{"collection":"bos","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/bos/bos116.htm","path":"bos/bos116.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/bos/bos116.htm","text":"Internet Book of Shadows, (Various Authors), [1999]\n \n \n C A N D L E M A S \n by Gwydion Cinhil Kirontin\n \n \n It seems quite impossible that the holiday of Candlemas \n should be considered the beginning of Spring. Here in the \n heartland, February 2nd may see a blanket of snow mantling the \n Mother. Or, if the snows have gone, you may be sure the days are \n filled with drizzle, slush, and steel-grey skies -- the dreariest \n weather of the year. In short, the perfect time for a Pagan \n Festival of Lights. And as for Spring, although this may seem a \n tenuous beginning, all the little buds, flowers and leaves will \n have arrived on schedule before Spring runs its course to Beltane.\n \n \"Candlemas\" is the Christianized name for the holiday, of \n course. The older Pagan names were Imbolc and Oimelc. \"Imbolc\" \n means, literally, \"in the belly\" (of the Mother). For in the \n womb of Mother Earth, hidden from our mundane sight but sensed by \n a keener vision, there are stirrings. The seed that was planted \n in her womb at the solstice is quickening and the new year grows.\n \"Oimelc\" means \"milk of ewes\", for it is also lambing season.\n \n The holiday is also called \"Brigit's Day\", in honor of the \n great Irish Goddess Brigit. At her shrine, the ancient Irish \n capital of Kildare, a group of 19 priestesses (no men allowed) \n kept a perpetual flame burning in her honor. She was considered \n a goddess of fire, patroness of smithcraft, poetry and healing \n (especially the healing touch of midwifery). This tripartite \n symbolism was occasionally expressed by saying that Brigit had \n two sisters, also named Brigit. (Incidentally, another form of \n the name Brigit is Bride, and it is thus She bestows her special \n patronage on any woman about to be married or handfasted, the \n woman being called \"bride\" in her honor.)\n \n The Roman Catholic Church could not very easily call the \n Great Goddess of Ireland a demon, so they canonized her instead. \n Henceforth, she would be \"Saint\" Brigit, patron saint of \n smithcraft, poetry, and healing. They \"explained\" this by \n telling the Irish peasants that Brigit was \"really\" an early \n Christian missionary sent to the Emerald Isle, and that the \n miracles she performed there \"misled\" the common people into \n believing that she was a goddess. For some reason, the Irish \n swallowed this. (There is no limit to what the Irish imagination \n can convince itself of. For example, they also came to believe \n that Brigit was the \"foster-mother\" of Jesus, giving no thought \n to the implausibility of Jesus having spent his boyhood in Ireland!)\n \n Brigit's holiday was chiefly marked by the kindling of sacred \n fires, since she symbolized the fire of birth and healing, the \n fire of the forge, and the fire of poetic inspiration. Bonfires \n were lighted on the beacon tors, and chandlers celebrated their \n special holiday. The Roman Church was quick to confiscate this \n symbolism as well, using \"Candlemas\" as the day to bless all the \n church candles that would be used for the coming liturgical year.\n (Catholics will be reminded that the following day, St. Blaise's \n Day, is remembered for using the newly-blessed candles to bless \n the throats of parishioners, keeping them from colds, flu, sore \n throats, etc.)\n The Catholic Church, never one to refrain from piling holiday \n upon holiday, also called it the Feast of the Purification of the \n \n \n 537\n \n Blessed Virgin Mary. (It is surprising how many of the old Pagan \n holidays were converted to Maryan Feasts.) The symbol of the \n Purification may seem a little obscure to modern readers, but it \n has to do with the old custom of \"churching women\". It was \n believed that women were impure for six weeks after giving birth. \n And since Mary gave birth at the winter solstice, she wouldn't be \n purified until February 2nd. In Pagan symbolism, this might be \n re-translated as when the Great Mother once again becomes the \n Young Maiden Goddess.\n \n Today, this holiday is chiefly connected to weather lore. \n Even our American folk-calendar keeps the tradition of \n \"Groundhog's Day\", a day to predict the coming weather, telling \n us that if the Groundhog sees his shadow, there will be \"six more \n weeks\" of bad weather (i.e., until the next old holiday, Lady \n Day). This custom is ancient. An old British rhyme tells us \n that \"If Candlemas Day be bright and clear, there'll be two \n winters in the year.\" Actually, all of the cross-quarter days \n can be used as \"inverse\" weather predictors, whereas the quarter-\n days are used as \"direct\" weather predictors.\n \n Like the other High Holidays or Great Sabbats of the Witches' \n year, Candlemas is sometimes celebrated on it's alternate date, \n astrologically determined by the sun's reaching 15-degrees \n Aquarius, or Candlemas Old Style (this year, February 6th). \n Another holiday that gets mixed up in this is Valentine's Day. \n Ozark folklorist Vance Randolf makes this quite clear by noting \n that the old-timers used to celebrate Groundhog's Day on February \n 14th. Once again, this shows the resultant confusion of calendar \n changes and \"lost days\" that have accumulated down the centuries. \n For modern Witches, Candlemas O.S. may be seen as the Pagan \n version of Valentine's Day, with a de-emphasis of \"hearts and \n flowers\" and an appropriate re-emphasis of Pagan carnal \n frivolity. This also re-aligns the holiday with the ancient \n Roman Lupercalia, a fertility festival held at this time, in \n which the priests of Pan ran through the streets of Rome whacking \n young women with goatskin thongs to make them fertile. The women \n seemed to enjoy the attention and often stripped in order to \n afford better targets.\n \n One of the nicest folk-customs still practiced in many \n countries, and especially by Witches in the British Isles and \n parts of the U.S., is to place a lighted candle in each and every \n window of the house, beginning at sundown on Candlemas Eve \n (February 1), allowing them to continue burning until sunrise. \n Make sure that such candles are well seated against tipping and \n guarded from nearby curtains, etc. What a cheery sight it is on \n this cold, bleak and dreary night to see house after house with \n candle-lit windows! And, of course, if you are your Coven's \n chandler, or if you just happen to like making candles, Candlemas \n Day is the day for doing it. Some Covens hold candle-making \n parties and try to make and bless all the candles they'll be \n using for the whole year on this day.\n \n \n 538\n \n Other customs of the holiday include weaving \"Brigit's \n crosses\" from straw or wheat to hang around the house for \n protection, performing rites of spiritual cleansing and \n purification, making \"Brigit's beds\" to ensure fertility of mind \n and spirit (and body, if desired), and making Crowns of Light \n (i.e. of candles) for the High Priestess to wear for the \n Candlemas Circle, similar to those worn on St. Lucy's Day in \n Scandinavian countries. All and all, this is certainly one of the \n prettiest holidays celebrated in the Pagan seasonal calendar.\n \n \n 539","title":"Internet Book of Shadows: Candlemas (Gwydion)","type":"page"}