In thinking of May Day, what arises in my mind appears at first to be a medley of disconnected images: sweet baskets of posies, men with ribbons and bells stomping and jingling through town, workers around the world celebrating their strength and their labor history, and maypoles.
The disconnect, however, is due only to gaps in our history books, for May Day is International Labor Day. The two holidays share the same story.
The story began with European pagan traditions that celebrated the fertility of the Earth, animals, and people. Later, when land was no longer communally owned and lords ruled the lands and its people, May Day continued to be very important both as a pagan holiday and as an important business day for peasants as the day for the annual allotment of seeds, tools, and renewals of land-use contracts between peasants and landlords.
This special day to celebrate fertility, the Earth, and the security of another year of security granted from the landlords was eventually transferred to the post-industrial era. Factory workers who were often only a generation from their pastoral culture fought with their lives for the right to organize, to demand dignity, political representation, and a decent standard of living, on May Day! Labor organizers chose May Day to organize labor demonstrations. It was, after all, their day, the day when their ancestors found inspiration and power, from the Earth and her life force rising once again.