Our first beeswax candles in holders the kids made from model magic clay.
Snow Drops
February 1 and 2 are so storied and full of meaning for so many. Celebrating, observing, or even just exploring some of these rituals and celebrations is a rich place to start creating your own circle of the year. For me, February 2 was the spark that started my own journey of synthesizing myths, religious traditions and nature into a wheel that I make meaning with annually. I first celebrated Candlemas in 2015, we made beeswax candles and looked for snowdrop flowers which grow abundantly in the boulevards of Berkeley. Over the years I have learned about the myriad traditions for this little moment in the Northern Hemisphere at the midway point between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox.
For thousands of years, this time in the year we know now as February 1 and 2 have held so many layers of story. In exploring these layers we see nothing can really be erased, can it? Even if the Empires and Institutions try, it is all there. We humans want to mark this half way point of Winter. A folk tradition of spotting Punxsutawney Phil’s shadow is the same day as the day we celebrate the ceremonial presentation of Jesus at the temple, 40 days after his birth. The goddess of poetry and woman of wisdom, Brigid, whose connection to Imbolc, a celtic Spring festival is February 1. And that Brigid, copied in the persona of St. Brigid, whose feast day is also February 1. And throughout, references to brightening light-from the traditional foods of the Christian holiday: round pancakes and cakes to hearken the sun’s return, to the perpetual fires that St. Brigid is associated with, to the little flames on the beeswax candles made and blessed that day, to the bonfires and new fires of Imbolc.
I love celebrating this day, and making candles and picking snowdrops is one of my favorite traditions and one where it is easy to make a direct connection between what is happening in nature despite us, and what is happening in our homes because we remember something on purpose each year.