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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 15418
[Culture]
Date Posted:
5/4/2006
1:17:04 pm EDT
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Comments: 5
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The Origins Of The May Day Festival
Author: Max Sparber Source: Pulse of the Twin Cities (MN)
Title: THE ORIGINS OF THE MAY DAY FESTIVAL
There is a puzzling little horror film that came out of England in 1973 called “The Wicker Man.” The film occasionally pops up on lists of the best horror films ever made, and has attracted a solid cult following, but viewers who turn to it looking for a typical story of monsters and mayhem are generally bewildered. For one thing, but for an extended, anguished climax, the film isn’t particularly frightening. It tells of an irritable and earnestly Christian Scottish police detective, played by Edward Woodward (best knows as television’s “The Equalizer”), who is summoned to investigate the disappearance of a small child on a remote Scottish island. He arrives just as the islanders are preparing for their annual May Day festivities, and he quickly comes to realize that the islanders have reverted back to paganism, directly inspired by Sir James George Frazer’s 1922 history of magic and religion “The Golden Bough.” The island’s teenage girls leap naked through bonfires, the grade schools teach earnest lessons on the phallic symbolism of the May Pole, and the film ends with a disquieting human sacrifice.
Perhaps one of the reasons “The Wicker Man” has developed such a following in Great Britain is because anyone who has attended the traditional British May Day festival—or any number of similar agrarian festivals—knows the creeping feeling that the entirety of the United Kingdom is still one step removed from paganism, and might revert back at any time. (Some have, by the way; a 2001 census of England and Wales had 30 thousand respondents identify themselves as “pagans,” while another 7,000 identified as “Wiccan;” 508 respondents further clarified their beliefs by identifying as “Celtic Pagan.”)
Submitted by and Thanks to: Christina
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Community Thoughts: There are 5 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Ah, Beltane. | May 4th. at 7:55:18 pm EDT
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me
I have both the long and the short versions of the "Wicker Man" and both are rather unusual, although the short version was slightly disappointing in what had been removed. While I must admit that seeing Brit Ekland singing and dancing in the nude is quite funny to me at least, the movie was remarkable in its concept as a one of a kind creation as it didn't follow the horror film genre, even though there was a sacrifice at the end of it. The movie was fairly well researched, It also sparked in me something of a longing to live on SummerIsle and be part of things. School certainly would have been interesting there! And I loved the fact that the teacher in the movie mentioned that she taught christianity only as a comparative subject.
Kind of wish they did that here. The movie remains one of my especial favorites.
I rather think that the remake is going to be and even bigger disappointment.
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| Call Of The Wild | May 4th. at 4:11:06 pm EDT
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R. Cicero (Seattle, Washington) - Email Me
Thank you for this nifty little article--it lays down some facts and ends abruptly without any unwarranted fear-mongering or distortion. It's politely interesting, evocative, and stirs the imagination, among other things. Spring has definitely sprung.
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