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candles that would be used for the coming liturgical year. (Catholics will be
reminded that the following day, St. Blaise's Day, is remembered for using
the newly blessed candles to bless the throats of parishioners, keeping them
from colds, flu, sore throats, etc.)
The Catholic Church, never one to refrain from piling holiday upon holiday,
also called it the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
(It is surprising how many of the old Pagan holidays were converted to
Maryan Feasts.) The symbol of the Purification may seem a little obscure
to modern readers, but it has to do with the old custom of 'churching women'.
It was believed that women were impure for six weeks after giving birth.
And since Mary gave birth at the winter solstice, she wouldn't be purified
until February 2nd. In Pagan symbolism, this might be re-translated as
when the Great Mother once again becomes the Young Maiden Goddess.
Today, this holiday is chiefly connected to weather lore. Even our American
folk-calendar keeps the tradition of 'Groundhog's Day', a day to predict the
coming weather, telling us that if the Groundhog sees his shadow, there will
be 'six more weeks' of bad weather (i.e., until the next old holiday, Lady Day).
This custom is ancient. An old British rhyme tells us that 'If Candlemas
Day be bright and clear, there'll be two winters in the year.' Actually, all of
the cross-quarter days can be used as 'inverse' weather predictors,
whereas the quarter-days are used as 'direct' weather predictors.
Like the other High Holidays or Great Sabbats of the Witches' year,
Candlemas is sometimes celebrated on its alternate date, astrologically
determined by the sun's reaching 15-degrees Aquarius, or Candlemas Old
Style (in 1988, February 3rd, at 9:03 am CST). Another holiday that gets
mixed up in this is Valentine's Day. Ozark folklorist Vance Randolf makes
this quite clear by noting that the old-timers used to celebrate
Groundhog's Day on February 14th. This same displacement is evident in
Eastern Orthodox Christianity as well. Their habit of celebrating the birth
of Jesus on January 6th, with a similar post-dated shift in the six-week
period that follows it, puts the Feast of the Purification of Mary on
February 14th. It is amazing to think that the same confusion and lateral
displacement of one of the old folk holidays can be seen from the Russian
steppes to the Ozark hills, but such seems to be the case!
Incidentally, there is speculation among linguistic scholars that the very
name of 'Valentine' has Pagan origins. It seems that it was customary for
French peasants of the Middle Ages to pronounce a 'g' as a 'v'.
Consequently, the original term may have been the French 'galantine', which
yields the English word 'gallant'. The word originally refers to a dashing
young man known for his 'affaires d'amour', a true galaunt. The usual
associations of V(G)alantine's Day make much more sense in this light than
their vague connection to a legendary 'St. Valentine' can produce. Indeed,
the Church has always found it rather difficult to explain this nebulous
saint's connection to the secular pleasures of flirtation and courtly love.
For modern Witches, Candlemas O.S. may then be seen as the Pagan
version of Valentine's Day, with a de-emphasis of 'hearts and flowers' and
an appropriate re-emphasis of Pagan carnal frivolity. This also re-aligns
the holiday with the ancient Roman Lupercalia, a fertility festival held at
this time, in which the priests of Pan ran through the streets of Rome
whacking young women with goatskin thongs to make them fertile. The women
seemed to enjoy the attention and often stripped in order to afford better
targets.
One of the nicest folk-customs still practiced in many countries, and
especially by Witches in the British Isles and parts of the U.S., is to
place a lighted candle in each and every window of the house, beginning at
sundown on Candlemas Eve (February 1st), allowing them to continue burning
until sunrise. Make sure that such candles are well seated against tipping
and guarded from nearby curtains, etc. What a cheery sight it is on this
cold, bleak and dreary night to see house after house with candle-lit
windows! And, of course, if you are your Coven's chandler, or if you just
happen to like making candles, Candlemas Day is the day for doing it. Some
Covens hold candle-making parties and try to make and bless all the
candles they'll be using for the whole year on this day.
Other customs of the holiday include weaving 'Brigit's crosses' from straw or
wheat to hang around the house for protection, performing rites of spiritual
cleansing and purification, making 'Brigit's beds' to ensure fertility of mind
and spirit (and body, if desired), and making Crowns of Light (i.e. of candles)
for the High Priestess to wear for the Candlemas Circle, similar to those
worn on St. Lucy's Day in Scandinavian countries. All in all, this Pagan
Festival of Lights, sacred to the young Maiden Goddess, is one of the most [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]