Lá Feabhra
I learned at knitting group tonight that today is a special day in the Irish calendar…
February 1-Imbolc…Feast of St Brigid, Secondary Patron of Ireland…Lá Feabhra, the first day of Spring
Warning: Cultural Lesson Ahead
Imbolc is one of the four principal festivals of the Irish calendar, celebrated either at the beginning of February or at the first local signs of Spring. Originally dedicated to the goddess Brigid, in the Christian period it was adopted as St Brigid’s Day. Imbolc is traditionally a time of weather prognostication, and the old tradition of watching to see if serpents or badgers came from their winter dens is perhaps a precursor to Groundhog Day (or so says Wikipedia).
La donn Bride,
Ged robh tri traighean dhá an t-sneachd
Air leachd an lair.“The serpent will come from the hole
On the brown Day of Bride,
Though there should be three feet of snow
On the flat surface of the ground.”
oh definitely….spring is in the air (however, I was out this evening and it is a chill in the air, too bad Kate’s leggings are too small for me)
02 Feb 2007 at 9:49 pm
My confirmation name day! I had forgotten that
Love the spring pictures
05 Feb 2007 at 7:51 pm