Candlemas - St Brigids Day - Groundhog Day

great blog BB.
it brought back memories of being in school. we used to make st. brigid's crosses then and bring them home.

as for the saying if the day is bright and clear , winter will have another fight welllllllllllll its actually sunny over here this morning

Very interesting BB , i,ve been looking in my book as well , It started to snow this morning but it,s bright and sunny now .... it says , if Candlemas be fine and clear ,there'll be two winters in the year ..
It also says ,
If the birds sing before Candlemas , They will cry before May .

Oh dear BB what have you started LOL ...

Not sure Amy - beginning to snow here as I write .Thanks Eileen - mum would ve remembered that , she loved snowdrops and had a dinner service covered in them.

She lived in a remote part of Ireland and seemed to have a saying for everything.Understandable if your life revolved around the seasons in a farming community.

Thank for this blog BB,
Here in our city, as well as other places in Brazil, we celebrate the "Navegantes", St Mary Star of the Sea.

The history refers to the Middle Age and the Holly war, where the crusades invoked St Mary's protection to cross the Mediterranean Sea heading to Palestinian territories.

The celebrations are very interesting with a procession through the streets and the river, from the main catholic cathedral to the St Mary's Star of the Sea church.

Shame I dont know how to post a picture here, so I'll post with my photos... :)

Thank you Aleyna - always interesting to hear how different days are celebrated around the world .

Its not possible to post photos on others blogs yourself but if you could email pic to me I would love to include it here.

:o( too late, i posted them with my photos, but if you still want some i can send it to you add to the blog :)

Please Aleyna as they are beautiful and sure adding one would be of interest and for more views could go to your great photos.Love crossing the river photo esp.!

what happens if it starts bright but is increasingly looking like rain or even snow....?

my father was the same BB, always coming out with strange sayings , the thing is i find myself saying them now to my own kids , who usually just give me funny looks lol

~I have just checked the long range forecast on metcheck and it looks very cold with minus figures for most of the next 10 days~ not what we want to hear!

I don't recall how it got started but the "Groundhog Day" celebration that is so famous here is the Pennsylvania festival, which I think came about as something to relieve the boredom of winter, and as you say probably derived from the hedgehog tradition in UK.
The basic idea is that the mayor of Punxstawney PA goes to the woodland to consult the groundhog and get the forecast for a early spring or 6 more weeks of winter.
Many other places in US and Canada have local traditions also and it's something for the local TV stations to cover. Americans have many festivals throughout the year and all over the country. Festivals for everything from strawberry growing to tricycle racing! I think it is just an excuse for a party!
Because of the separation of church and state here if you went to public schools you did not have any religious based holiday celebrations, except Christmas, and even that has become more of a party too.
I went only to public schools in the US, ironically the only private school I ever attended was in the UK, but my husband went to all Catholic schools in Jamaica and the UK so he remembers all these celebrations!

Aww Eileen if as kids we sat with our mouths open - mother would warn us of something called a Kerry Gawnie ? ( think thats how it spelt ) this thing would apparently jump down your throat and you would then have to swallow tons of salt to get rid of it !! Hows that for child abuse lol

Not sure Arlene as it snowing here now - so can only hope that this will be the end of winter once finished.Bulbs are sprouting early - well by our standards here - so lets think early Spring with some nice weather.

Thanks Wohlibuhli always been interested in traditions - is there any relevance in the term a goundhog day ? or was that just the film.

lol sounds like your mother's sayings beat my dads hands down BB

BB enjoyed your blog, very interesting.......as for traditions, does anybody follow the magpie one, you know one for sorrow two for joy etc, we have to say Good Morning Mr Magpie how are you and your children today, crazy isnt it? and if I see only one magpie I am convinced there will be bad luck and have to search the sky for another one.!!
Also putting new shoes on the table, walking under ladders, opening umbrellas in the house........and so on.
My Mother has a lot to answer for. lol

Interested in your comment Aleyna. My Joe's church is Our Lady Star of the Sea here in Brixham. Would love to see your pics.

Well if you read earlier comments Dd - you re certainly not alone in that ! Aye Eileen - it was very remote where she lived so guess imagination was a great source of entertainment.

my son salutes when he sees a magpie Dotty.
also i would go nuts if anyone put new shoes on the table here lol.

do you know the name of the village or town where your mum is from BB?

Thanks, BB - I really enjoyed your interesting blog.
Yes, I knew it was Candlemas today as I read the lesson in church this morning - Luke 2, vv 21 - 38 if anyone wants to read it for themselves. Two candles were lit, as well, to remember the day.

