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Mircea Eliade - The Maypole and the Sweep
Identifier
001796
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
It is the brush of the sweep and their connection with coal that gives thm their special status, kundalini experience symbolised,
I have loosely classified these as Celtic, although not all are
A description of the experience
Patterns in Comparative Religion – Mircea Eliade
The coming of the May is often celebrated not only by a tree or Maypole but also by images in human form, ornamented with leaves and flowers, or even by an actual person embodying the power of vegetation or some mythical expression of it. Thus in Northern Bavaria a tree called Walber is carried in procession to the centre of the village, and with it a young man, covered in straw, also called the 'Walber'.
The tree is stood in front of a tavern and the whole village dance round it; the young man called the Walber stands simply for the human counterpart of the powers of vegetation. The same sort of thing takes place among the Slavs of Carinthia who, on St George's day, decorate a tree and cover a young man, who is known as 'Green George', in green branches.
After the songs and dances essential to every spring festival, an effigy of 'Green George', or even the young man himself, is thrown into the water. In Russia the tree has gone, and the 'Green George' is only the young man dressed in green.
In England on May Day, 'Jack-in-the -Green', a chimney sweep covered with leaves and ivy, used to dance at the head of a whole group of sweeps. And when the dance was done, the sweeps made a collection among the audience