🐇 🐇 🐇 for the first of May — not only beginning a new month, but also (among other things) celebrating the rebirth of life, and embracing the raw carnality of the season. This is the immediate follow-up to yesterday’s Walpurgis Eve, as described in my posting “Lord, preserve us from the witches”.
From my 5/1/20 posting “Trois lapins pour le premier mai”, about the 1st of May:
by some cultural reckonings the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere and also (in some countries) International Workers Day, so: dance around the maypole, set bonfires for Beltane or Walpurgis, prepare for outdoor bo(i)nking (rabbits again!), break out the lilies of the valley (muguets pour le premier mai), cue the choruses of L’Internationale, and march in solidarity with the workers. (Feel free to choose from this menu, as your taste inclines and your schedule allows.)
The posting muses on, among other things, rabbits, Botticelli’s Three Graces from Primavera, and reworkings of the threesome theme.
The carnality thing. The mythic embodiment of female sexual desire is the goddess Venus — “a Roman goddess, whose functions encompass love, beauty, desire, sex, fertility, prosperity, and victory” (Wikipedia link) — as represented for May Day in the Venus figure of Botticcelli’s Primavera:
(#1) Wikipedia on the Botticelli: “In the centre .. and somewhat set back from the other figures, stands Venus, a red-draped woman in blue. … The trees behind her form a broken arch to draw the eye. In the air above her, a blindfolded Cupid aims his bow to the left”
The mythic embodiment of male sexual desire is the god Priapus — “In Greek mythology, Priapus … is a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his oversized, permanent erection” (Wikipedia link) — as represented for May Day in the phallic emblem of the maypole:
(#2) Rabbits — a carnal May Day bonus here — around the maypole on a pink cake
Three May Day highlights on this blog. Before the 5/1/20 posting already quoted above.
— from 2/28/18, “POP on the half shell”, in its bonus section on Botticelli’s (La) Primavera, including the group of the Three Graces
— from 5/1/18, “Song for the day: rabbit rabbit rabbit”, with that pink cake in #2
— from 5/1/19, “The May flower”, on Convallaria majalis, the lily of the valley, its association with May 1st, and its use as a token of affection for family and loved ones on that day
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