Originally published on the Phil Rickman Appreciation Society Facebook page.
The pagan festival of Imbolc starts tonight at sunset in the Northern Hemisphere and runs until sunset tomorrow.
Tonight’s the night in Crown of Lights* that Robin and Betty plan to hold a sabbat, a ceremony marking the midpoint between the dark of winter and the light of spring. Robin likes to call it Imbolc, but Betty prefers to call it Candlemas.
Imbolc, half way between the northern winter solstice and Spring equinox, is the time to welcome the first signs of spring and honour the goddess Brigid. It’s a festival of renewal, fire, and fertility. Candlemas is tomorrow, 2 Feb. It commemorates the presentation of Jesus at the Temple of Jerusalem, referring to him as the light of the people of Israel.
Both emphasise the significance of light and the ceremonies of both feature candles and Crowns of Light. It is possible that the early Christian missionaries, under instructions to adapt and incorporate features of the old religion rather than destroy and replace them, borrowed the symbols of Imbolc to tell their own spiritual stories.
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*Crown of Lights is a novel by Phil Rickman in the Merrily Watkins series.