Imbolc (or Imbolg) is also called St. Brigid’s Day and is celebrated on 1st February each year and is a Gaelic (Irish) traditional festival marking the beginning of Spring. It is approximately halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Time to celebrate the lengthening days and the early signs of spring.
Imbolc is one of the four traditional Gaelic seasonal festivals. The others being Beltane (1st May), Lughnasa (1st August) and Samhain (31 Oct). As well as signifying the beginning of Spring, Imbolc is also associated with the onset of the lambing season and the blossoming of blackthorn.
St. Brigid was a Christianization of the goddess of fertility, Brigid. St. Brigid was also invoked to protect homes and livestock. The holiday was a festival of the hearth and home. It is time to ‘spring clean’. To receive the blessings of St. Brigid, people would make a bed for her and leave her food and drink. Items of clothing would be left outside for her to bless. The lighting of candles and fires represents the return of warmth and the increasing power of the Sun over the coming months. For Christians, particularly in Ireland, it is a time to feast! Although many of its customs died out in the 20th century, it is still observed and in some places it has been revived as a cultural event.
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