Candlemas is a lovely festival that marks the beginning of Spring. Of course, in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere, Spring has barely shown its face in February but if you are observant, you can see that changes are coming. 

Candlemas originates from two different festivals, one Jewish and one Roman.

In the Jewish faith, forty days after birth, young parents went to the temple with their first-born child to represent it to God. Mary and Joseph did this as well and sacrificed two doves to God. February 2, the fortieth day after Christ's birth, reminds Christians of this event.

The second origin was a feast in Rome. In the old Roman calendar, February was the last month of the year. The Romans celebrated atonement and cleaning festivals with light processions before the beginning of the new year. From the 7th century onwards, Christians adopted this custom. Since then, candles for consecration in the church and at home have been dedicated to Candlemas.

People believed that consecrated candles protect against fire and lightning. Their fear of fire was justified. Until the 19th century, there were only candles as light and no lightning rods. Almost every major city has experienced a "big fire" because the houses often consisted of half-timbered buildings and quickly went up in flames.

In Celtic pagan and Christian traditions, February 1st & 2nd is associated with Brigid (or Bride). She is the patron saint or goddess of midwifery and, in the legends, acted as a midwife to Mary when Jesus was born. Later, when Herod was searching for the Babe, she distracted his attention so that Joseph and Mary could escape.

Brigid rules Fire & Water and at Candlemas we see how the cold is giving over to the warmth as Spring approaches.

Snowdrops appear in many parts of the world at this time of year. There are a number of legends which tell how snowdrops appear as Brigid walks on the earth. 

At Candlemas the days are getting longer. In the past, farmers started their work after their winter break around this time. Farm helpers, maids and other servants were rewarded and could look for a new job. Craftsmen worked without artificial light in the workshops. In German there is a saying:

St. Micheal turns the lights on and Maria blows them out again.

(St. Micheal is the archangel we celebrate with Michaelmas on September 29th.)

In our house, we put away all of our Christmas decorations on January 7th, after Three Kings Day. We take down the tree, and all the Santa and manger related decorations. But we keep all the window lights, greenery and candles up until February 2, allowing Maria to blow them out for us. It is also the last night that we have a candle on for dinner. Thereafter, we replace it with a small flower or branch bouquet.

After a long season of daily candles, we end up with a big bucket of candle stumps, broken pieces and rests. On February 1st, we scoop out little holes in the earth. One year we did it around our house, another year we did it in our woods behind the house. 

We place a small stick or twig with a length of wick tied to each across every hole. We have an old tin can we use for candle making and place it into a pot of 1-2 inches of hot water over a bon fire. Once melted, we carefully pour the melted wax into each hole in the ground.

The next day, all the candles are set and we remove the twigs and trim the wicks.

If your soil is very sandy or stony, this won't work for your as the wax will just soak away. If that's the case, you might want to line the holes with tin foil. 

If your ground is frozen and /or there is snow on the ground, placing votive (night light) candles in jars around your house could still be very special.

In either case, you can tell your child that you are helping Mother Earth waken the seed children and bring the Spring!

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Candlemas is also the day to eat crépes and pancakes. In former times it was also used as an oracle: If the first pancake was in the middle of the pan after flipping it, you would have money all year long! Give it a try!

Candlemas Crépes:

100g Flour

2 Eggs

1 cup Milk

2 Tablespoons Sugar

1 Pinch of Salt

60 g Butter

Sugar and Cinnamon for sprinkling

How it works: Put the flour, eggs, sugar and salt in a bowl and stir with a whisk until a smooth mass is produced. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes. Then melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan and stir into the batter. Spread a pan with butter and heat (not too much!). Spread some of the dough thinly in the pan and bake until golden brown on both sides. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, roll up and eat.