When the snow melts, the flowers start to bloom and the sun begins to shine longer each day, we know that spring is here. Students celebrate this change by spending more time outside, playing games on the quad or tanning. Some professors even hold class outside, to soak in the warm weather for as long as we have it.
However, there’s a more ancient tradition to celebrate the return of spring. This Friday marks “May Day,” the common name for the pagan holiday Beltane, which occurs on the first of May each year. One of the eight “Sabbats,” or pagan festivals, Beltane is commonly associated with fertility, according to the Boston Public Library.
Beltane is a Celtic word that means “the fires of Bel,” according to the BPL. Bel likely refers to the Celtic sun god Belanus. The Celts would light two bonfires to purify themselves and increase their fertility. They would also perform rituals to purify their cattle. Though these specific rituals are no longer practiced, modern pagans still light bonfires and perform fertility rituals to celebrate Beltane, according to the library.
Dancing around maypoles to create patterns out of ribbons is a festivity that started in Europe and that is occasionally still practiced today. It is one ritual meant for fertility, and floral wreaths are worn during it to celebrate spring. Lastly, the BPL stated, May Day baskets are created and given to the elderly or to someone in need of support.
In a 2012 blog, Marci Matson, the director of the Edina Historical Society, wrote, “The more raucous elements were toned down after the continent became Christianized, but the May pole dance and May baskets survived in a more G-rated form.”
Author Sharon Wray wrote that the early Catholic Church adopted the Celtic and European traditions and declared May the month to celebrate Mary, the mother of Jesus. Church and secular traditions merged, and in coming to the United States and especially New England, they became “less religious and more about the joy of Spring.”
May Day baskets are a part of the tradition that carried on in the United States. May baskets are not a popular custom anymore, but when May Day was widely celebrated, the baskets’ purposes differed. People would often put flowers, candies and other goods into a basket which would be hung on the doors of family and friends on May 1, according to NPR. After placing the basket on the door, the basket giver would run away.
For some, the tradition had romantic ties. Putting a basket on someone’s door meant you were expressing romantic interest in them; if the recipient noticed you, they could try to steal a kiss.
This practice was most common in the 19th and 20th centuries, with the main purpose being flirtation: “If a boy hangs a May basket on a girl’s door and the girl catches him, ‘it’s a great disgrace.’ If a girl is the hanger, ‘it disgraces the boy again not to catch her,’” according to NPR. The quote originally comes from an Illinois reporter describing May Day baskets in 1871.
Louisa May Alcott also wrote about May Day baskets in her book, “Jack and Jill.” Alcott gave a child’s perspective, showing little children filling the baskets with flowers for the seasonal tradition: “The job now in hand was May baskets, for it was the custom of the children to hang them on the doors of their friends the night before May-day.”
The tradition had seemingly ceased by the spring of 1963, according to NPR. It is unclear exactly why, or when, the festivities stopped. However, on April 23, 2026, the Old Farmer’s Almanac reported that “the May Day basket is still a cherished tradition for some Americans, although it’s not well known today.”
The University of St. Thomas’ office for Off-Campus Student Life will be continuing the tradition with a May Day Baskets event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 1 in Anderson Student Center.
Bridget Schmid can be reached at schm1520@stthomas.edu.
