(^144) A Wiccan Bible
Date: Approximately February 2nd, this Holiday is actually found on the day that rests
in the middle of Summer Solstice and Fall Equinox.
Goddess associations: Brigid.
Gemstone associations: Amethyst, Turquoise.
Plant associations: Cinnamon, Dill, Dragon’s Blood, Frankincense, Red Sandalwood,
Snow Drop, Rosemary, Rowan and the wildflowers that have already started to flower.
Colors associations: Pink, White, Yellow.
Imbolg Incense
6 parts Frankincense
4 parts Dragon’s Blood
2 part Red Sandalwood
1 part Cinnamon
Imbolg Oil
8 drops Frankincense
6 drops Rosemary
2 drops Cinnamon
Solitary/General—Imbolg is a fertility celebration of the first order of life. In popular
culture, this is Groundhog’s Day. While that might seem too pop culture for inclusion
in a Wiccan bible, it is yet another Holiday that illustrates just how Pagan contempo-
rary culture is. When German settlers arrived in Pennsylvania in the 1700s, they brought
with them a Holiday they called Candlemas. The Holiday itself has deep Pagan roots,
but the name Candlemas comes from the Christian service in which a priest blesses
candles which are later placed in the windows of every home, welcoming the birth of
Spring in the Pagan tradition.
At the time, the two seasons had already been replaced by four, so the point be-
tween Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox was seen as the middle of the Winter. Ger-
man lore stated that if the day brings with it good weather, the second half of Winter
(Candlemas till Spring Equinox) would be kind. There the tradition would have re-
mained if not for the fact that the German settlers were not alone. At about the same
time, the Delaware Indians established a campsite about half way between the Allegh-
eny and Susquehanna rivers. That campsite would later be called Punxsutawney Penn-
sylvania, established in 1723. Today, the town is found 92 miles northeast of Pittsburgh
at the crossroad of route 36 and route 119.
Those Native Americans believed humanity evolved from animals. In their lineage,
they counted Wojak who was himself a groundhog and from whose name the common
name woodchuck evolved. By February 4, 1841, we see the German tradition of
Candlemas and the Native American tradition honoring the groundhog to have merged
so well that Groundhog’s Day was recorded as if it were a German Holiday:
p WB Chap 08.p65 144 7/11/2003, 5:52 PM
barré
(Barré)
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