It seems quite impossible that the holiday of Candlemas should be
considered the beginning of Spring. Here in the Heartland, February
2nd may see a blanket of snow mantling the Mother. Or, if the snows
have gone, you may be sure the days are filled with drizzle, slush,
and steel-grey skies -- the dreariest weather of the year. In short,
the perfect time for a Pagan Festival of Lights. And as for Spring,
although this may seem a tenuous beginning, all the little buds,
flowers and leaves will have arrived on schedule before Spring runs
its course to Beltane.
'Candlemas' is the Christianized name for the holiday, of course. The older
Pagan names were Imbolc and Oimelc. 'Imbolc' means, literally, 'in
the belly' (of the Mother). For in the womb of Mother Earth, hidden
from our mundane sight but sensed by a keener vision, there are
stirrings. The seed that was planted in her womb at the solstice is
quickening and the new year grows. 'Oimelc' means 'milk of ewes', for
it is also lambing season.
The holiday is also called 'Brigit's Day',in honor of the great Irish
Goddess Brigit. At her shrine, the ancient Irish capitol of Kildare,
a group of 19 priestesses (no men allowed) kept a perpetual flame
burning in her honor. She was considered a goddess of fire, patroness
of smith-craft, poetry and healing (especially the healing touch of
midwifery). This tripartite symbolism was occasionally expressed by
saying that Brigit had two sisters, also named Brigit. (Incidentally,
another form of the name Brigit is Bride, and it is thus She bestows
her special patronage on any woman about to be married or handfasted,
the woman being called 'bride' in her honor.)
The Roman Catholic Church could not very easily call the Great Goddess
of Ireland a demon, so they canonized her instead. Henceforth, she
would be 'Saint' Brigit, patron SAINT of smithcraft, poetry,
and healing. They 'explained' this by telling the Irish peasants that
Brigit was 'really' an early Christian missionary sent to the Emerald
Isle, and that the miracles she performed there 'misled' the common
people into believing that she was a goddess. For some reason, the
Irish swallowed this. (There is no limit to what the Irish
imagination can convince itself of. For example, they also came to
believe that Brigit was the 'foster-mother' of Jesus, giving no
thought to the implausibility of Jesus having spent his boyhood in Ireland!)
Brigit's holiday was chiefly marked by the kindling of sacred fires, since
she symbolized the fire of birth and healing, the fire of the forge,
and the fire of poetic inspiration. Bonfires were lighted on the
beacon tors, and chandlers celebrated their special holiday. The
Roman Church was quick to confiscate this symbolism as well, using
'Candlemas' as the day to bless all the church candles that would be
used for the coming liturgical year. (Catholics will be reminded that
the following day, St. Blaise's Day, is remembered for using the
newly blessed candles to bless the throats of parishioners, keeping
them from colds, flu, sore throats, etc.)
The Catholic Church, never one to refrain from piling holiday upon
holiday, also called it the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed
Virgin Mary. (It is surprising how many of the old Pagan holidays
were converted to Maryan Feasts.) The symbol of the Purification may
seem a little obscure to modern readers, but it has to do with the
old custom of 'churching women'. It was believed that women were
impure for six weeks after giving birth. And since Mary gave birth at
the winter solstice, she wouldn't be purified until February 2nd. In
Pagan symbolism, this might be re-translated as when the Great Mother
once again becomes the Young Maiden Goddess.
Today, this holiday is chiefly connected to weatherlore. Even our American
folk-calendar keeps the tradition of 'Groundhog's Day', a day to
predict the coming weather, telling us that if the Groundhog sees his
shadow, there will be 'six more weeks' of bad weather (i.e., until
the next old holiday, Lady Day). This custom is ancient. An old
British rhyme tells us that 'If Candlemas Day be bright and clear,
there'll be two winters in the year.' Actually, all of the
cross-quarter days can be used as 'inverse' weather predictors,
whereas the quarter-days are used as 'direct' weather predictors.
Like the other High Holidays or Great Sabbats of the Witches' year,
Candlemas is sometimes celebrated on it's alternate date, astrologically determined
by the sun's reaching 15-degrees Aquarius, or Candlemas Old Style
(in 1988, February 3rd, at 9:03 am CST). Another holiday that gets
mixed up in this is Valentine's Day. Ozark folklorist Vance Randolf
makes this quite clear by noting that the old-timers used to
celebrate Groundhog's Day on February 14th. This same displacement is
evident in Eastern Orthodox Christianity as well. Their habit of
celebrating the birth of Jesus on January 6th, with a similar
post-dated shift in the six-week period that follows it, puts the
Feast of the Purification of Mary on February 14th. It is amazing to
think that the same confusion and lateral
displacement of one of the old folk holidays can be seen from the
Russian steppes to the Ozark hills, but such seems to be the case!
Incidentally, there is speculation among linguistic scholars that the very name of
'Valentine' has Pagan origins. It seems that it was customary for
French peasants of the Middle Ages to pronounce a 'g' as a 'v'.
Consequently, the original term may have been the French 'galantine',
which yields the English word 'gallant'. The word originally refers
to a dashing young man known for his 'affaires d'amour', a true
galaunt. The usual associations of V(G)alantine's Day make much more
sense in this light than their vague connection to a legendary 'St. Valentine' can produce.
Indeed, the Church has always found it rather difficult to explain
this nebulous saint's connection to the secular pleasures of
flirtation and courtly love.
For modern Witches, Candlemas O.S. may then be seen as the Pagan version
of Valentine's Day, with a de-emphasis of 'hearts and flowers' and an
appropriate re-emphasis of Pagan carnal frivolity. This also
re-aligns the holiday with the ancient Roman Lupercalia, a fertility
festival held at this time, in which the priests of Pan ran through
the streets of Rome whacking young women with goatskin thongs to make
them fertile. The women seemed to enjoy the attention and often
stripped in order to afford better targets.
One of the nicest folk-customs still practiced in many countries, and
especially by Witches in the British Isles and parts of the U.S., is
to place a lighted candle in each and every window of the house,
beginning at sundown on Candlemas Eve (February 1st), allowing them
to continue burning until sunrise. Make sure that such candles are
well seated against tipping and guarded from nearby curtains, etc.
What a cheery sight it is on this cold, bleak and dreary night to see
house after house with candle-lit windows! And, of course, if you are
your Coven's chandler, or if you just happen to like making candles,
Candlemas Day is THE day for doing it. Some Covens hold
candle-making parties and try to make and bless all the candles
they'll be using for the whole year on this day.
Other customs of the holiday include weaving 'Brigit's crosses' from straw
or wheat to hang around the house for protection, performing rites of
spiritual cleansing and purification, making 'Brigit's beds' to
ensure fertility of mind and spirit (and body, if desired), and
making Crowns of Light (i.e. of candles) for the High Priestess to
wear for the Candlemas Circle, similar to those worn on St. Lucy's
Day in Scandinavian countries. All in all, this Pagan Festival of
Lights, sacred to the young Maiden Goddess, is one of the most
beautiful and poetic of the year.