Today, I ventured out to a May Day celebration, where a local group took time to perform a traditional maypole dance.
The weather was perfect for a May dance. Folk music echoed across the valley we were standing in. We watched the youngsters twist and dance through the cords tied to the head of the maypole. As the dance progressed, the coloured cords formed patterns around shaft. Beautiful, interweaving patterns, becoming a pictorial representation of the movements of the dance.
A road ran past the green. Every car which drove past slowed down to watch, what is now, a rare sight in England. A local resident, upon hearing the music, even came down to watch the festive dance.
Once the first dance was completed, it was reversed to free the cords. Where the dancer had previously twisted, they untwisted. Where they had passed their fellow dancer on the left, the did so on the right. The pattern slowly become undone.
I can’t help but think the maypole is a metaphor for community. Being in a community is like a dance. If someone missteps, passes another in the wrong way or even forgets to dance, the pattern is broken. But when everyone knows their roles and acts within them, beauty is created.
I love May Day with its maypole. It’s a moment of English Cultural Heritage in a hectic Modern world. But it also shows how community works. Everyone working together to make something beautiful.
Alexander writes three newsletters. The Tales of Old England Christendom is where he writes about Anglo-Saxon Christianity. The second newsletter is called the Tower of Adam and here he writes about theology. The final one is called Agloria, where he discusses the intersection between culture and theology. You can find out more by clinking the links.
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