I'm a little bit late here, but . . .

[omorka]

A Happy Imbolc to those who celebrate it, a Merry Candlemas to those who hold to that tradition, and an Happy Groundhog's Day to all and sundry.

I am one of the few active Pagan women in my immediate social circle who is not particularly a devotee of Brigid, but I know this holiday is very special to many of my dear friends, precisely because it is sacred to Her. A beautiful day of growing light to each of you.

(Oh, and Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow.)

Comments

[princejvstin.livejournal.com]

So have I been giving out wishes and thoughts wrong, and its Feb 2 and not Feb 1?

And its okay that you don't have to devote yourself to the same Goddess or aspect thereof. That's the beauty of polytheism. :grins:

[omorka.livejournal.com]

Well, Candlemas is on the first, as is St. Brigid's day. Imbolc proper is on the 2nd, with Groundhog's Day. It is, at this point, impossible to really tell which of the two dates is the "original" celebration, especially since the Celts didn't use a Julian-Gregorian calendar to begin with. And all of the "spokes" on the Wheel of the Year are really three-day celebrations anyway. So I don't think anyone minds. :-)

(And there is a small but non-trivial bit of "what, She doesn't want me?" to my mild consternation at being one of the few non-Brigid people in my personal Pagan circles. I suspect it's my ambiguous relationship with Fire; She is, after all, very much a fire-aspected goddess.)

[princejvstin.livejournal.com]

That's right...I remember your entries about your issue with Fire, and Brigid is all Fire, all the time. :grins:

[awbryan.livejournal.com]

I just celebrate Candlemas, and the other cross-quarters as well, as two-day celebrations. Less fuss that way. (i.e., Candlemas-Imbolc runs over Feb 1-2; Samhain-All Saints' on Oct 31-Nov 1; etc.) I don't know about the three-day bit.

Another, rather odd, correspondence I learned of tonight is Tu Bishvat, the Jewish minor feast known as the Birthday of Trees. (For tax/tithe purposes, this was the day you counted up the fruit-bearing trees.) So I actually celebrated a Pagan/Christian holiday tonight at a Jewish Shabbat. :-P And to top it all off, "because this place is a firetrap," the Shabbat candles were immediately extinguished. On Candlemas. >_<

*suppressing the urge to light his own candles in compensation*

[ghostdogmeta.livejournal.com]

Somewhere in the universe, there's a groundhog building a bonfire.

[greeneyedpagan.livejournal.com]

Thank you, sweetheart.
And a blessed Imbolc to you as well. :)

(tomorrow is the astrological date, fwiw...)

As you know, I was not always on of Hers...and I am still very connected to the earlier ones - but She is demanding of my time and energy these days, and the Others seem to understand. You may meet Her still, and fire is not even close to her only tool...but even if you never meet Her, what does that matter? You serve your Deities honorably and well, and if I were them, I wouldn't want to share you, either.