May Day, the workers’ day
By Nadia Fazlulhaq
Labourers, workers are people who work hard for a salary. They may be people who work in factories, companies, government institutions and even streets.

Most of these workers have few holidays. After years of protests and strikes by labourers May 1 was declared the International Workers Day and it is a public holiday in many countries. Some call it the Day of Labourers, Day of Workers or May Day. They walk in parades celebrating this holiday, not forgetting the protests for their rights.

May Day, which originated in Europe, has a different kind of story. The traditions and origins of the Euro May Day is a fascinating tale. This was the holiday to celebrate the first spring planting. Ancient Europeans celebrated this holiday on the eve of May, April 30. It was an evening of games, feasting and celebrating the end of winter and the return of the sun and fertility of the soil. Torch bearing peasants led by the Goddess of Hunting, Diana (sometimes played wearing a woman's clothing) and the horned God Herne, would travel up the hill shouting, chanting and singing, while blowing hunting horns.

As European peasants moved away from hunting and gathering societies, their gods and goddesses changed to reflect a more agrarian society. Thus Diana and Herne came to be seen by medieval villagers as fertility deities of the crops and fields. Diana became the Queen of May and Herne became Robin Goodfellow (a predecessor of Robin Hood) or the Green Man. The Queen of May reflected the life of the fields and Robin reflected the hunting tradition of the woods. The rituals of May Day were part and parcel of the celebrations.

May Day was a time for fun, where they would elect a Queen of the May from among the young women of the village, to rule the crops until harvest. Besides the selection of the May Queen, was the raising of the maypole, around which the young single men and the women of the village would dance holding on to the ribbons until they became entwined, with their hope of new love. Robin Goodfellow, or the Green Man who was the Lord of Misrule would act like the King/Priest/Fool for a day, making jokes and poke fun at the local authorities.

Mayday and the Maypole were outlawed in the 1600's but trade societies still celebrated May Day until the 18th Century. The history of the workers' May Day as we know it today, began with the great strike for implementing the eight-hour workday where the police attacked workers and the Haymarket Riot, which happened in United States of America in the year 1886. Not only in America, but in many other countries too, people fought hard to make this a government recognized holiday.

According to history, Communist countries like the Soviet Union held large military parades and rallies of common people in support of the government.
May Day, which had been banned for being a holiday of the common people, had been reclaimed once again for the common people.


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