Everyone looks for the first snowdrop as proof that our part of the earth is once more turning towards the sun, but folklore maintains that we should be wary of bringing them into the house before St Valentine’s Day, as any unmarried females could well remain spinsters!
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Saturday morning brought an Imbolc gift of thick fog, as our select company of three set off onto the rain-sodden moor. ‘Here we are,’ said Mrs Darley, as the well appeared before us after a ten minute climb. She immediately began to unwrap a joint offering from Phyllis and herself of an ivy swag interwoven with white ribbons and laid it across the lintel of the well. I followed suit but with a far more modest bunch of pine branches and silver honesty.
‘Drinks, dear?’ Mrs Darley looked at Phyllis, who right on cue produced three paper cups from her bag and filled them with whiskey from a hip flask.
Mots clés pagans paganism samhain beltane carole-carlton mrs-darley pagan-whispers moon-magic mrs-darley-s-pagan-whispers mrs-darley-series-of-books pagan-book pagan-festivals imbolc irish-celts lughnasadh
Tea was the order of the day, neat for the hardened drinker or containing a tot of whiskey for those who liked it watered down! Throughout the afternoon, the wonderful aroma of rosemary wafted throughout the cottage and I later discovered that Mrs Darley sprinkled the dried herb on her grill pan and, with the grill on a low heat, it scented the whole cottage, bringing a feeling of warmth and security to us all.
Carole CarltonMots clés pagans paganism samhain beltane carole-carlton mrs-darley pagan-whispers moon-magic mrs-darley-s-pagan-whispers mrs-darley-series-of-books pagan-book pagan-festivals imbolc irish-celts lughnasadh
Cleansing and clearing are two words which suit the essence of Imbolc, as this is February, the Roman month of purification. This can be a cleansing of the self, in undertaking a good ‘detox’, or a clearing and cleansing of the home, in keeping with the tradition of spring-cleaning.
Carole CarltonMots clés pagans paganism samhain beltane carole-carlton mrs-darley pagan-whispers moon-magic mrs-darley-s-pagan-whispers mrs-darley-series-of-books pagan-book pagan-festivals imbolc irish-celts lughnasadh
The festival of the spring equinox speaks of freshness and youth, of excitement and endless possibilities. Nature begins to quicken and early flowers open to the warmth of the strengthening sun, bringing the colours of lemon and yellow into our lives on the wings of a March wind.
Carole CarltonMots clés pagans paganism samhain beltane carole-carlton mrs-darley pagan-whispers moon-magic mrs-darley-s-pagan-whispers mrs-darley-series-of-books pagan-book pagan-festivals imbolc irish-celts lughnasadh spring-equinox
I nodded, appreciating the wisdom of her words.‘Yellow is the colour of early spring,’ she said, ‘just look at your garden!’ She gestured towards the borders, which were full of primulas, crocuses and daffodils. ‘The most cheerful of colours,’ she continued, ‘almost reflective in its nature and it is of course the colour of the mind.’
‘That’s why we surround ourselves with it!’ laughed Phyllis, ‘in the hope that its properties will rub off.’‘Nonsense dear,’ said Mrs Darley dismissively, ‘Yellow light simply encourages us to think more positively. It lifts our spirits and raises our self-esteem in time for summer.’I immediately made a mental note to surround myself with the colour of the season and, like Phyllis, hoped that some of its properties would rub off on me.
Mots clés pagans paganism samhain beltane carole-carlton mrs-darley pagan-whispers moon-magic mrs-darley-s-pagan-whispers mrs-darley-series-of-books pagan-book pagan-festivals imbolc irish-celts lughnasadh
The word ‘equinox’ simply means ‘of equal length’ and refers to the twelve hours of daylight and twelve hours of darkness at this point in the year. It was originally thought to stem from two Latin words aequus meaning equal and nox meaning night. The word ‘Vernal’, as this equinox is often called, is derived from the Latin word vernus meaning ‘of spring’.
Carole CarltonMots clés pagans paganism equinox samhain beltane carole-carlton mrs-darley pagan-whispers moon-magic mrs-darley-s-pagan-whispers mrs-darley-series-of-books pagan-book pagan-festivals imbolc irish-celts lughnasadh spring-equinox
Legend has it that during the festival of Eostre, all fires had to be extinguished in the Goddess’ honour and could only be relit from a sacred flame in the centre of the village. The new fire was seen as a symbol of sacredness and purity, something which everyone wanted to bring into their homes at such a lovely time of year when everything was fresh and new.
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Legend tells us that the High King of Tara, who ruled supreme over all the Kings of Ireland, looked out from his castle one day during the festival of Eostre and saw a fire blazing away on a far hillside. Furious with this obvious disregard for the law, for which the penalty was death, he sent out soldiers to arrest the guilty party. When the soldiers arrived at the hillside they found St Patrick, the patron Saint of Ireland, piling wood onto his fire and immediately seized him. Standing before the King he was asked why he disobeyed the law, and he explained that his fire was a sign that Christ had risen from the dead and was the light of the world. The King so admired Patrick’s courage that he forgave him and became a convert to Christianity!
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Strange as it may seem, the association of eggs and bunnies at Easter time are actually connected and, to discover more, we must once again turn our attention to the Saxon fertility Goddess, Eostre.
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