Festivals Halfway through Winter

We are at the halfway point of winter--halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Today is Candlemas, where Christians celebrate the presentation of Jesus at the Temple (also known as the Feast Day of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple), and pagans long ago celebrated the goddess Brigid (and the feast day of St. Brigid was yesterday), and some Wiccans today will be celebrating at Imbolc, or a variation of any number of pagan holidays. It's also Groundhog's Day. It's one of those times when we can almost perceive the shifting of the seasons. It's not spring yet, but it will be soon.

Candlemas is the feast day that speaks to me. Candlemas celebrates the presentation of Jesus at the temple. It's the last feast holiday that references Christmas. We could see it as the final festival of Christmas, even though most of us have had the decorations packed away since even before Epiphany.

This article by Eleanor Parker tells us about the long history of Candlemas, and she focuses on the medieval time period, where the Christmas celebrations extended throughout January:  "Short days and bad weather limited the work that could be done anyway, and the general gloom made festivity all the more welcome — much more cheerful than Dry January."

Even though electricity has made us feel we need to be just as productive in January as in July, the natural light moves in its own seasonal cycle.  I have always wished that Christmas came in late February, so that we had the lights and the festive decorations for consolation throughout all the darker months in the northern hemisphere.




Some churches and monasteries will bless the year's supply of candles.  In past times, according to this article by Diana Butler Bass, Christians would bring their candles to the church for blessing and then there would be a candle lit procession through town.  In a more agricultural age, it's a time of lambing, a time of getting ready for spring planting, a time where we might see snowdrops poking out through the snow/ground.

It's good to have these holidays that remind us of illumination; I'm a fan of the growth that can happen in the dark, too, but that's a different blog post.  We live in a time of despair, and the gloomy weather doesn't help us feel cheerful.  Being surrounded by the glow of candles can lift our spirits, and it's a cheap fix.

And it's also a reminder that God is at work in the world, even when we don't always see that happening, that spring is on the way if we can just hold on a bit longer.