According to the law of Moses, a woman upon giving birth was considered ritually unclean and could not touch any consecrated object or enter the sanctuary until after a period of purification. The birth of a boy required a 40-day period of purification from the date of birth; a girl required an 80-day period.
When the days of purification had been completed, the mother was required to bring to the priest in the temple a one-year old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. But, if the mother could not afford a lamb, she was permitted to take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for the burnt offering and the other for the sin offering. These items could usually be purchased from the temple. Bringing animals to the temple risked injury, making them unsuitable for a sacrifice. (Note: a burnt offering was made to express devotion and submission to God’s will. A sin offering was made to atone for sin and cleanse from defilement.)
Once the animal offerings were brought to the priest, he sacrificed them to make atonement for the new mother. She would then be cleansed of impurity and allowed to enter the temple. Incidentally, a burnt offering had to be burned completely and not eaten. Usually, an animal sacrificed as a sin offering could then be eaten by the priest.
Like other Jewish women of her time, Mary was considered unclean after the birth of her son Jesus and, as Luke tells us, she went with her husband Joseph to the temple to be purified. Apparently, Mary and Joseph did not possess sufficient funds to offer a lamb but offered instead “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” (Luke does not seem to know which.)
While at the temple, they took care of another bit of business required by the Law of the Law of Moses: they presented Jesus, their first-born male child, to be consecrated to God. ("Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal." Exodus 13:2.)
In the temple, there was a holy man called Simeon and the prophetess Anna. Simeon upon seeing Jesus declared, “Lord…my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” He then tells Mary, “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” Anna, upon seeing Jesus, gave thanks to God and spoke about the child “to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”
When the days of purification had been completed, the mother was required to bring to the priest in the temple a one-year old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. But, if the mother could not afford a lamb, she was permitted to take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for the burnt offering and the other for the sin offering. These items could usually be purchased from the temple. Bringing animals to the temple risked injury, making them unsuitable for a sacrifice. (Note: a burnt offering was made to express devotion and submission to God’s will. A sin offering was made to atone for sin and cleanse from defilement.)
Once the animal offerings were brought to the priest, he sacrificed them to make atonement for the new mother. She would then be cleansed of impurity and allowed to enter the temple. Incidentally, a burnt offering had to be burned completely and not eaten. Usually, an animal sacrificed as a sin offering could then be eaten by the priest.
Like other Jewish women of her time, Mary was considered unclean after the birth of her son Jesus and, as Luke tells us, she went with her husband Joseph to the temple to be purified. Apparently, Mary and Joseph did not possess sufficient funds to offer a lamb but offered instead “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” (Luke does not seem to know which.)
While at the temple, they took care of another bit of business required by the Law of the Law of Moses: they presented Jesus, their first-born male child, to be consecrated to God. ("Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal." Exodus 13:2.)
In the temple, there was a holy man called Simeon and the prophetess Anna. Simeon upon seeing Jesus declared, “Lord…my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” He then tells Mary, “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” Anna, upon seeing Jesus, gave thanks to God and spoke about the child “to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”
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| Simeon |
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| Anna |
We now annually celebrate this event, its date having been calculated by the prescribed purification period: 40 days after Jesus’ birth, or February 2. Back in the 4th century, the feast was called the Encounter of Our Lord, referring to the encounters with Simeon and Anna. It is now more commonly called the Feast of the Presentation, as the day that Jesus was presented at the temple. It has also been called the Feast of the Purification of Mary.
Candles have long been associated with the feast. This link comes from Simeon’s reference to Jesus as “a light of revelation to the Gentiles.” In the fifth century, Cyril of Alexandria wrote, “Let us celebrate the feast (of the Presentation) in a solemn way, illuminating the mystery of the day with lights.” Today, it is customary to bless the year’s supply of liturgical candles on the day. Hence, the feast is also known as Candlemas.
It turns out that a lot of uncanny sort of stuff happens on this day. In ancient Rome February 2 was the day honoring Juno Februata. The title Februata was one of Juno's many titles that represented her various aspects and roles. Curiously, this surname comes from the latin februare – meaning to purify – and so this date celebrated Juno the purifier. As the last month of the Roman year, February, was a time for cleaning up your home and getting rid of anything gone bad, stale or was otherwise unclean.
