FEBRUARY, 2010

January 31 - February 10:

 1/31 - 2/3 (3 days):   

In calendars throughout the Northern hemisphere, this is the time of one of the eight great festivals in the solar year. This one, midway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox, is the feast of mid-winter best known in the west as Imbolc or Brigantia. The rites of fire and purification that are performed now clear the way for the returning light and resurgent vitality of spring.

Greek festival honoring Dionysos, god of wine and of all passionate, ecstatic experience, in anticipation of the moment when Dionysos re-emerges from his winter phase as Hades/Plouton, king of the underworld, and is reborn in the Spring as the young god of male sexuality and ecstatic love. During this festival the vines are pruned and sprinkled with old wine, thus symbolically using the old blood to refresh the ever-renewing young blood of new life.

2/1 (Mon):

Feast of St. Bridget, Christian counterpart to the ancient Gaelic goddess Brigit, or Bridhe (See Jan. 23), whose feast is still commemorated each year with the weaving of green reeds into a design combining the features of the cross, the spiral and the swastika, symbolizing the eternal recurrence of new life.

In the Khemitian calendar, feast and birthday of Nut, the primordial sky netert who was said to hold all souls within her womb, and was the mother of Ausar (Osiris), Aset (Isis), Hor or "old Horus"--that is, Hor as light being, before his birth as son of Ausar and Aset--Set and Nebt-het (Nephthys). (Month of Pamenot, days 18 and 19)

 2/2 (Tue):

Candlemas, feast of the purification of the Virgin on the day when Mary took the boy Jesus to the Temple for the first time. As the first presentation of the child in the temple and the ritual purification of the mother were always done 40 days after the birth of a boy (80 days for a girl), Candlemas always comes 40 days after Christmas. Since the Christian middle ages, candles blessed at the church on this day have been used the next day for the feast of St. Blaise, and are kept throughout the year for protection against dark forces.

Also the Festival of Februalia, honoring the old Roman goddess Februa, mother of Mars, later merged with Juno to become Juno Februa, so called because expiatory offerings called februa are made to her now, in the time of purification. This festival thus embodies the transition from the latent vitality of late winter to the awakening of spring, symbolized in many cultures by weather rituals -- such as Groundhog Day -- in which sun or rain, light or shadow, indicate whether winter will continue to rule, or yield soon to spring.

The Yoruba and Santeria peoples of Africa and the Americas honor Oya, the Orisha of death and rebirth, one of many manifestations of the one God Olodumare, bringer of life and death.

2/3 (Tue):

In the Roman Catholic calendar, feast of St. Blaise, whose efficacy in the prevention of throat diseases inspired rituals like those of the preceding day, Candlemas. Crossed, unlighted candles, symbolizing purification of speech, are held at the throat of those receiving the blessing.

In Japan, 2/3 is the joyous festival of Setsubun, in which the people cast out evil spirits from their homes and other places by throwing dried beans out of doors while chanting the words "Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi" -- "Out with the devil, in with the good". In the comic ritual plays of the season, children in the crowds of shrinegoers throw the dried beans at devil dancers carrying grotesque weapons. In the annual Setsubun dances at Heian Shrine in Kyoto -- where this shot of the author wielding a big tsubo, or iron club, was taken -- the chief oni sings the ancient Tsuina, one of Japan's oldest surviving ritual melodies. It, and the Setsubun rite itself, comes from an older Chinese practice called Ta Nuo, the cleansing of the field to prepare it for the spring thaw and planting time.

2/5 (Fri):

In the ancient western world, this is one of the most important days of the year for all forms of prophecy and divination, sacred to the goddess Tyche and her counterparts: Fortuna in Rome and Wyrd among the Celtic peoples. All were superseded in medieval Christian Europe by St. Agatha, whose feast is celebrated on this day.

2/6 (Sat):

In the Greco-Roman calendar, this is the feast of Aphrodite and Venus, goddess of love. This is the day for poetry, drama, comedy, music and pictures in honor of the paragon of Beauty.

2/9 (Tue):

In the ancient Greek calendar, this day is the annual Feast day of Apollo in his aspect as Helios, god of the Sun, honored now a week after the mid-winter festival.

2/9 - 13 (five days):

In a lively dance rite similar to the Japanese Setsubun on Feb. 3, Tibetan monks costumed as reindeer enact the Vajrakilaya Puja, which aims to destroy the demons of ego attachment.

Unlike the rituals just before Imbolc time, however, the timing of this Buddhist feast is not keyed to the mid-season rhythm of the Earth year, but rather to the Asian lunar year. Now, just prior to the Losar New Year that comes on Feb. 14, it is time to purify the community of all illusions of separateness by invoking in each one the pure heart of the deer.

For Christians, Carnival! begins today. This one-week festival offers a last chance to feast and party -- Carne Vale means "so long, meat!" -- before the penitential season of Lent begins. Carnival culminates on Shrove Tuesday, the famous Mardi Gras (Feb. 16), when since the old days it is still customary to eat pancakes filled with sacred and medicinal herbs. The cakes are said to protect the believer against shortages of food and money during the coming year, provided they are eaten before 8:00pm. It is said that, festivals being what they are, the cakes are often washed down with beer, or wine, even both.