Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
If Candlemas be bright and clear there'll be two winters in the year. — traditional adage from Scotland Of Candles and Divinatory Beasts There are many weather marking days throughout the year. Candlemas, falling on 2 February, was the day that our ancestors began to get nervous about the spring. A fine Candlemas portends a… Continue reading The Daily: 2 February 2025
If Brigid visited your house with a blessing last night, show her your gratitude by beginning your spring cleaning in her honor. If you have a woodstove, today is a good day to clean out the ashes and begin spreading them on your garden beds. (If you live where the soils are already saline, especially… Continue reading The Daily: 1 February 2025
The Feast of St Brigid, or Imbolg, is an ancient holiday that falls on 1 February, midway between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox. Brigid’s Feast Day is said to be set to this date at her request so that her day would precede the Marian Feast of the Purification of the Virgin, or… Continue reading The Daily: 30 January 2025
The Wolf Moon goes dark today at 7:36am (what happened to this month!), so the crescent Snow Moon might be visible tonight at sunset, though it would be faint and you'd need a very flat western horizon to see it. In traditional lunisolar calendars, the Moon is not new until you can see that crescent.… Continue reading The Daily: 29 January 2025
Distaff Day, or St. Distaff’s Day, is an obscure and faded custom that has rather a bit more weight behind it that one might expect. The day is observed most often on January 7th, the day after Epiphany, the last day of the winter holidays. Less commonly, Distaff Day falls on the first Tuesday after Epiphany, being known as Distaff Tuesday in keeping with Plough Monday.
Happy Mabon? Is it possible to unselfconsciously use the Wiccan-derived names for the quarter days? Because I can’t seem to get there. For the third quarter day of the year, they chose a rather obscure deity to name this holiday. I couldn’t say what the Cymric (Welsh) Mabon, or Maponos, the perpetually young Son of… Continue reading The Daily: 22 September 2024
Lughnasadh It is Lughnasadh. This is my favorite time of year. Some may love midwinter twinkle; others may love the summer sun. But I live for the autumn blaze. The cooling weather, the increasing darkness, the slowing pace and renewed time for reading and introspection. The color and pageantry of fall. The scents of leaf… Continue reading The Daily: 1 August 2024
The Flower Moon went dark yesterday morning. Now begins the Strawberry Moon and the shift to Midsummer. In the last few years I’ve seen a wide variety of people arrive at the conclusion that what we need as a society to avert self-destruction — self and everything else, that is — is a new religion.… Continue reading The Daily: 7 June 2024
Cinco de Mayo The problem? How do you mark this day? Most years, I don’t. I’m not Hispanic. My best friend growing up was from Chiapas, and there were complicated feelings about Mexico related to that. I never thought there was much to celebrate. We learned in grade school that it’s a commemoration of a… Continue reading The Daily: 5 May 2024
the thorn queen she waxes full in fertile grace queen of quick and fay, she reigns in mantle green and seemly face quelling fear and mortal pains eternal mother, ever maid undying wisdom in her glance deathless weird is on her laid to spin th' unceasing wheel of chance again, she comes in crown of… Continue reading The Daily: 1 May 2024
By My Solitary Hearth 