The ancient Celts celebrated this day as Imbolg (or Imbolc). Imbolg literally translates “in the belly,” referring to the fact that this is the time of year that sheep become pregnant (important to this herding society). It also referred to the pregnancy of mother earth, soon to give birth to spring.
For the Celts, February 2 was the day to remove Yuletide greens from home and burn them (again, purification). From this comes the tradition of taking down Christmas decorations on Candlemas eve. If not done, there are dire consequences beyond just the disapproval of your neighbors:
Also, on the eve of Candlemas, we find the feast of the goddess of Ireland and northern Britain known as Brigit or Brigid, also called Brigantia (Celtic: High One). She is the goddess of the poetic arts, crafts, prophecy, and divination. She is most likely a composite taken from many traditions of the British Isles and stories about her abound. She may well be the most intriguing figure in Irish mythology.
With the coming of Christianity to Ireland, however, the goddess’ feast became the feast of St. Brigit, who by tradition founded the first convent in Ireland at Kildare. Like the goddess, St. Brigit possessed extraordinary powers, and performed many miracles, the most interesting of which involved beer. According to tradition, Brigid was working in a leper colony when they ran out of beer. Brigid is said to have changed her bath water into beer both for the lepers and visiting clerics. In another miracle, Brigid provided beer to 18 churches for an entire Easter season, all from a single barrel of beer in her convent.
And then, of course, there is Groundhog’s Day, also observed on February 2. It is unclear how exactly Candlemas became a day of weather prognostication, but it's an old tradition. The thinking is that in northern Europe, it was about this time of year that people – who could not simply run to Wegman’s to pick up some strawberries imported from Chile – started to get anxious over how much longer they might need to stretch their winter food supplies. One sign of spring they looked for was the emergence of hibernating animals.
In eastern Europe, Candlemas was known as the Day of the Bear. The idea was that if the weather was fair on the day the bear emerged from hibernation, the bear would stay outside, meaning that spring was on its way. Somehow or other, however, a contrary rule developed: if the weather is nice, the bear will see his shadow and be frightened back into his den for more winter weather.
As the tradition spread westward, the hibernating animal changed. In Germany, Candlemas was associated with the badger, and was known as Badger Day. In France, the marmot became the traditional animal to look for. In England, folks waited for the arrival of the hedgehog.
German immigrants brought the tradition to Pennsylvania in the 18th century. But since there were no badgers in the American northeast, they settled on the groundhog. And so, now we have Punxsutawney Phil. And Bill Murray.
When all is said and done, there is an astronomical explanation for all these happenings on February 2. The common way we divvy up the year is by four seasons separated by the solstices and the equinoxes. This arrangement subdivides the year roughly by temperature: summer the hottest period, winter the coldest. But, what if we were interested in keeping track of the year by length of day instead of temperature? To divide the year into quarters that reflected this approach, you’d base your four periods on the four days that fall halfway between each solstice and equinox. The year is then divided into a different set of quarters – the three months in which the days are the longest, three months in which they are the shortest, and the two periods of three months in between when the days are of medium length.
The four half-way days that mark these periods, recognized by the ancient Celts, are referred to as cross-quarter days. I give you both the Anglo and Celtic names: Halloween or Samhain (October 31), Candlemas or Imbolg (February 2), May Day or Beltane (May 1), and Lammas (loaf mass) or Lughnasadh (August 1). Between Halloween and Candlemas are the shortest days of the year. Between May Day and Lammas are the longest. The days of medium length fall in between, Candlemas to May Day and Lammas to Halloween. Because each of the cross-quarter days mark a moment of transition, things sometimes get a little unmoored, and these are times of mystery and magic. Candlemas is no exception.
Candlemas is this Friday. The darkest days are over, and spring cannot be far behind. Plan your celebrations accordingly.
Candles have long been associated with the feast. This link comes from Simeon’s reference to Jesus as “a light of revelation to the Gentiles.” In the fifth century, Cyril of Alexandria wrote, “Let us celebrate the feast (of the Presentation) in a solemn way, illuminating the mystery of the day with lights.” Today, it is customary to bless the year’s supply of liturgical candles on the day. Hence, the feast is also known as Candlemas.
