MetaChat - Happy St. Brigid's Day!

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01 February 2010

Happy St. Brigid's Day! →[More:]

The old, traditional Celtic first day of spring, known in pagan tradition as Imbolc, or the time of spring's first impulse. Celebrated in the U.S. as Groundhog Day (February 2).

mr lfr's nemesis, the red-shafted flicker (C. auratus cafer; a subspecies of northern flicker) began his early spring mating ritual of drumming loudly on the metal chimney vent yesterday morning. It's startlingly loud, and a rather rude interruption to one's breakfast tea and Sunday paper reading.

However, I forgive Mr. Woodpecker pretty much everything for the annual visual hilarity of mr. lfr, up a ladder in his PJs and slippers, swearing and hurling snowballs at a bird.

The old pagan priest(esse)s would celebrate the birth of spring "when the time was right" rather than on a specific calendar day. I hereby declare that with the Full Moon of Woodpecker-Taunting, spring has officially begun.

post by: lonefrontranger at: 10:41 | 5 comments

:)
Of course, it snowed a shitton down here this weekend, but at least the sun is out today!

posted by sperose 01 February | 10:49

My thermometer and calendar say you are wrong. isn't tomorrow Groundhogs' day?

posted by terrapin 01 February | 11:07

not necessarily right OR wrong. You are correct that Groundhog Day is traditionally celebrated on the 2nd of February.

However, the old feast day that it has replaced was based on a lunar calendar, and so didn't necessarily fall on the same day each year. Hence my declaration. Here's a bit more background (wiki link) on what is essentially a "movable feast day": Imbolc (aka Candlemas/St. Brigid's Day/Groundhog Day)

Keep in mind that the Christians were famous for adapting pagan holidays for their own purposes, so as not to alienate the plain folk by upending long-held traditions with new and scary ideas. St Brigid's Day is also known as Candlemas, and can be celebrated on the first Sunday anywhere from 28 January to 3 February. It's also considered the last festival of the Christmas season, falling as it does precisely between the winter solstice and spring equinox. Groundhog Day is merely a folk/secular (re)adaptation of this very old saint's festival, which in turn was an adaptation of a pagan ritual tradition which ultimately celebrates the first indicators of the coming spring: lactation of ewes, the first tiny green bits, and the time when hibernating creatures (snakes, gophers, groundhogs, etc...) would make their first emergence from their winter dens into the lengthening days of mid-to-late winter. The snowdrop is a key symbol of Imbolc, as it is often seen in temperate latitudes peeking through melting snowbanks in very early February, in response to lengthening days.

Following more old symbology and traditional myth (thank you, Joseph Campbell), the day is also indicated by the Star card of the tarot deck. What it symbolises is not necessarily warmth and light, rather it is the first faint spark of light and hope on one's journey through the decay and sleep of winter and the passage through the underworld.

All of which the Old Irish use to celebrate the first day of their new year. Happy (Irish) New Year, and take hope, for spring is coming!

posted by lonefrontranger 01 February | 12:24

Great post!

Though in my neck of the woods, it's ALWAYS 6 more weeks of winter.

posted by Miko 01 February | 13:20

Happy St Brigid's day to you all. My SO will be guest speaker at the seventh annual BrigidFest this weekend. She's quite an expert in the field.

Seriously.

(Of course, I'm hoping for at least four more weeks of Summer, from where I sit...)

posted by pompomtom 02 February | 17:51

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