From Goddess to Groundhog

from: authorlauradelua.blogspot.com

Happy Imbolc!  What the heck is that, you say?

Well, if you didn't or don't feel like clicking the link that would bring you to my favorite Wikipedia, here is the short story:  It's the third Sabbat of the eight Sabbats of the Wiccan year.  Oooh!  Did I say 'Wiccan'?  Indeedy I did.  I'm not coming out of the witchy closet here because I can't really say I'm Wiccan...  I do little witchy things every day, but because I'm not disciplined and doing full blown rituals, am not a member of a coven, etc.  I don't want to say, "I'm a Wiccan." because I think it's disrespectful to those who are very devoted to the Craft.  I just kinda do it my way.

It's kind of funny too, considering I'm a Spinster.  I would have been a certain target of the Inquisition what with my unmarried, childless, hairy chinned status.  Oh, and I love baking sweets for the little kids.



Imbolc is yet another one of those Pagan holidays that has been hijacked.  I'm not going to say, "By the Catholic Church" or by secular society.  I hate all that.  CBH will rail about how evil the Roman Catholic Church (and most Christians, when she really goes off her rails) because of their persecution of women as witches.  Blah blah blah.  The 'blahs' do not mean I don't think it was a terrible time in history.  It most definitely was.  However, I've always ended the conversation with my sister by asking, "And how many years has it been since the Catholic Church or any Christians have burned a witch at the stake?"

I get a blink blink and silence.  It's just one of those things...  You can't write off an entire group of people because of things that other members of that group have done -- in the past, or in the present.

Wooops!  Not at my point yet.

So.  Imbolc has been celebrated by many cultures over the centuries.  Not all cultures call it Imbolc, but one theme seems to thread them all together -- it's half way between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. That means it's a time of renewal and gathering for the warmer months ahead.  In Celtic tradition, it is the Goddess Brighid that is celebrated.  She is the Goddess of Fire, Home, and Hearth, so it was deemed appropriate to do rituals of purification.

Some traditions tie Brighid's Day to Cailleach the Hag.  While Brighid rules the Summer months, Cailleach rules the Winter months.  So, on this day, if Cailleach wishes to make the winter longer, she will make it a bright and sunny day so she is able to gather enough wood to keep her fires burning during the extra days of winter.  If Cailleach doesn't feel like prolonging winter, she will make it a gloomy and gray day and just stay inside.

That is how we get to Ground Hogs, my lovies.  For, if it is a sunny day, Punxsutaney Phil will see his shadow and be scared back into his hole for six more weeks.  If it's a gloomy day, Phil will not be scared of his shadow and we will have an early Spring.  They made it opposite of what Cailleach would do, but it's the same concept.  Oh, and Phil is immortal according to his website's FAQ.  He drinks a special punch every summer which prolongs his life for another seven years.

From Goddess to Groundhog ... Both control the length of winter, both are immortal.  But the groundhog has a website.