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Imbolc, Brigid, Groundhogs and Erin O’Toole

Of all the weeks of the year, the week that is anchored by February 2 is perhaps most remarkable for events astrological, astronomical, historical and cultural. By the time you read this, dear reader, February 2 will have passed, but of all 365 days, it is arguably the day that most looks to the future.
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Clockwise from top left: St. Brigid; a groundhog; Erin O’Toole, erstwhile leader of the the Conservative Party of Canada; Bill Murray in “Groundhog Day.”

Of all the weeks of the year, the week that is anchored by February 2 is perhaps most remarkable for events astrological, astronomical, historical and cultural. By the time you read this, dear reader, February 2 will have passed, but of all 365 days, it is arguably the day that most looks to the future.

February 2, which was on Wednesday this year, is notable for many reasons. For one thing, it marks the Celtic Fire Festival of Imbolc, which heralds the arrival of Spring. So happy Imbolc, everyone. Spring is just around the corner.

The four Celtic Fire Festivals are Imbolc (Feb. 2), Beltane (May Day, heralding the start of the Celtic summer), Lunasa (marking the start of autumn) and Samhain (Halloween, marking the start of the Celtic winter).

Imbolc, which has its roots in pagan fertility rites, is also known as “The Quickening,” the halfway point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Heavy significance here, innit!

February 2 is St. Brigid’s Day, one of the three national saints of Ireland (along with Columba and Patrick). Brigid, who founded convents of nuns, is celebrated for her generosity to the poor. In her case, most of the miracles associated with her relate to healing and household tasks usually attributed to women. Brigid also happens to share her name with a pagan Celtic fertility goddess, Brigid, who is associated with wisdom, poetry, healing, protection, blacksmithing and domesticated animals. I would say Brigid, both Christian and Pagan, has it pretty much all covered.

Candlemas (also spelled Candlemass), also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the Feast of the Holy Encounter, is a Christian holiday commemorating the presentation of Jesus at the temple, in order to induct him into Judaism. Like Brigid represents the evolution from Paganism to Christianity, Candlemas represents the growth of Christianity out of its roots in Judaism.

As we all know, February 2 is Groundhog Day, in which we place our trust in large rodents to predict our meteorological future. There seems to be something especially pagan about this rite, that our modern Christian secular society has enthusiastically embraced.

Groundhog Day as a term has taken on an even more metaphorical significance because of the 1980s Bill Murray film, in which the arrogant weatherman has to relive the same day over and over again. I have heard many people describe the days of the pandemic, especially those lockdown days of 2020, as “Groundhog Day,” where one day is identical to the one before, ad infinitum. But I think most people miss the intent of the metaphor. Groundhog Day is a day that dawns over and over again, until you change the error of your ways. In this regard, I would say Groundhog Day as a metaphor is even more appropriate for our pandemic era.

By the way, Nova Scotia’s celebrity groundhog, Shubenacadie Sam, is predicting a long, cold winter ahead, while Ontario’s Wiarton Willie claims an early spring is on the way. So now what should we think?

(As of press time, there was no word on what Okanagan Okie — the marmot that is the B.C. Interior’s answer to the eastern groundhogs — had to say.)

Speaking of Groundhog Day and events that recur over and over again, February 2, 2022, will go down in history as the day the Conservative Party of Canada voted to get rid of its leader, Erin O’Toole. This seems to have happened so much recently that we must wonder whether it will become a yearly rite, and if February 2 is as good a day as any for the Conservatives to change leaders every year.



Barry Coulter

About the Author: Barry Coulter

Barry Coulter had been Editor of the Cranbrook Townsman since 1998, and has been part of all those dynamic changes the newspaper industry has gone through over the past 20 years.
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