It's #Imbolc / #Imbolg eve!
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It's #Imbolc / #Imbolg eve! Or was it #Oimelc? Hard to say honestly.
This is the Dawn Festival of Irish culture, paralleling similar festivals throughout "Spring". Officially it's Feb 1st, but things begin at Nightfall in Celtic culture, so it begins tonight.
Like Samhain, it's likely the festival was originally on a different Solar-Calendar date (e.g. "Old Samhain"), or instead that it was, like Christian Easter, falling on a Lunar event following a yearly Solar milestone.
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It's #Imbolc / #Imbolg eve! Or was it #Oimelc? Hard to say honestly.
This is the Dawn Festival of Irish culture, paralleling similar festivals throughout "Spring". Officially it's Feb 1st, but things begin at Nightfall in Celtic culture, so it begins tonight.
Like Samhain, it's likely the festival was originally on a different Solar-Calendar date (e.g. "Old Samhain"), or instead that it was, like Christian Easter, falling on a Lunar event following a yearly Solar milestone.
The festival is, without a doubt, associated primarily with #Brigit / #Brighid, who among other things is the Irish Dawn Goddess. Dawn festival -> Dawn goddess. The "Saint" version was born at imbolc, at dawn - but the Christian hagiography makes a point of saying that she was born on the 8th of the Lunar Month. Perhaps, we could read this as a hint as to when her festival might have been calculated? The 8th of the next lunar month after... solstice? Equinox?
Imbolc was xtianised early, so IDK.
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The festival is, without a doubt, associated primarily with #Brigit / #Brighid, who among other things is the Irish Dawn Goddess. Dawn festival -> Dawn goddess. The "Saint" version was born at imbolc, at dawn - but the Christian hagiography makes a point of saying that she was born on the 8th of the Lunar Month. Perhaps, we could read this as a hint as to when her festival might have been calculated? The 8th of the next lunar month after... solstice? Equinox?
Imbolc was xtianised early, so IDK.
But, something I lately learned is that #Imbolc is not only Brighid's: It's also a festival for Áed, who I recently speculated might be, not just a Fire deity, but a Sun deity also:
https://buttondown.com/godsandcroziers/archive/30th-jan-maedoc-aed-god-fire-sun-chariot/
According to the xtian version, Jan 31st is Máedóc / Áed's day, and Feb 1st is Brigit's. I think it's possible that they simply shared the Imbolc holiday, because these fire festivals often spanned several days rather than simply one.
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But, something I lately learned is that #Imbolc is not only Brighid's: It's also a festival for Áed, who I recently speculated might be, not just a Fire deity, but a Sun deity also:
https://buttondown.com/godsandcroziers/archive/30th-jan-maedoc-aed-god-fire-sun-chariot/
According to the xtian version, Jan 31st is Máedóc / Áed's day, and Feb 1st is Brigit's. I think it's possible that they simply shared the Imbolc holiday, because these fire festivals often spanned several days rather than simply one.
It seems _likely_ to me that Áed is, in this capacity, a mirror of Bres, the sun-god who's married to Brighid and later goes rogue (perhaps in Midsummer, when we don't know whether the harvest will be safe from his caprice?). He's a god who we sometimes love, sometimes fear. But his wife Brighid is always beloved. Also a bit feared though, because another side to her is the Celtic Artemis:
https://buttondown.com/godsandcroziers/archive/1st-feb-brighid-dawn-fire-goddess-celtic-artemis/
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It seems _likely_ to me that Áed is, in this capacity, a mirror of Bres, the sun-god who's married to Brighid and later goes rogue (perhaps in Midsummer, when we don't know whether the harvest will be safe from his caprice?). He's a god who we sometimes love, sometimes fear. But his wife Brighid is always beloved. Also a bit feared though, because another side to her is the Celtic Artemis:
https://buttondown.com/godsandcroziers/archive/1st-feb-brighid-dawn-fire-goddess-celtic-artemis/
Traditions on Imbolc include:
* Leaving a cloth item outdoors at dusk and bringing it in before dawn - this is considered to be a healing item for the coming year esp. for headaches.
* Leaving some food on a plate at the table overnight, in case she calls by.
* Doing fire-divination, such as having each person light a taper to see whose goes out first (w.r.t. some question).
* Making Brighid's Crosses, solar symbols made of rushes which can be 3 or 5 legged but are usually 4. Keep til next year. -
Traditions on Imbolc include:
* Leaving a cloth item outdoors at dusk and bringing it in before dawn - this is considered to be a healing item for the coming year esp. for headaches.
* Leaving some food on a plate at the table overnight, in case she calls by.
* Doing fire-divination, such as having each person light a taper to see whose goes out first (w.r.t. some question).
* Making Brighid's Crosses, solar symbols made of rushes which can be 3 or 5 legged but are usually 4. Keep til next year.The Brighid's cross in particular is a widespread and beloved tradition, still taught in many schools. The crosses are associated with protection from basically everything; fire, disease, misfortune, etcetera. They are most traditionally placed high over a hearth, or up in the thatch of a cottage.
In some areas, they'll be burned next imbolc - in others, they were kept and just kept stacking up in the houses!
The 3-legged ones in particular were hung near animals as protection.
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