Maia

On the right, this is a picture of Flora, the goddess of flowers, rather than Maia, the goddess of Growth, but they were similar goddesses.

In the Middle Ages, people went out Maying on the first of May. They would go to the fields and woods, collecting flowers and enjoying the sunshine. This might have been in honour of Maia, the goddess of May, or Flora, the goddess of flowers. Today, we still have the first Monday in May as a holiday. Sometimes people dance round a maypole.