Jack in the Green

Although the day started a little gray, it brightened up for the ceremony this afternoon. This is the end of the procession through Bristol. The air had wafts of blossom from hawthorn and cut grass and you could feel some of the heat of summer to come.

This was a zoomed picture down the common - the first sighting of Jack. He's just to the left of the tree:




Pulling back the view as Jack makes his way to the top of the common:



Jack comes to a stop and the dancers gather round him in a circle:



The man with the green beard holds the spear that will be used to 'kill' Jack and release the summer into the air:




The climax of the Jack in the Green ceremony - the dance comes to an end and Jack must be killed to allow his spirit to become free:






After Jack has been killed the crowd moves in to strip Jack bare and release the summer into the sky:



The author gets a 'greening' from one of the dancers.

May Day 2009

I only got two hours sleep last night - I was giving a magic workshop last night and then had some other things to do once I got back. The upshot was that I didn't get to bed until 1:40 am. So, two hour's sleep and then up to see the dancers dancing up the sunrise on Brandon Hill in Bristol.

They started about 4:40 am and carried on until gone 6:30 am. You can see that the first pictures were taken using flash as it was quite dark, while the last were taken in daylight, the Sun being well up.

Have a close look at the first few photos - if you look very closely you can see fairies hovering over the dancers. Fairies love the sound of music being played on these special days. They are most certainly NOT photographic artifacts. . . (click on the picture to get a larger image)













Then came dawn. . .



And I didn't have to use the flash on the camera.



This is just such a great action shot and is so vibrant with energy:










And now the day is well and truly on it's way. . .

Tomorrow we'll be going to see the ending of the Jack in the Green procession on Horefield Common. Jack in the Green occurs on the first Saturday in May and is another summer celebration. But the actual start of summer, the festival of Beltane, will not occur properly until the 5th of May this year, when the sun is in the exactly correct astronomical position in the sky - and a third excuse for a party to celebrate the start of summer.