Imbolc Oimelc Bride and Biddy

So, to February and to kick things off there is the 'old' Celtic festival of Imbolc, or Oimelc, or whichever of the many spellings you wish to go for, which falls on the 1st of the month (although in times past the date would most probably have been flexible). Imbolc is also known as Bride's Day, or St Brigit's Day and marks the time when ewes began to lactate, which may also link it to Bride's role as a fertility goddess. Imbolc was/is one of the set festivals of the Celtic year, the celebrations of which would mark different stages in the lives of a people inherently closer to the natual rhythms and cycles of the land they lived in and depended upon. This cycle of festivals gave the year and lives of the people a rhythm that is hard to understand in these modern times - especially when many farms have two lambing seasons in a year!

There are many customs and traditions associated with Bride - also known as Brigid and Biddy, among other variations. In the Hebrides there was a tradition that any lost sheep, or those not brought down from the hills before bad weather hit, would be saved by Old Biddy. Indeed both Bride and Biddy were seen as protectors of flocks and herds. And in her association with the Cailleach and Anu, we can see her as part of the great triple goddess cycle. She is, therefore, perfectly placed for her role as goddess of livestock and fertility. Indeed, in many parts of the country she is associated with corn dollies, kern baby's and in some places sheafs of oats dressed up as women, welcomed into the home as the emodiment of the fertility goddess.

Whole volumes could be dedicated to the goddess Bride and her many personifications - including the Christian adaptation St Brigit (or Brigid), and also to the customs and traditions of Imbolc, but for now, being pushed for time, I will have to leave you with links to follow:

Find out more here:

• Twilight of the Celtic Gods by David Clarke and Andy Roberts. Blandford Press (ISBN-13: 978-0713725223
• http://www.chalicecentre.net/imbolc.htm
• http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/pantheons/brigid.html

Straw Bear

If at first you don't succeed...

The Straw Bear festival is held at Whittlesea in Cambridgeshire each year on the Tuesday following Plough Monday. Resurrected about 30 years ago, the festival can be dated to at least the 19th century and quite possibly much earlier. In short, a man of the locality dons a suit made of straw, weighing as much as five stone (!) and parades around the town accompanied by dances - molly dances, and sword dances, and a times, mummer's plays. The following day after more music and dance, the costume is burnt. All in all, it is said to be a festive and fun, family day out (a day and a bit if you include the burning on the following day).

There are many links to other traditions and customs that were, perhaps, more widespread across the UK, not least the practice of guising, or dressing up in animals costumes. It is not to hard to see the connection between the donning of the straw costume (including its association with a bear) and Plough Monday. The person bearing the costume being the embodiment of the spirit of the crops being grown over the coming months. Once again the time of year lends itself to a seasonal celebration that unites the community in doing what they can to ensure for a good harvest and better times ahead - or even the survival of the community itself.

If we could find more proof of an ancient heritage of the Straw Bear, it would also not be too much of a stretch of the imagine to see the straw costume, the emodiment of the crops and the ritual burning to be a more pagan version of PLough Monday, both of which would be hoping for the same outcomes. Indeed, a plough forms part of the procession these days.

The ritual burning, and the fact that it is still darkest, coldest winter, would also suggest that the festival is celebrating the end of the old year, and the beginning of the loosening of winter's grip on the land. We are burning the old straw, forgetting the old year; from now on all efforts and strength are to be focused on the year ahead.

For those willing to engage in detailed study of Sir James Frazier's The Golden Bough, there may be resonance with much contained in his magnus opus. That, however, dear reader, is something for you to pursue!

It should also be noted that part of the procession involves knocking on doors and asking for money, and presumably in centuries past, for alms of all sorts. For some this is the essence of the festival, a village community coming together in the lean winter months to ask for help and to support each other. It is hard to see, for modern eyes, why an extravagant and weighty straw costume would be needed - but then those long winter nights weren't filled with Eastenders and reality TV shows...