May is the fifth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. It is also a month within the northern season of spring.
May begins with the sun in the sign of Taurus and ends in the sign of Gemini. Astronomically speaking, the sun begins in the constellation of Aries and ends in the constellation of Taurus.
The month may have been named for the Greek goddessMaia, who was identified with the Roman eragoddess of fertility, Bona Dea, whose festival was held in May. Although some historians claim that May was named after the Latin word majores which means older men since they say that May is dedicated to old men. [1]
In Japan, there is a so-called 'May sickness', where new students or workers start to be tired of their new schoolwork or jobs. (In Japan schoolyears and fiscal years start on April 1st.)
In any calendar year, no other month starts on the same day of the week as May. (See:-Months in various calendars)
In Germany it is an old custom to plant a "tree of May" to honor someone. Often young men set up an adorned birch in front of their girlfriend's house in the night before May 1.
Under the French Ancien Régime, it was of habit to "plant a May" or a "tree of May" in the honor of somebody. The County of Nice saw girls and boys "turn the May" with the sound of fife and drum, i.e. to dance rounds of May around the tree of May planted on the place of the village.
On the full moon of May, Vesak is celebrated in many southeast Asian countries; it commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and death of Siddhartha Gautama.
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