By Jane Ellen Nickell, TAF Membership Chair
MAY DAY IS NOT WIDELY CELEBRATED IN THE U.S., but its various meanings speak to this moment in time. Originally a Pagan agricultural celebration marking the beginning of summer, May 1 was also designated as International Workers’ Day in the late nineteenth century.
Pagan rituals are rooted in nature. In fact, the word “pagan” comes from the Latin paganus, meaning “rustic” or “country dweller.” Christian conversion and persecution drove Paganism deeply underground, but it has emerged in the last few decades in new and creative forms, especially among people seeking a spiritual practice that resonates with the natural world.
May Day was observed by Celts and other ancient Pagans as part of the Wheel of the Year, which includes the solstices, equinoxes, and the cross-quarter days, which are the points midway between. Marking the midpoint between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, May Day is called Beltane by Celts and Walpurgis Night in Germanic regions. Celebrations include “bringing in the May” by gathering wildflowers and spring greenery and dancing around bonfires or a Maypole.
Today these customs are celebrated in Europe more than in the U.S., where we’ve shed many aspects of agricultural life. The Old Farmer’s Almanac reports that some farmers still adhere to May Day as the time to move bees and to plant turnips and cucumbers, but for most of us the day has little significance.
Many colleges celebrated May Day into the 1950s, including West Virginia Wesleyan College, where my mother reigned as May Queen in 1951, despite having a case of the three-day measles! Many years later she enjoyed another May Day custom, when a fellow teacher showed up at her door every year with a May basket. Traditionally, people would gather flowers, candy, and other goodies to fill a May basket, then leave it on the doorknob of a friend.
IN MANY COUNTRIES, INTERNATIONAL WORKERS’ DAY IS ALSO CELEBRATED ON MAY 1 or the first Monday in May, but it has no relation to May Day festivals. In the early days of the labor movement, workers around the world demonstrated for eight-hour workdays, labor unions, and safe working conditions. The movement chose May 1 as the day to celebrate workers to commemorate the anniversary of the Haymarket affair in 1886 in Chicago, where several people died after police sought to disperse workers striking for eight-hour workdays. Because of its close association with socialism, the May Workers’ Day is observed more in Communist countries, whereas the U.S. and Canada observe Labor Day in September.
Dating to the early days of air travel in the 1920s, the distress call “Mayday” has yet another origin story. Charged with finding a word that could convey an emergency situation, Frederick Stanley Mockford, officer-in-charge of radio at Croydon Airport, England, thought of the French phrase “M’aidez”—“Help me”—which sounds like “Mayday” in English. After testing it during cross-Channel flights between England and France, the International Radiotelegraph Convention of Washington, D.C. adopted the voice call “Mayday” in 1927 as the radiotelephone distress call, in addition to SOS.
THE THREE MEANINGS WE ASSIGN TO MAY DAY ARE UNRELATED, but all seem relevant to this current moment. We are distressed by news about the latest government action to defund important government offices or organizations that do not conform to the Trump agenda. Genuine fear for our country, the global order, and the planet we all call home makes us want to cry “Mayday! Mayday!”
The Trump administration disregards nature’s inherent worth and sees it only as a resource for increasing human wealth. As promised, the president pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement on his first day in office, followed quickly by declaring a “national energy emergency” to justify accelerating gas and oil expansion and overturning Biden policies supporting renewable energy.
More recently the administration has sought to revoke Inflation Reduction Act funding for green energy and increase coal production. They have redefined the Endangered Species Act to allow development and drilling in sensitive habitats, and slashed funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the most reliable source for climate data for monitoring by states and other entities.
We are on the precipice of irrevocable climate disaster, and the policies of this administration are only making things worse. Our cries of “Mayday! Mayday!” may fall on deaf ears in the halls of government, but in towns and cities across the country, people are turning out by the millions to protest and commit to action at the grassroots level.
Third Act and other organizations are promoting renewable energy as the cleanest, most affordable energy sources available. The recent Earth Day celebration, with the theme “Our Power, Our Planet,” called for the world to triple renewable energy by 2030. Designed as an Earth Day counterpart near the autumnal equinox, Sun Day (September 20-21) will be an all-out effort to promote solar energy.
ON THIS MAY DAY, THE CONNECTION TO NATURE IS CLEAR. As did their ancient ancestors, modern Pagans know that celebrating natural cycles and seasons helps us identify more closely with the natural world and appreciate its many life-sustaining gifts. As far back as John Muir, who started the Sierra Club, environmental action is often motivated by love of nature. With that in mind, you might celebrate May Day by sharing a gift of flowers with someone, adding some native plants to your own yard or garden, or just spending some time outdoors.
International Workers’ Day is also relevant, because front-line workers are the most impacted by climate change and many recent federal policies. Many working-class people have felt left behind by cultural elites that don’t speak for them and economic structures that put basics like home ownership out of reach. They supported Donald Trump because he gave voice to their concerns, but the policies of his government are hurting many of the very people who elected him.
Safety and environmental regulations are deemed burdensome to business, but deregulation puts workers at risk, including many migrant workers who may also fear deportation. Government workers are losing jobs for no clear reason, and a proposed overhaul of the Civil Service would strip 50,000 federal employees of job security.
As part of ongoing demonstrations against the current administration, a May Day “Day of Action” is planned this year, with events across the country designed to defend working families. Perhaps you are taking part in one yourself. To read more about it, visit the May Day 2025 website.
On this May Day, you may feel tempted to throw up your hands and cry “Mayday! Mayday!,” but we hope you will celebrate the other meanings of the day by taking action to defend the natural world or vulnerable workers who are most at risk.
About Jane Ellen Nickell
Rev. Dr. Jane Ellen Nickell lives in Meadville, Pennsylvania, where she retired after serving as Chaplain at Allegheny College for 16 years. In that role she worked with students of all faiths, or of none, and taught Religious Studies, including a course on Religion and Ecology. She is the author of We Shall Not Be Moved: Methodists Debate Race, Gender, and Homosexuality. In retirement she serves as part-time Minister of Care and Outreach at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Meadville and blogs at A Nickell for Your Thoughts.