The first week of February falls neatly midway between the Winter solstice and the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere. It is around this time that the very earliest hints of a coming spring make themselves known, though these promising signs can feel bittersweet when one recalls that there are still several weeks of winter yet ahead.

The very first lambs might be born, the earliest spring vegetation poking through the soil. It is natural to start thinking ahead to the greener, warmer times of the year. Echoes of this natural optimism, these fecund stirrings, can be seen in the seasonal rites and celebrations of many cultures, even to this day. The earth is waking, slowly but surely.

Animism, seasonal holidays and other worship of the natural world are hallmarks of peoples deeply rooted to their surroundings, and are therefore common in the nomadic or agrarian lifestyles of early human societies. As cultures worldwide become more sophisticated, not just in their technologies but in their very metaphors, the seasonal observances evolve. Some become more sacred, perhaps adapting to fit a changing religious environment. Some become folksy, pop-culture touchstones, while losing their inherent mysticism to a certain degree. This time of the yearly cycle—the first few days of February—give us examples of both of these fates.

There are signs that the observance of these earliest signs of spring go back to Neolithic times in Ireland, though it seems doubtless that myriad other peoples had reverence for this time of year, too. It’s just that the pre-Celtic people built some monuments out of rock, which has a habit of lasting a long time. So we can tell they were intrigued by these first insinuations of spring.

This special time at the beginning of February came to be associated with the goddess Brighid in Gaelic lands. The bright goddess is associated with flame, fires, the hearth. The holiday of Imbolc, still celebrated, was originally dedicated to her. It’s a time of purity and flame, fertility and hope.

As Christianity gained sway in Europe, Imbolc was just one of the pre-Christian seasonal observations that adapted to fit the new regime. Brighid became somewhat interchangeable with St. Brigid, a Christian nun who may or may not have existed in 7th century Ireland. The Catholic celebration Candlemas, on February 2nd, marks the first public presentation of the infant Jesus at a temple in Jerusalem, 40 days after his birth (Christmas). But it also reflects some of its possible pagan roots: candles are everywhere, and the theme of purification manifest.

Predicting weather is also a characteristic of Imbolc and other pagan rituals of Europe. Badgers or snakes poking their heads out of burrows, or not poking their heads out of burrows, were carefully observed.

“The serpent will come from the hole
On the brown Day of Bride,
Though there should be three feet of snow
On the flat surface of the ground.”
—Scottish Gaelic Tradition

Fast forward to our fair country in the 19th century or so. Pennsylvanians of German descent further adapted the traditions of Candlemas and Imbolc to bring them to where they are today in mass US culture: Groundhog Day. We Americans know the drill: if the groundhog sees his shadow when emerging from his hole, back in he goes and we’re faced with the prospect of six weeks of harsh winter weather. Cloudy? Then we’re in for something milder.

This year I’m going to let my surroundings tell me when the earth has awakened. My litmus is daphne; when it flowers, spring is officially in the offing. The hellebore are rioting, and Chris Higgins tells me that “random, unidentifiable bulbs” are coming up in his yard; the magnolia buds plump and my mother’s flowing quince is doing something pink and wonderful against its bare branches; I’m waiting for our single daphne flower cluster to open up to the world before I call it earthwake. Maybe I’ll light a purifying candle in celebration when it happens.

Sources

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imbolc
• http://www.inanna.virtualave.net/brighid.html
• http://www.brighid.org.uk
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purification_of_the_Virgin