Imbolc, St Brigid, Lupercalia, Candlemas, Groundhog’s Day

It’s February 2 and word is that the groundhog saw his shadow this morning and there will be six more weeks of winter.

If you needed to read that first sentence again and still have some questions about this sophisticated weather forecasting just know that it’s much like that old game of ‘telephone’. The message gets more and more scrambled the further you are from the start!

Imbolc

Imbolc is a traditional Gaelic festival that has its roots in pagan times when the day was dedicated to the goddess Brigid. It’s celebrated halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, which is February 1 in modern times.

The origins of the name is disputed, but all of the frontrunners that claim to be the answer have to do with budding, lambs, milk, fertility, and cleansing. The early ritual documentation is sparse, but a ritual cleansing of the hands, feet, and head were noted, as was the ever-popular specialty foods and rejoicing in the anticipation of light and spring.

There is weather folklore associated with Imbolc: Cailleach (the divine hag associated with storms and weather) is said to gather her wood on Imbolc, enough to last until spring. If the weather is bright and sunny then she will be able to gather more wood for a lengthier winter. And; I dare say, would also see her shadow.

There is a Scottish Gaelic poem about a serpent coming out of its hole on this day:

The serpent will come from the hole

On the brown Day of Bríde,

Though there should be three feet of snow

On the flat surface of the ground

Brigid Becomes a Saint

As with many Christianized feast days, holidays, and festivals; Imbolc’s honoring the goddess Brigid was morphed into a day, (usually February 1) honoring Saint Brigid. The holy woman is purported to have lived in Ireland in the 6th century and founded the religious home monastery in Kildare, Ireland.

Both the goddess and the saint (aka a ‘patron saint’) are associated with healing, protection, animals, wisdom… and blacksmithing (which appears to be a more modern rather than pagan association).

Brigid represents the lighted half of the year as opposed to the darker fall and winter, so again the days is devoted to spring and light.

Are you still with me?

Lupercalia and Candelmas

Lupercalia was a festival celebrated by the Romans in mid-February, accompanied by ritual cleansing, purification, and promotion of health. The name is older than the Romans and likely goes back to Ancient Greece and their wolf-festival called the Arcadian Lykaia and the worship of the half-goat god Pan, whom the Romans called Lupercus.

During Lupercalia the young men would run naked through the streets in a tradition known as The Februa, flogging people that gathered to watch them with a flayed-skin thong known as februa. Tradition at the time was that pregnant women hit with the thong would have an easy birth, and those wanting a child would conceive.

Candelmas is celebrated 40 days after Christmas: February 2. The Catholic church recognizes this as a remembrance of the mandatory purification that Jesus’ mother Mary would have had on that 40th day after giving birth, the lamb that would have been sacrificed as part of that ritual, and it would also be the day her child was presented at the temple.

The purification would be a prescribed cleansing, and the fact of a child is evidence of fertility.

So where do the candles of Candelmas come in?

On Candelmas some in the Christian faiths of Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, and Methodists, would take candles to church to be blessed and used to light the still-dark evenings until spring. A longer than usual candle would be needed for a longer than usual winter; getting only longer candles blessed would signify the need for light due to many more weeks of dark winter. The candles also represented the Light of the World, Jesus the Christ.

We’re almost there!

From Candelmas to Groundhog’s Day

Candelmas is still celebrated around the world, almost always with delicious food and light, fire, and yes; candles. There’s also often an element of weather folklore and a look towards spring, too.

In France candles are lit throughout the day and a clear sky on Candlemas means a good year for beekeepers.

In Peru the patron saint of the city of Puno is the Virgin of the Candles. The huge festival is one of the three largest in South America; up there with the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro and includes food an dancing!

In Germany the ‘farmer’s year’ starts on Candelmas and planning for the upcoming planting begins. There was an old proverb that stated if you could ‘eat by daylight on Candlemas’ there would be no more need for the candles in the evening. In other words, spring is coming quickly.

In fact, it’s through Germany that the use of an animal foretold the end of winter… or not.

Animal’s and Their Shadows!

German tradition was that if the sun appeared on Candelmas and a hedgehog cast a shadow there would be a ‘second winter’. This belief gave way to celebrating ‘Badger Day’ on February 2, where a shadow cast on a clear sunny day meant FOUR more weeks of winter.

Folklore goes back even further in Germany, though: the original animal forecaster was a bear, but they grew scarce so a fox and then in its turn the badger were used.

When German immigrants settled in Pennsylvania they brought the tradition of the badger and Candlemas with them. Pennsylvania isn’t known so much for the number of badgers within its borders but they have plenty of groundhogs.

Following the History

• From the earliest of times the time of the quarter year that marks halfway between winter and spring has been a time of anticipation and readiness for new life.
• Weather lore was very important to societies that depended on passed down wisdom and attention to the seasons in order to sccessfully plan for and grow their crops and care for livestock.
• People love the light and well before SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) a longing for light and warmth prevailed.
• No matter where it happened; from the snakes of Ireland, the bears of Germany, or the bewildered groundhog of Punxsutawney, PA: animals and sunny days on February 1st or 2nd meant (at least) four more weeks of winter is on the way.

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