It turns out that a lot of uncanny sort of stuff happens on this day. In ancient Rome February 2 was the day honoring Juno Februata. The title Februata was one of Juno's many titles that represented her various aspects and roles. Curiously, this surname comes from the latin februare – meaning to purify – and so this date celebrated Juno the purifier. As the last month of the Roman year, February, was a time for cleaning up your home and getting rid of anything gone bad, stale or was otherwise unclean.
The ancient Celts celebrated this day as Imbolg (or Imbolc). Imbolg literally translates “in the belly,” referring to the fact that this is the time of year that sheep become pregnant (important to this herding society). It also referred to the pregnancy of mother earth, soon to give birth to spring.
For the Celts, February 2 was the day to remove Yuletide greens from home and burn them (again, purification). From this comes the tradition of taking down Christmas decorations on Candlemas eve. If not done, there are dire consequences beyond just the disapproval of your neighbors:
CEREMONY UPON CANDLEMAS EVE.
by Robert Herrick (1648)
Down with the rosemary, and so
Down with the bays and misletoe;
Down with the holly, ivy, all,
Wherewith ye dress'd the Christmas Hall:
That so the superstitious find
No one least branch there left behind:
For look, how many leaves there be
Neglected, there (maids, trust to me)
So many goblins you shall see.
Also, on the eve of Candlemas, we find the feast of the goddess of Ireland and northern Britain known as Brigit or Brigid, also called Brigantia (Celtic: High One). She is the goddess of the poetic arts, crafts, prophecy, and divination. She is most likely a composite taken from many traditions of the British Isles and stories about her abound. She may well be the most intriguing figure in Irish mythology.
 |
| Goddess Brigit |
 |
| St. Brigit |
And then, of course, there is Groundhog’s Day, also observed on February 2. It is unclear how exactly Candlemas became a day of weather prognostication, but it's an old tradition. The thinking is that in northern Europe, it was about this time of year that people – who could not simply run to Wegman’s to pick up some strawberries imported from Chile – started to get anxious over how much longer they might need to stretch their winter food supplies. One sign of spring they looked for was the emergence of hibernating animals.
In eastern Europe, Candlemas was known as the Day of the Bear. The idea was that if the weather was fair on the day the bear emerged from hibernation, the bear would stay outside, meaning that spring was on its way. Somehow or other, however, a contrary rule developed: if the weather is nice, the bear will see his shadow and be frightened back into his den for more winter weather.
As the tradition spread westward, the hibernating animal changed. In Germany, Candlemas was associated with the badger, and was known as Badger Day. In France, the marmot became the traditional animal to look for. In England, folks waited for the arrival of the hedgehog.
German immigrants brought the tradition to Pennsylvania in the 18th century. But since there were no badgers in the American northeast, they settled on the groundhog. And so, now we have Punxsutawney Phil. And Bill Murray.
When all is said and done, there is an astronomical explanation for all these happenings on February 2. The common way we divvy up the year is by four seasons separated by the solstices and the equinoxes. This arrangement subdivides the year roughly by temperature: summer the hottest period, winter the coldest. But, what if we were interested in keeping track of the year by length of day instead of temperature? To divide the year into quarters that reflected this approach, you’d base your four periods on the four days that fall halfway between each solstice and equinox. The year is then divided into a different set of quarters – the three months in which the days are the longest, three months in which they are the shortest, and the two periods of three months in between when the days are of medium length.
The four half-way days that mark these periods, recognized by the ancient Celts, are referred to as cross-quarter days. I give you both the Anglo and Celtic names: Halloween or Samhain (October 31), Candlemas or Imbolg (February 2), May Day or Beltane (May 1), and Lammas (loaf mass) or Lughnasadh (August 1). Between Halloween and Candlemas are the shortest days of the year. Between May Day and Lammas are the longest. The days of medium length fall in between, Candlemas to May Day and Lammas to Halloween. Because each of the cross-quarter days mark a moment of transition, things sometimes get a little unmoored, and these are times of mystery and magic. Candlemas is no exception.
Candlemas is this Friday. The darkest days are over, and spring cannot be far behind. Plan your celebrations accordingly.
By the way, February 2 is also Ellen’s birthday.
