The Roman Janus is a two-faced god, looking back to the old year and forward to the new— and the month named after him can seem to go on forever. Meanwhile I forgot completely that February 1 is the Celtic solstice also known as Imbolc until a friend in NY posted a bit about it on facebook. In Ireland it was celebrated popularly St. Brigid’s day, a Christianization of the pagan goddess Brigid. Kids would make a bed and leave out food for Brigid so she would stop and give the home her blessing. We had a wonderful visit to the Hill of Tara on a trip to Ireland, an ancient seat of governance and spiritual power in the country. One of the passage tombs there in fact is aligned to that solstice date at the beginning of February.The date was partly determined by the position of the sun and partly by length of days. And YES, those days are getting noticeably longer. Punxsutawney Phil says spring is coming early this year. Wouldn’t that be loverly? Photos: from top left---Hill of Tara, huge UNESCO passage tomb at New Grange, smaller passage tomb doorway at Tara, and below, protestors at Tara advocating return to ancient Irish law.
The Roman Janus is a two-faced god, looking back to the old year and forward to the new— and the month named after him can seem to go on forever. Meanwhile I forgot completely that February 1 is the Celtic solstice also known as Imbolc until a friend in NY posted a bit about it on facebook. In Ireland it was celebrated popularly St. Brigid’s day, a Christianization of the pagan goddess Brigid. Kids would make a bed and leave out food for Brigid so she would stop and give the home her blessing. We had a wonderful visit to the Hill of Tara on a trip to Ireland, an ancient seat of governance and spiritual power in the country. One of the passage tombs there in fact is aligned to that solstice date at the beginning of February.The date was partly determined by the position of the sun and partly by length of days. And YES, those days are getting noticeably longer. Punxsutawney Phil says spring is coming early this year. Wouldn’t that be loverly? Photos: from top left---Hill of Tara, huge UNESCO passage tomb at New Grange, smaller passage tomb doorway at Tara, and below, protestors at Tara advocating return to ancient Irish law.
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