renewal

Its appropriation in this country by a groundhog from Pennsylvania has obscured the ancient origins and great significance of the February 2nd holiday, formerly known as Candlemas, or from even more ancient times in Ireland, Imbolc.

It's one of the great cross-quarter days of the year: if you represent the year as a circle divided into seasonal quarters by the two solstices and the two equinoxes, then superimpose an "X" dividing the circle into eighths, Candlemas will be the line halfway between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox.

February 2 is actually the true beginning of spring, when the earth, now swollen with the winter rains, begins to stir. The daylight is waxing and darkness is waning, as the promise of the sun's return, made at the solstice, becomes abundantly manifested. Today's beautiful weather in Seattle is right on cue.

For those reasons and more, we celebrate Candlemas as a day of renewal and rejuvenation, a good time to shore up the New Year's resolutions and to re-commit to our plans of dedication to a discipline, a program, or a plan of action. Reflecting on the significance of the ancient holidays and feast days is also a way to re-connect with the consciousness of our ancestors, which was embedded deeply in the slow and majestic rhythms of the earth and sky.

For a more comprehensive treatment of this important day, see Seattle blogger Waverly Fitzgerald's School of the Seasons.

Etaoin Shrdlu
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