Nature Spirits: Fairy godmother
Spellwork
Balance
Create
Connect
Love
Conceive
Aromatherapy
Fresh Meadow
3 drops Chamomile
2 drops Vetiver
2 drops Lemongrass
Meditation
Some things have to be believed to be seen.
Madeleine L’Engle
Science of May
Astronomy
Name: May
Length: 31 Days
New Moon: May 4th
Full Moon: May 18th
Zodiac: Taurus & Gemini
Full Moon
Colonial American: Milk Moon
Celtic: Bright Moon
Chinese: Dragon Moon
Ojibwa: Budding Moon
Old English: Grass Moon
Poetry for May
The Lusty Month of May
Tra la! It’s May!
The lusty month of May!
That lovely month when ev’ryone goes
Blissfully astray.
Tra la! It’s here!
That shocking time of year
When tons of wicked little thoughts
Merrily appear!
It’s May! It’s May!
That gorgeous holiday
When ev’ry maiden prays that her lad
Will be a cad!
It’s mad! It’s gay!
A libelous display!
Those dreary vows that ev’ryone takes,
Ev’ryone breaks.
Ev’ryone makes divine mistakes
The lusty month of May!
Whence this fragrance wafting through the air?
What sweet feelings does its scent transmute?
Whence this perfume floating ev’rywhere?
Don’t you know it’s that dear forbidden fruit!
That dear forbidden fruit!
Tra la! It’s May!
The lusty month of May!
That darling month when ev’ryone throws
Self-control away.
It’s time to do
A wretched thing or two,
And try to make each precious day
One you’ll always rue!
It’s May! It’s May!
The month of “yes you may,”
The time for ev’ry frivolous whim,
Proper or “im.”
It’s wild! It’s gay!
A blot in ev’ry way.
The birds and bees with all of their vast
Amorous past
Gaze at the human race aghast,
The lusty month of May.
Tra la! It’s May!
The lusty month of May!
That lovely month when ev’ryone goes
Blissfully astray.
Tra la! It’s here!
That shocking time of year
When tons of wicked little thoughts
Merrily appear.
It’s May! It’s May!
The month of great dismay.
When all the world is brimming with fun,
Wholesome or “un.”
The Young May Moon
The young May moon is beaming, love,
The glow-worm’s lamp is gleaming, love;
How sweet to rove
Through Morna’s grove,
When the drowsy world is dreaming, love!
Then awake! — the heavens look bright, my dear,
‘Tis never too late for delight, my dear;
And the best of all ways
To lengthen our days
Is to steal a few hours from the night, my dear!
Now all the world is sleeping, love,
But the Sage, his star-watch keeping, love,
And I, whose star
More glorious far
Is the eye from that casement peeping, love.
Then awake! — till rise of sun, my dear,
The Sage’s glass we’ll shun, my dear,
Or in watching the flight
Of bodies of light
He might happen to take thee for one, my dear!
Song to May
May, queen of blossoms,
And fulfilling flowers,
With what pretty music
Shall we charm the hours?
Wilt thou have pipe and reed,
Blown in the open mead?
Or to the lute give heed
In the green bowers?
Thou hast no need of us,
Or pipe or wire;
Thou hast the golden bee
Ripened with fire;
And many thousand more
Songsters, that thee adore
Filling earth’s grassy floor
With new desire.
Thou hast thy mighty herds,
Tame, and free-livers;
Doubt not, thy music too
In the deep rivers;
And the whole plumy flight,
Warbling the day and night—
Up at the gates of light,
See, the lark quivers!
Calendar of May
