© Suzanne B. Jacobson
All the sugar plums have been consumed, the
Nutcrackers danced and the Jolly Old Elf has long since visited his last
house. Carols have been sung, gifts
unwrapped and feasts have been washed down with everything from sparkling apple
cider to homemade honey-mead. We’ve
stood in the silence of the long night with naught but a candle to light our
way, and we’ve found ourselves on the other side with the symbolic reassurance
of the divine gifts of Light and Life.
Only
a month ago, as 2008 blew in like the proverbial lion of March, we found
ourselves leaning toward the trite and the sappy. We looked back on the old year and those
before with retrospective glasses tinted with nostalgia; we looked to the new with
some trepidation and some hope. We made
resolutions destined to be broken and plans we knew we will likely never
complete. January can be a harsh
month. Often, it is the coldest time of
year. We have been hard on ourselves,
mourning the end of the holiday celebrations and berating ourselves for
overspending, overeating and overdoing.
As we look forward into the New
Year, it can seem that we’ve got little hope for warmth and comfort. It becomes difficult to see beyond the bills
and the barren trees.
There
is hope, however – there’s always hope. February
2nd is, for most of us, simply another day, and yet it has been a
day of celebration for many. The causes
for celebration on this day are diverse, yet interwoven so tightly it’s almost
impossible to unravel them. The overlay
of culture upon culture creates a beautiful weave in the tapestry of history
and tradition. To find that thread and
follow it to its beginning is to revitalize the connection between humanity and
Spirit.
Today,
the majority of Americans think of February 2nd as a day strangely
marked by watching the behavior of a rodent resident of Pennsylvania. It’s that groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, who
traditionally augers the future of the current winter season. The groundhog is the American replacement for
the European hedgehog. Legend says that
if the rodent sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter weather;
if it does not, there will be an early spring.
February
2nd is also the feast day of Celtic pre-Christian goddess of the
hearth fire and fertility called Brigid, Brigit or Bride. Brigid was honored as the inspiration of
creativity. In ancient Celtic times,
Brigid’s day celebrated the renewal of life illustrated by the heavy bellies of
lactating sheep. According to some, its
name, “Imbolc,” is translated as “in the belly.” It is a Celtic word for the spring, when new
plants begin to uncurl in their seed-cradles hidden in the dark earth. A further unraveling of this rich spiritual
tapestry leads to a celebration of the Catholic Saint bearing the same
name. Saint Brigid is the patron of poets, milkmaids and dairy workers, babies and children whose parents are not married, as well as many others, including, of course,
Ireland. She is purported to have founded
a school of art and two monastic communities – one for men and one for women.
February
1st or 2nd has been celebrated as Candlemas Day; originally,
Candle Mass. This Catholic feast day
marks the 40th day after the celebrated birth of Jesus. According to Mosaic Law, a Jewish woman was
considered unclean for 40 days after the birth of a male child. Once that time passed, the woman was to take
her child to the Temple for purification.
It is at this time, tradition says, that Mary took Jesus to the Temple,
where he was seen by Anna the Prophetess and Simeon, who declared that the
child was to be “a light unto the world. “ Traditionally, a Candle Mass is a
blessing of the household candles, representing the Christ’s illumination of
all aspects of life, the mundane and the spiritual.
Whether
or not one follows a religious path or even consciously considers spirituality,
it is good to have