The month of May is associated with love, but also with a new beginning and the birth of a new life. May's freshly green nature evokes youth, freshness, and energy. Trees, which have their special position among plants, symbolized the myth of the struggle of spring with winter, or life with death. It has been a Slovak custom since the Middle Ages that boy who liked a girl put up a tree in front of the chosen one's house decorated with colorful ribbons and paper bows – a maypole. But it wasn't always just about love and showing affection, people also put up the maypoles in front of their houses as protection against evil spirits and diseases. May greenery should have brought a good harvest to the farmers. However, putting up the maypoles is not only a Slovak custom, it was spread throughout Central Europe around the 15th century.
Maypole is a several meters high tree, usually, it is a fir, spruce, or birch. Its trunk is cleaned of bark and branches, which are left only at the top of the tree. It is decorated with various ribbons and bows. On the eve of the 1st of May, a young man who liked some unmarried girl secretly placed the maypole in front of her house. Sometimes, when there were more young men interested in one girl, the suitors destroyed each other's maypoles. So, a maypole meant serious interest, while the tree had to be really nice, symmetrical, and nicely decorated. If the maypole is also decorated with a wreath with long ribbons, it should mean that the girl will marry the suitor soon. Maypole with a wreath is therefore a symbol of a love promise. This tradition was accompanied by singing and dancing, which celebrated not only the birth of new love but also the definitive victory of spring over winter.