So the greenery in homes stayed as long as up to today? 40 days from His birth? Why then do we think it's 'unlucky' to keep holly and ivy in the house after 12th night? Do you know?

Hi Joeanne hope you can now see Aleyna s stunning photo - isnt this beautiful ? Her photo page has more well worth viewing.Really worried that I would delete comments while trying to add to blog a first for me !

Yes Eileen it was a farmhouse in a field sadly no longer standing as peat roof didnt offer much protection !

Near Lough Garra Co . Sligo six miles from Riverstown 12 from Sligo but in those days may as well have been 1200 !

Quite what she made of England when never having set foot out of Co. Sligo ...

Hi Spritz my only guess would be the cross over of traditions Christmas trees 12 days of Christmas etc all recent introductions and now we believe all decor should be removed on 12th night.

Probably no bad thing as dont think Id want to hang on to such things for 40 nights!

OOOPS, i deleted the pictures, as soon as i send them to Bonkers... :S

LOL Aleyna theres me trying to give you credit for those beautiful photos - do put them back on as too good to miss !

Your right Bonkers, that picture was truly stunning. Would love to see it from other side but still WOW!

Do you mean other side of photo or other side of world ?
Agree to both ! My fault , Aleyna and I got wires crossed - she posted them for me to download then removed once I got them , hopefully she will return to photo page as it looks a beautiful ceremony.

V good blog, Bonkers.
Turned up for church today in a foul mood, I'll be the first to admit, all frumpy-grumpy with my stressful family, bless them. All the candle stuff and talk of HOPE etc etc really cheered me up.
That and the vicar giving me a cheery wave as I galloped up the treacherous steps to the (torched) lychgate.
The Brazil angle looks interesting, will browse further.

To be honest Weeding no idea where this would lead as our ceremonies seem to be inter-mingled with traditions - with so many world wide members just interested to see what this day means to others.

Think many of us get those sorts of days , great that you able to cheer up .

A very interesting blog.
Reading some of the comments - my mother won't put new shoes on the table nor open an umbarell in the house either.
My nephew salutes a magpie.
I don't know of any traditions on Candlemass, maybe because I come from a Welsh Chapel family. Welsh chapels were very defiant. They never kept church celebrations. I don't know why.
I only remember Christmas Easter and Whitsun.

Didn't understand 1st part of that last comment, B but never mind.
Just wanted to add that the chargrilled lychgate was not a recent event, and not in honour of Candlemas or anything. : )

Oops no offence Weeding just interesting how various traditions mean different things to people no judgements being made - when looking up Candlemas was interested to see where and how certain traditions arose and how they may be celebrated - if at all - around the world .

Thats interesting Hywel wondered if it may have been a Saints Day with you as it is in Ireland.Still not long to St.Davids day - dont think my daffs will be out by then , hope yours are : - )

Hi, here in my bit of West Yorkshire we have too many magpies. Each year we get up to about six or seven magpie families, but some time during the winter the local famer does a "cull", because we always start the breeding off with a pair. Unfortunately these hansome birds do eat eggs, and small birds and other nasty habits. I have never lived anywhere where they were so much in evidence.

When I am out in the garden I can hear the farmers shooting.... you have got to wonder what they are killing?

Sorry to hear that Marge..sadly none of the crow family ie rooks,magpies,jays are protected by law,so almost anything goes.If its any comfort,often hear distant,and sometimes not too distant shooting here,especially unfortunately on a Sunday.Always wonder what poor creature is on the receiving end of it.

Really? I didn't know that, BB!

Yes...sad reallySpritz.Living next to a rookery,get to watch their habits,and theyre really sociable birds..they takje it in turns to eat,and rarely squabble the way starlings and blackbirds do !

Just googled '12th night' apparently when we bring greenery into the house we bring in greenery spirits to protect them over winter.By getting rid of them before 12th night we release them back outside for spring.If we fail to do this spring won't arrive !! Also if we don't take decorations down in time we should leave them up all year-i think someone must have forgotten locally as i pass a house on way home from work that still has a christmas tree in the window !!

OMG Aster,probably it will stay up all year then.!lol Talking of spring,cant wait...our snowdrops are flowering now,and little pockets of crocus shoots all over garden.Cheering isnt it !!

Yes and as you said earlier BB hopefully this will be the last lot of snow ! Settling now in Lincs-will be interesting drive to work tomorrow ! Very interesting blog, I had never heard of St Brigid and could not have told you when candlemas was !!

Thanks Aster..if its any consolation,we are in for it too,heavy snow for next couple of days ! Take care driving to work x

One thing I've never understood - if you bring a wet umbrella into the house, how do you dry it without opening it if this is an unlucky omen?

