The festival is, without a doubt, associated primarily with #Brigit / #Brighid, who among other things is the Irish Dawn Goddess. Dawn festival -> Dawn goddess. The "Saint" version was born at imbolc, at dawn - but the Christian hagiography makes a point of saying that she was born on the 8th of the Lunar Month. Perhaps, we could read this as a hint as to when her festival might have been calculated? The 8th of the next lunar month after... solstice? Equinox?
Imbolc was xtianised early, so IDK.
But, something I lately learned is that #Imbolc is not only Brighid's: It's also a festival for Áed, who I recently speculated might be, not just a Fire deity, but a Sun deity also:
https://buttondown.com/godsandcroziers/archive/30th-jan-maedoc-aed-god-fire-sun-chariot/
According to the xtian version, Jan 31st is Máedóc / Áed's day, and Feb 1st is Brigit's. I think it's possible that they simply shared the Imbolc holiday, because these fire festivals often spanned several days rather than simply one.
It seems _likely_ to me that Áed is, in this capacity, a mirror of Bres, the sun-god who's married to Brighid and later goes rogue (perhaps in Midsummer, when we don't know whether the harvest will be safe from his caprice?). He's a god who we sometimes love, sometimes fear. But his wife Brighid is always beloved. Also a bit feared though, because another side to her is the Celtic Artemis:
https://buttondown.com/godsandcroziers/archive/1st-feb-brighid-dawn-fire-goddess-celtic-artemis/
Traditions on Imbolc include:
* Leaving a cloth item outdoors at dusk and bringing it in before dawn - this is considered to be a healing item for the coming year esp. for headaches.
* Leaving some food on a plate at the table overnight, in case she calls by.
* Doing fire-divination, such as having each person light a taper to see whose goes out first (w.r.t. some question).
* Making Brighid's Crosses, solar symbols made of rushes which can be 3 or 5 legged but are usually 4. Keep til next year.
The Brighid's cross in particular is a widespread and beloved tradition, still taught in many schools. The crosses are associated with protection from basically everything; fire, disease, misfortune, etcetera. They are most traditionally placed high over a hearth, or up in the thatch of a cottage.
In some areas, they'll be burned next imbolc - in others, they were kept and just kept stacking up in the houses!
The 3-legged ones in particular were hung near animals as protection.
So! Dawn's broken, happy #Imbolc everyone!
Don't forget to bring in those Brait Bríhhde, and to water your cactuses after the long winter! Mine are looking peaky, the grown-ups have been dry since Samhain.
If you'll be doing any traditional weaving crafts, rushes tend to grow near wetlands, but long sedges will also work OK. Straw is also a traditional material, if you have any unbroken straw. Thin Withies (folk metal band name?) would be fine, too.
