Every year … along comes Candlemas and out come the stories. Now, of course all stories are made up at some point - that is the point of them. But Candlemas - 2nd February - has managed to pick up not just one, but two additional tall tales.
Candlemas is adjacent to Imbolc - the snowdrop moment in the pagan calendar … St Brigid’s Day … The wonder that is Wikipedia summarises it better than I can:
Imbolc was believed to be when the Cailleach—the divine hag of Gaelic tradition—gathers her firewood for the rest of the winter. Legend has it that if she wishes to make the winter last a good while longer, she will make sure the weather on Imbolc is bright and sunny so that she can gather plenty of firewood. Therefore, people would be relieved if Imbolc is a day of foul weather, as it means the Cailleach is asleep and winter is almost over.
Candlemas is part of the Christian tradition - also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the Feast of the Holy Encounter, is a Christian feast day commemorating the presentation of Jesus at the Temple. Funny how these pagan festivals seem to coincide with the Christian ones!! Well - tonight I will be in Magdalen Chapel, Oxford, photographing parts of the service - it is one of the more niche aspects of my life that I have a speciality in photography choirs … here is the choir website just to see what I get up to!
Anyway - Candlemas grew into Groundhog Day - made famous by the wonderful film of the same name. Here, a poor groundhog - a large terrestrial squirrel of an animal called Punxsutawney Phil- is brought out of winter sleep in the town of Punxsutawney at a site called Gobblers Knob (that has to be someone having a rude joke, surely) … and if the shadow is seen, winter will continue for another 30 days.
There is evidence of a German tradition of badger day - so if a badger’s shadow is seen on this day it will mark similar consequences, but as the badger is essentially nocturnal, the chances of getting a shadow are rather lessened.
Which leads us on to why today is also referred to as Hedgehog Day … the story goes that Groundhog Day emerged from an ancient Roman tradition of Hedgehog Day - same idea, shadows etc … and with the same complication with it being a nocturnal animal, and the additional complication that it is still hibernating … but never let the facts get in the way of a good story. Oh, and there is no evidence of there ever having been a Roman Hedgehog Day.
However, as I have been keen to point out before - EVERY DAY IS HEDGEHOG DAY as far as I am concerned! So I will use the opportunity to push the hedgehog into the limelight (even if it would rather be hibernating!) and ask that we all take a moment to think how we can best help these gorgeous beasties!
So - please share the petition - please visit the Hedgehog Street and British Hedgehog Preservation Society websites and find out the top tips. Keep reading the updates - still have a couple more from the conference to complete … and I can bet you are disappointed to find this was not one of them!
In other news - I am doing a fundraising talk for my local community centre in east Oxford - the Florence Park Community Centre is a truly wonderful place. They have just hosted our annual panto (of which I am their photographer … though I am really tempted … I think I would make a great Dame!!!) - here are the pics! The talk is about hedgehogs, of course, and I am discouraging children this time - as there will be content that might be considered a little racy! Here is the ticket link.
I won’t get paid for this … so any pennies in the hat are appreciated.
Right - next time I will get back to the conference reporting ... until then - hope you have a lovely weekend!