The first of May is the hinge between spring and summer in the European folk calendar, and has been for as long as there are records of folk practice in the British Isles and across Northern and Western Europe. Beltane in the Gaelic tradition, Walpurgis Night in the Germanic, the feast of the flowering world in multiple forms: the first of May is when the boundary between the human world and the otherworld was considered to be at its most permeable, and the plants at the threshold of full bloom were the most charged with whatever the season had to offer.
Hawthorn: The May Tree
Hawthorn in bloom is so synonymous with May that the flowering hawthorn is simply called “May” in the British folk tradition. The white-flowered hedgerow tree that covers itself in blossom at this time was the center of Beltane decoration: May garlands, Maypoles (originally hawthorn poles), and the bringing of May blossom into the home (though this was also, paradoxically, considered unlucky in some regions, because the tree was associated with the fairy world and its threshold power). The hawthorn’s folk significance as a cardiac and heart-protective herb is interwoven with its status as the tree of the heart-season.
Elder: The Watching Tree
The elder also comes into leaf in May and was considered a watching, protective, and potentially dangerous tree at this time. In the Germanic tradition, Walpurgis Night (April 30 into May 1) was associated with elder and with protective preparations made at this threshold time. Elder branches over doorways and elder leaves in shoes were protective talismans in various folk traditions.
Rowan: Protection at the Threshold
Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) is the protection tree of the Celtic traditions, associated with warding off the fairy folk and with the protection of livestock and homes at the liminal times of Beltane and Samhain. Rowan crosses tied with red thread over doors and byres, rowan branches worn or carried: this is the folk magic of a plant deeply entwined with the transition season.
Making Something of It
The simplest connection to this tradition: harvest hawthorn flowers on May 1 if they are open (their timing varies), make them into a tea or infused honey, take a moment of actual attention with the plant that has been at the center of this season’s ceremonial life for a very long time. The Herbalist Codex app has full profiles on all these threshold plants and the folk traditions attached to them.