Candlemas

I have to admit that this is a rehashing of a post from a couple of years ago..... but always worth another look, especially as I haven't much else to offer during this lockdown when I seem to the confined to the house every day with no excitement to report.

Today is February 2nd..... 40 days after Christmas. The ancient celebration of Candlemas.

Candlemas is a Christian holy day commemorating the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. Some Christian communities bring candles to church, where the candles are blessed and then used for the rest of the year.

In France and Belgium, crepes or thin pancakes are a traditional Candlemas treat. Each family member cooks a pancake while holding a coin in the other hand, thus ensuring wealth and happiness for the next year. The pancakes are round and golden in colour, and are a symbol of the return of spring sunshine after a cold winter.

In Mexico, the presentation of Jesus in the Temple is celebrated with family meals of tamales. Whoever finds the bean in the king-cake at Christmastime is responsible for cooking the Candlemas tamales for the whole family.

There's a theory that Candlemas derives from pagan celebrations as it occurs halfway between the December solstice and the March equinox, winter's halfway point while waiting for spring.

Many people believed that Candlemas Day predicted the weather for the rest of the winter. A bright sunny Candlemas meant more winter to come, and a cloudy wet stormy Candlemas meant that the worst of the winter was over. This is the basis for the February 2nd tradition of North America.... Groundhog Day. Will the groundhog see his shadow? I wonder.......

If Candlemas Day brings snow and rain,

Winter has gone, and won’t come again.

If Candlemas Day be clear and bright,

Winter will have another flight.

or another version....

If Candlemas Day be fair and bright
Winter will have another fight.
If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain,
Winter won't come again.

Michaelmas Day

Today is Michaelmas Day.... the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, celebrated on 29 September.   Saint Michael is the patron saint of the sea and maritime lands, of ships and boatmen, of horses and horsemen. Traditionally he was the Angel who hurled Lucifer (the devil) down from Heaven for his treachery. 

Michaelmas is one the four quarter days in each year on which servants were hired, school terms started, and rents were due.  The quarter days have been observed at least since the Middle Ages, and they ensured that debts and unresolved lawsuits were not allowed to linger on. Accounts had to be settled, a reckoning had to be made and publicly recorded on the quarter days.

And as the Autumn Equinox happened just a couple of days ago,  here are some Autumn colours. The reds, golds, yellows and purples.... a beautiful time of the year.

Lady Day

You may recall this post from a previous year.... but I thought you'd like the reminder.
Today - March 25 - is Lady Day. 
It's one of the four Quarter Days of the old English Calendar. 

The Quarter Days are March 25 - Lady Day, also the Feast of the Annunciation in the Christian calendar; June 24 - Midsummer Day, also the Feast of St John the Baptist; September 29 - Michaelmas Day, also the Feast of St Michael and All Angels; December 25 - Christmas Day.

Quarter days were the four dates in each year when servants were hired, school terms started, and rents were due. Debts and unresolved lawsuits were not allowed to linger on, and accounts had to be settled. Leasehold payments and land rents are often still due on the old English Quarter Days. 

Just to confuse the issue, there are also four Cross-Quarter Days falling between the Quarter Days. These are February 2 - Candlemas;  May 1 - May Day;  August 1 - Lammas;  November 1 - All Hallows Day.

Lady Day was the traditional day when long-term contracts between landowners and tenant farmers would begin and end. Farming families who were changing farms would often travel to their new farm on Lady Day. It roughly coincides with the Spring Equinox, signifying a new beginning.

So have a Happy Lady Day!!

Lady Day

Today - March 25 - is Lady Day. 
It's one of the four Quarter Days of the old English Calendar. 
The Quarter Days are March 25 - Lady Day also the Feast of the Annunciation in the Christian calendar; June 24 - Midsummer Day also the Feast of St John the Baptist; September 29 - Michaelmas Day also the Feast of St Michael and All Angels; December 25 - Christmas Day.

Quarter days were the four dates in each year when servants were hired, school terms started, and rents were due. Debts and unresolved lawsuits were not allowed to linger on, and accounts had to be settled. Leasehold payments and land rents are often still due on the old English Quarter Days. 

Just to confuse the issue, there are also four Cross-Quarter Days falling between the Quarter Days. These are February 2 - Candlemas; May 1 - May Day; August 1 - Lammas; November 1 - All Hallows Day.

Lady Day was the traditional day when long-term contracts between landowners and tenant farmers would begin and end. Farming families who were changing farms would often travel to their new farm on Lady Day. It roughly coincides with the Spring Equinox, signifying a new beginning.

So have a Happy Lady Day!!

Candlemas

Today is February 2nd..... 40 days after Christmas. The ancient celebration of Candlemas.

Candlemas is a Christian holy day commemorating the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. Some Christian communities bring candles to church, where the candles are blessed and then used for the rest of the year.

In France and Belgium, crepes or thin pancakes are a traditional Candlemas treat. Each family member cooks a pancake while holding a coin in the other hand, thus ensuring wealth and happiness for the next year. The pancakes are round and golden in colour, and are a symbol of the return of spring sunshine after a cold winter.

In Mexico, the presentation of Jesus in the Temple is celebrated with family meals of tamales. Whoever finds the bean in the king-cake at Christmastime is responsible for cooking the Candlemas tamales for the whole family.

There's a theory that Candlemas derives from pagan celebrations as it occurs halfway between the December solstice and the March equinox, winter's halfway point while waiting for spring.

Many people believed that Candlemas Day predicted the weather for the rest of the winter. A bright sunny Candlemas meant more winter to come, and a cloudy wet stormy Candlemas meant that the worst of the winter was over. This is the basis for the February 2nd tradition of North America.... Groundhog Day. Will the groundhog see his shadow? I wonder.......

If Candlemas Day be fair and bright
Winter will have another fight.
If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain,
Winter won't come again.

Michaelmas Day

Today, September 29, is Michaelmas Day, also known as the Feast of Michael and All Angels.

There are traditionally four “quarter days” in a year (Lady Day (25th March), Midsummer Day (24th June), Michaelmas Day (29th September) and Christmas Day (25th December)). They are spaced three months apart, on religious festivals, usually close to the solstices or equinoxes. 

The quarter days were the four dates on which servants were hired, rents became due or leases begun. It was said that harvest had to be completed by Michaelmas, marking of the end of the productive season and the beginning of the new cycle of farming, land was exchanged and debts were paid. Michaelmas came to be the traditional time for electing magistrates and also the beginning of legal and university terms.

Roast goose is the traditional Michaelmas dinner. It was believed that dining on a well fattened goose fed on the stubble from the fields after the harvest guarded against financial need in the family for the next year. Or possibly because Queen Elizabeth I was eating goose when news of the defeat of the Spanish Armada was brought to her. In celebration she said that henceforth she would always eat goose on Michaelmas Day.  

More of the traditions of Michaelmas Day can be found here, here, and here.

So get rid of your debts, hire your servants, pay your rent, roast a well fattened goose, and enjoy Michaelmas Day!