Blessed Imbolc!
Today marks on the modern Catholic calendar, St. Brigid's Day, the patroness of Ireland. While the modern calendar says winter and in some places snow is on the ground, on the old calendar it is an approximate date for Imbolc, the first day of Spring. It translates from Old Irish as "in the belly" and is said marked the pregnancy of the ewes. It is one of the fire festivals, or major festivals, on the Druid calendar. With Beltane, it is one of the two that are goddess-centered days. There are several traditional ways to mark Imbolc/St Brigid's Day. Many of these carry whispers of pre-christian traditions.
It is symbolic that temperatures here in the Northeastern United States are in the 50's and possibly 60's. For me, I finished the first draft of Ogham Court last night and today will begin the first draft of next novel. I prefer to let a manuscript rest for a month before I begin edits, so alternating projects works for me. I will also be putting final touches on Dark Dealings with the goal to publish within the next month (crosses fingers) :-)
I want to share just a few links with you to explore and celebrate.
From the Irish Central website: http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/St-Brigids-Day-February-1-marks-start-of-Celtic-Spring-138470479.html
Wikipedia gives an acceptable overview here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imbolc
Imbolc is the date of the second event on my upcoming novel Dark Dealings. While Micaela does not realized it, the event marks the beginning of a new cycle of her life and the birth of her "true" self in a dangerous world of magic, vampires and shapeshifters .
Anything that gets me to spring faster is awesome in my book. :-) Of course, it definitely feels like spring, too. To be honest, I a really enjoying this weather, although I seem to be in the minority. :-)
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