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Its traditional date is 1 February, about halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. [1] [2] Historically, its traditions were widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. Imbolc is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with: Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain. [3]
Samhain (/ ˈ s ɑː w ɪ n / SAH-win, / ˈ s aʊ ɪ n / SOW-in, Irish: [ˈsˠəunʲ], Scottish Gaelic: [ˈs̪ãũ.ɪɲ]) or Sauin (Manx: [ˈsoːɪnʲ]) is a Gaelic festival on 1 November marking the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the "darker half" of the year. [1]
In the recent Druidic tradition, Alban Arthan is a seasonal festival at the Winter solstice. The name derives from the writings of Iolo Morganwg, the 19th-century radical poet and forger. Not on the solstice, but six days after the first new moon, Pliny the elder claimed that druids would gather by the oldest mistletoe-clad oak. The Chief Druid ...
Some of Ireland’s most ancient sites including Navan Fort in Co Armagh and Newgrange in Co Meath hosted gatherings.
Another ancient ritual: Celtic druids would give mistletoe, which commonly grows on oak trees, as a blessing to symbolize life during Yule. ... Feasting has always been a winter solstice tradition ...
Diagram comparing the Celtic, astronomical and meteorological calendars. Among the Insular Celts, the year was divided into a light half and a dark half.As the day was seen as beginning at sunset, so the year was seen as beginning with the arrival of the darkness, at Calan Gaeaf / Samhain (around 1 November in the modern calendar). [4]
The shortest day and longest night of the year inspire mystical celebrations, both old and new, in anticipation of the sun's return. The post 13 Fascinating Winter Solstice Traditions Around the ...
There were similar New Year traditions in parts of western Britain and France until the nineteenth century. There are several folk tales about the origin of the wren hunt. It is speculated that the tradition derives from ancient Celtic paganism and was originally a sacrifice associated with the winter solstice.