Celebrate the most underappreciated holiday of the year! February 1st is St. Brigid's Day or Imbolc or Candlemas. St. Brigid of Ireland, the woman who some make a good case that she should be the Patron Saint of Ireland before Patrick. Others say she was the pre-Christian fertility or fire goddess of the Celts and that the Catholic Church co-opted her day as they did with many pagan pre-Christian holidays. Whether one celebrates Candlemas as a Catholic holy day or as a one of the Pagan cross-quarter days, it is also the Festival of Lights. Regardless, I have loved February 1st and 2nd since college as Groundhog Day is the most whimsical holiday of the year, thankfully it does not have a 2 month retail buying season building up to it. Tomorrow, I shall take a photo to Puxsutawney Phil to St. Brigid's Well in Kildare to celebrate properly.
posted by msjen on Feb 1, 2006 - 11 comments

PunxsutawneyPhil.com. As the US gears up for groundhog day, the groundhog day hype machine gets into full swing. Be sure to pick up your t-shirts before the official day. According to their history pages, creating a holiday around celebrating the whims of vermin wasn't an original idea, it's apparently rooted in European lore.
posted by mathowie on Jan 27, 2000 - 1 comment