Today is an ancient Fire Festival of 'waking the earth' from her long winter's sleep and asking her to prepare to bring forth food for us. It is the first of the three spring festivals.
I don't have a garden here, and the ground is still too frozen to till even if I did. Of course, most of these rites took place in northern Europe, where as I write this it's 23F and snowing :)
Today is a day of Fire. A day of cleansing and purification, a day of creativity. Today (and yesterday, which was her Catholic Feast Day) is sacred to one of my patron Goddesses, Brigid.
Brigid is a unique, multi-faceted Goddess- she began mythology as a Celtic Goddess of fire, creativity, smithing, and healing. Her sacred fire has been tended in Kildare for a thousand years, with only brief interruptions when conquers shut it down (and I suspect that a small flame was kept carefully and secretly nurtured). When St Patrick drove the snakes of paganism from Ireland, she was transformed into the Patron saint of children and childbearing, farmers, and printing presses (the modern way to write), who fostered Christ during the flight from Herod.
Today, I will extinguish every light in my home, and I will light as many candles as I think is even remotely reasonable, bringing them all together in one place. I will light them from a single candle, which I will light with a mantra (that I don't know yet, something will come to mind). Then I will go and wake my companions and make suncakes, pancakes (another Brigid symbol- a grain-based food shaped like the fiery sun), and discuss our hopes, our passions, and what we'd like to do creatively in the coming warmer months. The goal is for our hopes and passions to ripen as the earth does in the coming spring.
Enjoy your day, and whatever makes you passionate!
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