Early Spring? Try poetry and song and ...

Santa’s elves left me several books this Christmas past, including a copy of The  Pagan Book of Days, wherein I read this morning that:

Imbolc (oimelc) and Candlemas, celebrated on 1 and 2 February, mark the end of winter and the beginning of spring and celebrate the waxing light when, although cold, the days are lengthening.

lengthening days  brighten lives

Photo by J. Harrington

Between the time I read the above, and the time this is being written, I ran the snowblower to clear several inches of snow from the drive and the path to the dog run. If I waited until all the snow showers stopped, the forecast wind would have made snow blowing somewhere between very unpleasant and impossible. As it was, between my parka hood and the blowback of light, fluffy snow, I could barely see what I was doing. I’ll grab at every straw that I can that promises spring. The physical weather conditions are beyond my control, but the psychological climate isn’t, at least not entirely.

The druidry.org web site notes that

Although we would think of Imbolc as being in the midst of Winter, it represents in fact the first of a trio of Spring celebrations, since it is the time of the first appearance of the snowdrop, and of the melting of the snows and the clearing of the debris of Winter. It is a time when we sense the first glimmer of Spring, and when the lambs are born. In the Druid tradition it is a gentle, beautiful festival in which the Mother Goddess is honoured with eight candles rising out of the water at the centre of the ceremonial circle.

The Goddess that ruled Samhuinn was the Cailleach, the Grey Hag, the Mountain Mother, the Dark Woman of Knowledge. But by Imbolc the Goddess has become Brighid, the Goddess of poets, healers and midwives.

And so we often use Imbolc as a time for an Eisteddfod dedicated to poetry and song praising the Goddess in her many forms. The Christian development of this festival is Candlemas – the time of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple. For years successive Popes had tried to stop parades of lit candles in the streets of Rome at this time, until seeing that it was impossible to put a stop to this pagan custom, they suggested that everyone enter the churches so that the priests could bless the candles.

If it stops snowing long enough, I’ll have a good start on decluttering the indoors mess of several winters, which will fit nicely with an Imbolc celebration. Maybe, by month’s end, I’ll have reduced random piles of books and magazines to aome semblance of order. Then, February 1 brings Lunar New Year, followed by Groundhog Day on the 2nd. There’s much to celebrate in just a few weeks. In fact, if we look hard enough, we may even find something to celebrate every day between now and the start of spring.

The light of a candle

Yosa Buson

The light of a candle
               is transferred to another candle—
               spring twilight.

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