I may be modifying my stance on the Christmas lights. They are even beginning to bore me. And this morning, while researching a question about "Candlemas" (look it up) I discovered that right after Epiphany, or "Little Christmas" (January 6), Candlemas is the traditional day to take down Christmas decorations. I guess I'll take them down tomorrow, since everyone knows Groundhog Day and Candlemas are the same day. Well, almost everyone does. I once tried to tell a really hysterically funny joke that had Groundhog Day for a punchline, but unfortunately I was in Wales at the time and was met with confused stares and stony silence. Once I explained the extremely bizarre tradition (which sounds weirder the more one tries to explain it) they were, of course, howling. But at me and my mistake, rather than at the joke (which is still pretty darn funny and if you're nice to me maybe I'll tell you some day).
That said, Candlemas was superimposed on an ancient feast day which celebrated the coming of spring. There are stories of the goddess, Brigid (not to be confused with Saint Brigid, but I do anyway) and loaves of bread, buried in the first furrow of the field dug in preparation for the coming planting season. The Christian holiday has to do with the Feast of the Presentation, when Mary, having been delivered of a male child, was "purified" after forty days, and Jesus made His first appearance in the temple. It is also the halfway mark between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox. There is no mention anywhere of a meteorologically precocious rodent, with apologies to Punxatawny Phil.
So tomorrow the rest of the Christmas decorations come down, right on time according to ancient traditions. Or maybe I'll just throw the circuit-breaker until around April, because let's face it..whether Phil sees his shadow or not, it's still winter out there!
That said, Candlemas was superimposed on an ancient feast day which celebrated the coming of spring. There are stories of the goddess, Brigid (not to be confused with Saint Brigid, but I do anyway) and loaves of bread, buried in the first furrow of the field dug in preparation for the coming planting season. The Christian holiday has to do with the Feast of the Presentation, when Mary, having been delivered of a male child, was "purified" after forty days, and Jesus made His first appearance in the temple. It is also the halfway mark between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox. There is no mention anywhere of a meteorologically precocious rodent, with apologies to Punxatawny Phil.
So tomorrow the rest of the Christmas decorations come down, right on time according to ancient traditions. Or maybe I'll just throw the circuit-breaker until around April, because let's face it..whether Phil sees his shadow or not, it's still winter out there!
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