Women and Early Spring

This is an edited version of a piece I wrote and published in early February several years ago. I return to this piece whenever I need to remind myself that much of my writing retains its value (is evergreen) and that Spring is sacred (the perfect time to take a break for a week or two).

This month, February, continues a now many year-long streak of heightened awareness and abilities, as well as new heaps of challenges for women in societal interactions and perceptions.  This is true, dear reader, no matter where you fall into, or upon, any political or religious section of the spectrum.  

The only political opinion expressed here is that “not to make a decision is to make a decision.”  Laying low is not just opting out of discourse.  It screams for support of the status quo, the people in power, the way things are.  I was taught this by a fun young colleague at Purdue libraries long, long ago (who by the way I never bothered to find to which political party she belonged to; back then I was young and open minded).

Events in the U.S. in the last year have roiled our attitudes, actions, laws and norms concerning pay scales, business formation, education, healthcare, and every other practice that intersects the sphere of women’s lives.

It seems to me, totally hypothetically, that February and March every year commences new a new ring in the upward spiral toward the development equity, Black &Women’s History Months

Informative Examples

Role models and informative examples do more than inspire.  They guide.  It is our intention that this collection of women and women-related topics will inspire, but will also guide.  This is especially important as we prepare for Women’s History Month (March) and International Women’s Day (March 8th) as Black History month (February) begins.

Asian Examples

This year, as always, women must construct a strong present upon which to build the future, especially in as the year of the dragon ends and the year of of the blue and sapphire influenced Wood Snake begins. The first part of this linked video is most relevant, the portion that speaks to the yearly fortune of people born as roosters in a wood snake year is less pertinent.

Renewal, transformation, and growth, clearly femine attributes, are strong forces in a blue wood snake year, a time for personal evolution.

The beginning of January is not a good time for me to start new things or make life changes.  The middle of Winter just does not motivate me.  I am sure I am not the only person who feels this way.  By February I have recovered from the holidays and am ready to seek renewed purpose with the beginning of the Asian Lunar New Year.  So Snake Year, I am ready for you.

Celtic Cailleach and Imbolic

Maybe on this Groundhog Day Cailleach (with a blue snake emerging from the den near her, will stay by the fires or gather firewood thus predicting the length of winter remaining.

Cailleach, a Gaelic/Celtic Goddess, arrives as a crone at Samhein after the Harvest has her last flurry of activity before leaving sometime around now near Imbolc, Candlemas, or Groundhog Day which all fall at or near the mid-point between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox. Contemporary Earth-centered religions call it a “cross quarter holiday” which denotes it is a midpoint date between a solstice and an equinox. Folk belief states  that if Cailleach is out and about, and can be seen gathering firewood for the remainder of Winter, then Winter will continue on for a long while. If the day is rainy, or dreary and damp, she cannot gather firewood and Winter will not last much longer.

The connections between the early February holidays seem obvious to me; so I suggest we rename the famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, Punxsutawney Philomena. Groundhog day is February 2nd. Imbolc, the currently favored name in earth-centered religions, denotes something about ewe’s milk linguistically, probably as milk coming in and lambs being birthed in spring.   This midpoint  is February 1st this year which is also St. Brigid’s Day.   Brigid is the Patron Saint of Ireland.  Candlemas, also celebrated on February 2nd is when Mary would have had purification rites, 40 days after Jesus’ birth, and when Jesus was presented at temple.    These observances, to me, are all interconnected.  The ending of Winter was a heavy constant on the minds of early sedentary or agrarian peoples, reserves are low if not depleted, and the Spring with its light and promise of food is only a few days to a few weeks away.

Unlike the coming of Winter in Celtic lore, when the goddess enters as an old woman, the coming of Spring, when the crone leaves, finds her more youthful self ready for the Spring and rebirth. She mirrors the cycle of seasons, or the Wheel of life, and the role of women to bring new life to the world even as they age.  Cailleach inspires.  Imbolc and Cailleach go hand in hand along with Saint Brigit and the Goddess Brighid, who are not the same person or entity.  Some say that Imbolc is the celebration of Goddess recovering after giving birth to the God. As stated in The Right and the Wrong of Imbolc  The Saint and the Goddess continue to intermingle into the present day. I suspect this is one more example of the covering or layering of Christian observations (Candlemas)over indigenous ritual celebrations so as to supplant the Old Gods and Goddesses of a region.

No matter what you believe, Spring is coming.  And Spring is female.

Valentines, Votes, and Aretha

Leap years, as defined by the presence of a 29th day in February take a bit of the splash of Valentines Day away as the neatest thing about February.  But there is no Leap Day this year.  So one of this year’s coolest things in February other than Valentine’s Day is the anniversary of the Utah Territory giving women the vote on  February 12, 1869.

What a great lead up to how on February 14th, perhaps we should celebrate the far seeing non-partisan, League of Women Voters that was founded founded February 14, 1920, six months before the 19th amendment was passed, rather than a martyred man (St. Valentine)  And while we are at it, let’s work in one of the incredibly important things that happened on February 14th.  Aretha Franklin recorded Respect at Atlantic Records Studio, New York City: February 14, 1967.

So, yes, I am advocating to make Respect by Aretha a central part of any and every Valentines Day celebration.

So let us continue on in these women-centric, Celtic, and political discussions.

And Here are Some Women of February for you

Andre Norton

The “Grand Dame of Science Fiction and Fantasy” authored “more than 130 novels, nearly 100 short stories and numerous anthologies that Ms. Norton edited in the science-fiction, fantasy, mystery and western genres…”  NY Times March 18, 2005

Elizabeth Key

Please do not forget to feature women in any Black History Month (February) writings you may do.  Elizabeth Key was the first woman in The Colonies to legally win her freedom and whose case was then used against slaves and free persons to enslave more people based solely on their skin color or their parents’ skin color.  Elizabeth’s story is critical to understanding that judicial rulings can take long-established rights away from individuals, and groups of people, as well as establish them.

Finally, let me mention one last link to an article that focuses on some significant, oft-overlooked  women in black history for this Black History Month.

#resist #remember #seekinspiration