We used to have an old hall stand Andrew that had lead drip trays at the bottom.We then emptied them when the umbrella was dry.Nowadays probably just stick it in the bath. !

Brilliant blog BB. I'm from a Methodist Chapel upbringing and I dont remember Candlemas being mentioned at Sunday School. Like Hywel said, Whitsun and Easter were big celebrations. Loved my Grandma's and Dad's old sayings too, only wish I could hear them say them these days :-(

Aye Dawn - my Sunday school we had candles blessed and were lit for various Saints . Although very different we share threads that link faiths beliefs and traditions together .Looking forward to someone from US explaining what they do with Groundhogs - not get much sense from them today as Superbowl on and I believe whole country grinds to halt for that !

Lovely blog BB. Very interesting and informative.

I can't help you with the Groundhog day stuff. I've never understood it. There are no particular celebrations around it up here but I think in Punxstawney they make some ceremony or other surrounding the poor old groundhog coming out of his burrow and thousands of people turn up. If he sees his shadow then there supposedly will be 6 weeks more of winter, if he doesn't then spring will come early.

You know, there is more to that poem......

As the light grows longer
The cold grows stronger
If Candlemas be fair and bright
Winter will have another flight
If Candlemas be cloud and snow
Winter will be gone and not come again
A farmer should on Candlemas day
Have half his corn and half his hay
On Candlemas day if thorns hang a drop
You can be sure of a good pea crop

Oh Gilli,thankyou so much for that..wasnt aware of the extra lines to the poem,and clearly its a significant day to certain people.Those extra lines make more sense of the poem xx

Thanks for the poem Gilli - I love all the superstitions and also go mad if I see a lone magpie when I am on my way to a competition or match with one of my boys. I hope I have not scarred them for life?!
I thought Candle mas was today and I woke to a thickish covering of snow and dense grey cloud - it is clearing now and the sum is coming through so what on earth does this mean?

Lets hope the line if Candlemas be cloud and snow - winter will be gone and not come again ..rings true as had plenty of snow here today with more to come Gm .

Hi BB, just caught the end of Channel 5 News, they mentioned Groundhog Day, the little fella was held high but weather predicted not going to be good for 6 weeks :-(

Omg...but if today is anything to go by,might just believe it lol

I can well believe it BB. When you see that Grenville and others who dont normally get snow are getting it, I wouldnt be at all surprised. My Dad always used to say February was the worst month :-(

Well Dawn just had to read more about this - still not sure if groundhogs hibernate but Punxustawney Phil declared from his burrow on Gobblers knob ( I kid you not that really is where he lives ! ) that he saw his shadow.

Do you get the feeling sometimes there are things you really shouldnt have asked ? lol Sounds like my kind of event - bonkers.

bb love your blog. Yes, Groundhogs do hibernate...Do they always come out Februray 2nd...don't know the answer to that...my guess is yes if they are prodded enough for tradition sake. Regardless of sun or no sun the calander states there is 6 more weeks of winter. I usually use the first sight of a Robin as my indicater of spring weather but this year I have seen Robins all winter...I have never seen that before. (wonder if they all have Alzheimer's disease...because if I had wings I would have flown south)
I agree with wohlibuli ... people looking for an excuse to party. We celebrate St. Pats Day and most of the folks that celebrate do not have Irish roots. chili cook offs, pumpkin, turkey, popcorn, marigold, strawberry Festivals etc. ... All reasons to party. As far as superstitions I have actually seen people stop their cars and turn around because a black cat crossed their path.

Not Being A Religious Person Myself Jane/Ray I Still Find This is a Very Interesting Blog XXX

Hit it right on the nailhead Kmc.
Any excuse to party! I think my favorite is our local Yellow Daisy festival in sept. celebrating a genetic deviant of a native wildflower. It's a PARTY! : )

Had religious upbringing Jacque but my mother esp always felt we should never sit in judgement on others beliefs.

Sadly thats not how other faiths see it , despite often worshipping the same God.

So guess I d say was non judgementally religious , love the Quaker philosophy but do like the odd beer ! whatever floats your boat.

Thanks for all the input Yellow Daisy festival sounds great Wohlibuhli - not as bizarre as Groundhog day or is it ?

If it lightens the mood during these difficult times cant be bad can it ?

Not really bizarre but still fun.
Gobblers knob just sounds more interesting than Turkey hill!

Sounds more interesting than a lot of things Wohlibuhli ..
but where does the turkey fit with the groundhog ? The groundhog appears out of turkey hill ?

