Have you ever heard that May is an unlucky month to get married? We talked about May Day earlier today and we’ve still got Cinco de Mayo and Mother’s Day coming this month. May is both a spring and a summer month depending on where you are located. June may be the most popular month for marriage (the month being named for Juno, Roman goddess of marriage and wife to Jupiter), but I know many people who wed in May. In fact, one lovely couple that happens to be very good friends of mine are celebrating seventeen years of marriage this month – Happy Anniversary Melanie and Andy!
Happy Anniversary Melanie and Andy!
Still, there seems to be some history behind the idea that May is not a good month to get married. According to one source, May was a month for religious ceremony and purification that honored the dead. Honoring the dead and getting married does not seem to go hand in hand.
Queen Victoria, the matriarch of the British Empire, didn’t believe May was a good month for marriage either. According to the Mythic Imagination Institute, Queen Victoria forbade her children from marrying during the month of May because the time was to be reserved for weddings of Gods. The Irish have a saying:
Marry in May and rue the day
The Chinese on the other hand, love to celebrate May Day and the month of May with marriage. May is a tremendously fun month, but it’s so busy around here I can’t imagine planning a wedding for this month, but it has nothing to do with old superstitions about the month. So whether you subscribe to Queen Victoria, Chinese belief or even who the month of May is named for (Maia – the grandmother goddess of fertility and death) – May is still a beautiful month where you can celebrate life, the resurgence of growth and fertility in the fields and the gardens – why not celebrate an anniversary and more.
Were you married in the month of May?
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