Snowdrops Lore

Snowdrops are often assigned to the month of January, and I'm not sure why because these little flowers are  also known as “Candlemas Bells”.  February 2nd is Candlemas (Festival Day of Candles), and Imbolc.  The ancient festival marks the midpoint of winter and some recognize it as the last day of the forty day Christmas season.

I'm sorry to do this to you but, this post has been moved to my new site, Magickal Ingredients, hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com, and can be found in it's entirety here: Snowdrops

Candlemas Ritual Potpourri

A small cauldron filled with homemade potpourri can be used as a fragrant altar decoration, burned (outdoors) as an offering to the Old Gods during or after a sabbat celebration, or wrapped in decorative paper and ribbons and given to a Craft Sister or Brother as a sabbat gift....

... I am so sorry, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Magickal Apothecary, and can be found in its entirety here: Candelmas Ritual Potpourri

Imbolg Eve

In Celtic times the day was considered to begin at dusk the preceding night, so all major celebrations would commence the night before the day of the festival, much as New Year festivities start on New Year's Eve.

Also called Imbolc, Oimelc and Candlemas, this is the festival of Bride or Bridget. It celebrates the Goddess's transformation from Crone to Maiden and heralds the coming Spring and the change from dark to light. One of the ways to celebrate this is with a Circle of lights....

I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Pagan Calendar, hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com, and can be found in its entirety here: Imbolc Eve

Candlemas

Candlemas is the Christianized name for Imbolc, and all of the church candles are blessed for the year. The Virgin Mary is also honored. Today, this holiday is chiefly connected to weather lore. Even our American calendar keeps the tradition of Groundhog Day, a day to predict the coming weather. The Groundhog Day tradition tells us that if the Groundhog sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of bad weather. An old British rhyme instructed:

If Candlemas day be fair and bright,

Winter will have another flight.

If Candlemas day be shower and rain,

Winter is gone and will not come again.

We pagans see the God as an infant during the time of Imbolc...

I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Pagan Calendar, hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com, and can be found in its entirety here: Candlemas