Dont worry we have some crazy traditions here esp . in our smaller villages you really wouldnt believe some of them either !

We do not make a big deal of it here....perhaps the Catholics do with Candlemas and such....I heard on the news that poor ole Phil was drug out and that he saw his shadow...so of course we have another 6 weeks of winter to tolerate...LOL..

Thanks Cj just real interested in others traditions and celebrations esp when Aleyna posted those lovely pics - as I say my mother made a deal of it as named after a Saint , so grew up knowing about the day and just wondered if others round the world did too.

Perhaps I need to get out more ? so lets hope this snow doesnt last !

My mother & Grandmother were superstitious...don't kill a spider it will rain....no going under ladders, letting black cats cross your path, no opening an umbrella inside of course...if you spill salt you must throw a pinch over your left shoulder and breaking a mirror gives you 7 years bad luck...I really do not kill spiders...but the rest I do not give much creedance too....the one that I like best was from my English Grandmother on my father's side of the family...she was a gardener...and always got plant slips from me...gave them as well, but always just slipped them into my pocket and when she got hers...she insisted I was not to mention that I was giving it to her...I got used to when she came to visit...the sly sideways look she would give me as she snuck a slip of a plant into her pocket...the superstition was it grew better if it was stolen...now where that came from ...I have no clue...but it is a cute memory of my Grandmother and I treasure it...

Thats lovely Cj - I ve heard this tale about the herb Rue which was supposed to grow better if stolen from a neighbours garden.Because of this it became known as the herb of repentance.

In ancient times it was supposed to offer protection from witches so its location had to be kept secret.For fear of a spell being cast upon its growing site.

Whether that spread to other plants over the years not sure.

LOL...she was Scottish and Welsh as well...LOL....doubt that makes a difference...LOL..

As well as English ? She must ve collected quite a few plants on her travels then ... lol

My Great Aunt always turned the "silver" over in her pocket with the new moon. Said it supposed to bring wealth. Poor old lass.....never worked for her.
My Grandma always said it was unlucky to have Lilac in the house. I can remember someone had very kindly brought a bunch of lovely blooms for her and then something happened that she thought was unlucky so she took the bunch and threw the whole lot out the back door.....luckily the kind lady who brought them had left by that time. LOL
Through my family history research, I found out there is a festival in Market Weighton in Yorkshire called the Yorkshire Giant Day. The Yorkshire Giant, William Bradley was born in 1787 and was my 4x Great Uncle. He grew to 7' 9" and apparently was quite a celebrity back then. Funny they still celebrate him to this day.

He must have been a very special man...you don't get celebrated for just being big...when is his special day Gilli..I would like to celebrate it too...

Oops. It is called Giant Bradley Day....not the Yorkshire Giant Day. My mistake. This year it is on Sunday the 24th May. There are a couple of websites if you are interested....

http://www.giantbradley.co.uk/

http://www.wicstun.com/giant.html

We should both celebrate it Cj. What should we do?

Throw Yorkshire pudding...and climb walls...hmmm donkey rides sound fun...well we may have to figure out our own way of celebrating....lol...looks like some walk on stilts...lol...I used to be able to do that..I need to look at the other site yet..maybe there are some more idea's there..new thoughts after looking...lol..

Throwing Yorkshire pudd sounds like fun depending on who we get to throw it at....a certain Welsh person comes to mind....LOL.

OH my but then you have to be in Wales....this event is held in Yorkshire...hence the pudding...right? LOL...now why would they be throwing Yorskire pudding?...is there a superstition in throwing Yorkshire Pudding? My mind is in a whirl!!!! throwing puddings, donkey rides, stilt walking...where will it end? Are there prizes? I would really like there to be prizes...Cryil ever heard of this BB? He gets around I know....

Hi, if the month has an "R" in it, when you wake up you say "White Rabbits" - brings you good luck. Or that's what my mum said.

There are always the carrying sacks of coal races in the summer.

Up in the hills they do weird things with sheep!

From marge, also known as Yorkshire Pudding ( I am small and round).

We need to be saying White Rabbits this month for sure then....!!! No wonder we have all these problems going on..What were we thinking?

Marge..would you like us to call you YP..then?

Oh my what have I said....maybe not...YorP? yorp...hmmm..oh dear....how bout just simply Marge...really do like Marge just fine...... LOL...

Just love these blogs - they keep me entertained for hours... and well informed!! Yorkshire giants, stolen slips... that one must be true - my parents 'stole' a tiny slip of bamboo from a public garden once, slipped it under the blanket in my sister's pram, and planted it. 10 years later it had almost taken over their garden, and they had to hack it all down. It still pops up from time to time...

