May Day celebrations in Glastonbury - in pictures

May Day is celebrated around the World by pagans and druids and is traditionally called Beltaine. This festival has long been marked by feasts and rituals. May poles, supremely phallic symbols, were the focal point of old English villages ritual. Many people stayed awake to watch the sun rise and then go out and gather green branches and foliage to use for decoration for the May pole and themselves.

In Glastonbury their tradtional May day right is to parade the May pole all the way up the high street and along the main road to the white spring, being led by the newly appointed May king and Queen.

The procession takes a break for 10 minutes where a magical gate that leads through a high wall is opened and people are allowed to walk freely into the chalice well. The energy of the two springs that's considered locally to be male and female are infused together at this point by the mass mingling of people, this forms a powerful energetic hamony between the two.

The ten minute rest is over, the huge procession leads its way up the hill and makes its way slowly along to bushey coombe where the pole is erected by the green men its then dressed by the multicoloured ribbons, the King and Queen are crowned, much merriment is enjoyed by the colourful crowd, and a huge feast is enjoyed by all.

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Wishing all a very happy abundant Beltaine