Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
Today is Palm Sunday and this coming weekend is Easter. There are palm parades and processions all over, and today is a traditional day for Pace Egg plays, a sort of mumming that features St George and the Dragon. Bake a Pax cake (which are shortbreads with springy decorations in jam or frosting) or figgy… Continue reading The Daily: 29 March 2026
Lady Day March 25th is Lady Day. This is another Marian holiday which incorporated older pagan traditions — in this case, the New Year celebrations which fell on 25 March before Julius Caesar shifted the Roman observance to the beginning of January. Lady Day is nine months before December 25th, so you can probably figure… Continue reading The Daily: 25 March 2026
The Season of Renewal This year, the Vernal Equinox happens on March 20th at 10:46am. This is, I think, the most nebulous of the solar festivals. Yes, it does mark an actual solar event, but it’s not the one we typically hear about. It’s not much of an event at all. This festival is less… Continue reading The Daily: 20 March 2026
St Joseph, Patron of Fatherhood To me Christianity seems to be rather quiet on Joseph, the husband of Mary and the step-father of their deity. That may be because I've never lived in an Italian neighborhood where Joe is the patron saint of roughly half the male population (though I did get a faint whiff… Continue reading The Daily: 19 March 2026
Central Vermont has entered the light half of the year. Yesterday was the true equinox in my part of the world. That is, it was the first day of more than twelve hours of daylight. Friday brings the vernal equinox, the Opening season, at 10:46am. The Hunger Moon goes dark today at 9:23pm, meaning tomorrow… Continue reading The Daily: 18 March 2026
Today is... the equinox? Vernal Equinox Quiz True or False: The vernal equinox is when spring begins. Not exactly. The beginning of spring depends on where you live, and it is more a cultural phenomenon than a meteorological one. Tradition in Ireland has spring beginning with St Brigid’s Day on 1 February. Spring weather may… Continue reading The Daily: 17 March 2026
Penny Loaf Day March 11th is Penny Loaf Day, though it is also traditional to set the observance to the Sunday closest to 11 March. This is an obscure holiday that I’d like to revive. Because first of all, it involves bread (so, duh, of course!), and second it celebrates generosity that has endured for… Continue reading The Daily: 11 March 2026
In acknowledgment of the spring sun's rising earlier and earlier — 6:16am in my town yesterday — those who follow Daylight Savings Time have had an hour removed from their morning today at 2am. This morning's sunrise is 7:14am, meaning we've lost an hour of morning light so that we can have more day in… Continue reading The Daily: 8 March 2026
There are two observances today that are dear to me. I am sure that there are more, even within my culture. And of course, it's autumn down south. Which adds even more ways to celebrate the time. The Navigation of Isis In Apuleius’, The Golden Ass, we find a description of another marker of spring. The Navigium… Continue reading The Daily: 5 March 2026
Lion and Lamb March is upon us once again. An Old English name for March was Hlyda, meaning “loud”, presumably referring to the roaring March winds. This name survived as Lide in the West countries. Eat leeks in Lide and ramsons in May, And all the year after physicians may play. — proverb from western… Continue reading The Daily: 1 March 2026
By My Solitary Hearth 