Peg Kerr's Journal

So I've been thinking about the cross quarter day that fell this week, at the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox (each year somewhere between January 31st to February 4th). It is believed to have been observed as a festival/holiday as far back as the Neolithic when megalithic chambers marked the light of the rising sun on this day. It was only a few years ago that I learned the name for this day: Imbolc. haddayr had some things to say about this fire festival on Facebook (quoted with permission):

Tonight [January 31] is St. Brigid's Eve, Oiche Fhéile Bhríde, or Imbolc Eve.

If you wanna do something Imbolc-y and in honor of Naomh Bríd you might make some butter or a St. Brigid's Cross, and/or leave out a white cloth for the saint to bless as she goes by with her cow. I'm sure the cow would not sneer at some hay.

St. Brigid is Mary of the Gaels, but she is also connected to Scotland as she spent some time on the Isle of Iona before being whisked by angels to midwife Mary as she gave birth to Jesus.

Ignore whether or not the dates match up; that's irrelevant.

Her cloak is a powerful one for protection but also for fighting the patriarchy: she asked a bishop for land for an all-women's monastery (unheard of at the time or now) and he sneered and offered her as much land as her cloak would cover.

She threw it down and it expanded for acre upon acre upon acre until the bishop begged her to stop, and she got her land.
She's in charge of a lot of stuff: beer, milk, women, labor, the forge, the fire of inspiration, the fire of the hearth, healing.

I love the traditional song to her because it reminds me that somewhere, if not yet in Minnesota, the earth is warming. It ends, translated, like this:

The house of winter is very dark
Cutting with its sharpness
But on Brigid’s Day
Ireland's spring is nearby.

Here's how to make a St. Brigid's Cross. These videos are good, but please ignore him when he says the four-legged one is the 'traditional' one. St. Bride's crosses, like everything else in Ireland, is regional.

Here's a four-legged version of the cross from County Leitrim.

Here's a three-legged one which is the one I find easiest to make for beginners, from County Donegal.

And this astounding creature is from Wexford

More interesting bits here:

Imbolc, which falls on the 1st of February, is one of the cornerstones of the Celtic calendar...As winter stores were getting low, Imbolc rituals were performed to ensure a steady supply of food until the harvest six months later. Over time, the church swallowed many facets of this of this festival, mainly due to Highlanders reluctance to lose such an important part of their culture and the churches pragmatism in adapting seemingly conflicting ideologies when it suited.

So Imbolc became Candlemass and the pagan goddess Bridhe associated with it became St Bride.

And here:

Brigid’s worship was absorbed by the Church where she became known as St. Brigid, but she is one of the few goddesses whose honorary rituals still survive today. (This is likely due to the fact that neither the Romans or Christianity never quite managed to fully colonize Ireland.)

Remnants of this awareness of the beginning of spring in the midst of winter also pop up in our modern civic holiday Groundhog's Day.

So why have I been thinking about Imbolc? Well, I've always been fascinated with the concept of light in dark places. It seems all the more powerful to me this year, as we drag further into the pandemic. Imbolc is about being in the middle of winter. Winter behind us, winter ahead of us, but there are signs that we aren't going to suffering through winter forever. So we take hope from that. Snowdrops will be coming up soon. Maybe a groundhog will see its shadow (although in this dumpster fire of the year of Our Lord 2022, Milltown Mel died just before Groundhog Day, forcing Milltown, New Jersey to cancel its planned Groundhog Day celebrations since all the pinch hitter groundhogs were still in hibernation).

Here's the song that first put Imbolc on my radar a number of years ago: Don't Be Afraid of the Light That Shines Within You by Luka Bloom:



The card shows (over a background of blurred candlelight) a table set for St. Bridgid's Eve. Behind the table can be seen a dignitary holding up a crabby groundhog, a Bridgid's cross trimmed with greenery, a Bridgid corn doll, and some snow drops, one of the first signs of spring.

Imbolc



Click here to see the 2022 52 Card Project gallery.

Click here to see the 2021 gallery.

It's just in the last couple years that I've become aware of the term "Imbolc," one of the four principal festivals of the Celtic calendar, and one of the eight sabbats of the Wheel of the Year. (First learned of the term through my lovely We'Moon desk calendar.) Most often celebrated around February 1, it's associated with the goddess Brigid, and in the Christian period with St Brigid - Imbolc being also known as St. Brigid's Day. The Day is also associated with the Christian feast of Candlemas (2 February), marking the end of the season of Epiphany.

It's the point midway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox, which makes it a logical point for Groundhog's day. I've found myself particularly noticing the light, and giving thanks that it's increasing in the evenings. Last night after I got home from work, I got out the shovel and tackled the driveway. As I was finishing up, I glanced up at the sky. The sun had set, but a beautiful salmon color still lingered in the sky for quite a while. The sun was down, but the quality of light seemed special to this time of year.

To celebrate Imbolc I'll link again to a song of Luka Bloom's that I posted last year (thanks again to moony for introducing me to his music) that he created specially for Brigid's Day. See what he says about the song here. I make this entry in honor of light in dark places. Heaven knows I have need of it.