That really sounds like poetic justice to me, Elke!

Well how could I have missed it ! Apparently Sunday 1 st of February was Yorkshire Pudding Day but seeing as I have them most of the year didnt realize there was a special day for them.

There are a few Yorkshire pudding throwing competitions but the largest events are held by those sneaky Lancastrians who build Yorkshire pudding towers and try to knock them down by throwing their black puddings at them! Black pudding is a slice of mixed offal blood gut etc almost anything left over from a pig bar the bits you can normally eat ! Its usually served as part of a traditional English breakfast - vegetarians need not apply.

Gilli Market Weighton about 30 miles from us and visited a few times theres a board outside one of the pubs dedicated to the height of Mr Bradley.

Brilliant blog, and the comments which followed it made great reading! I only joined GOY last month, so I'm still picking my way through everything and catching up!

Candlemas, before the Christian church got hold of it, was Imbolc ( meaning: 'in the belly' ) the old celtic pagan festival marking the start of the lambing season ( hence 'in the belly' ) as well as being the feast of Brigid, one of the most favoured and respected of all the pagan goddesses. Brigid ( later transmuted by the church as St. Brigit ) was a Goddess of healing, poetry, fire, smithcraft and the hearth. She was protectress of midwives and was thought to bring new fertility to the land.

In it's ( rather successful, as it happens! ) attempts to coerce people from the paths of 'paganism' and worship of the natural world into the fold of this new religion from the Middle East, the Christian church had little choice but to adapt, disguise and merge older beliefs into their new ones in order to appease the 'locals'.

Imbolc was a fire festival ( all kinds of fires were associated with Brigid, Sun Goddess extraordinaire, complete with her fire wheel....which became the Brigid Cross in the hands of the church ) hence the Christian 'Candlemas'.

...and anyone who throws Yorkshire Puddings, Food of the Gods, should be put in the stocks and pelted with rotten tomatoes until they repent and beg for mercy.

Umbrellas can be dried by turning them upside down in the house and resting them on their bottoms. It's only unlucky if you hold them upright.....

New shoes should never be placed on a table, otherwise death will rapidly follow ( the reason being that a newly laid out corpse would be wearing new shoes in readiness for the funeral, and would be laid out, coffined, on the family table ).

Oh I love these old tales......

Crows on the chimneys of a house always betokened a death in the household....but this one has a very logical reason behind it. Fires were only ever lit in bedrooms when someone was ill....and crows, wanting to warm their feet, would gather on the toasty chimneypot! So....crows on the chimney meant that there was a fire in the grate...which meant that someone in the house was ill and in bed....and if they were ill, there might be a fair old chance that they would die.....QED!

This has turned into more of a side-blog than a comment! I apologise, but it's just so fascinating!

;-)

Bonkersbon lol kill witches, witches were the healers of the towns, they would mix potions of herbs for medicine.

The head councils as we know them now, were jealous, felt their power was being taken from them, as the towns folk would go to the witches as you call them lol for help not the councils. So they all met and decided to await for some one who visited the old ladies (witches) to die, there upon they would shout curse has been layed upon them by the witch, were upon witch hunting came about. They were paid highly from the councils to witch hunt, this is why it became popular the money lol bit like to day. he he
Most medicines have herbs in them even now Celery in Arthistis tablets, sage to rinse you mouth when having ulcers, As in gold frankinscense and mirth the mirth is used in mouth wash you use today.

As for decorations at christmas this is all to do with pagans druids. All of Ireland, Britain and Europe were all pagans, when Rome was just a dot on the maps. Ireland still has a pagan mound which when the sun hits a certain spot runs down the opening straight to the centre of the mound which stems from the old belief of pagans, it has been televised, its a Irish version of Stonehenge. As for the decorations, it was holly they bought in to the house to celebrate that there were still fruit the berry of the holly to see them over the winter as paganisum is mainly worshipping of food as this is what counts in life, with out mother nature, we would all be dead. No food no life. If you don't put back what you take out disaster happens. This method is still used to day, in sanctioning countries with food supplies also medicines to control them, if we are threatened. The pagans worshiped the oak and the mistletoe as they seen that the oak could produce life as the mistletoe grew from it, hence the mistletoe being hung in houses for christmas. Halloween is 1st of the winter comming the New year.

Most of the weather was studied because of the food crops in order for survival, to prevent like in the potatoe fammine in Ireland.

Jesus was not born at christmas but January look to the old scriptures as one priest said who left the vatigan, as most of the bible has had passages taken out, to suit to days readings.