February holds the distinction of being the shortest month in the calendar year. In the United States, the fire sabbat of Brunalia, which is often celebrated by many Pagans as Imbolc, falls within its brief reign. So does Valentine’s Day, and the month as a whole is celebrated as Black History Month. The largest gift of February, however, is its ability to help us rededicate ourselves through the fires of purification as a path of opening for the returning sun.
Each of these events holds a singular commonality: a renewal of knowledge and understanding. How individuals see a community, a religious celebratory season, and a day which honors the totality of love varies, yet shares a universal need.
A fire burning [Pixabay]
We arrive in February as the heart of winter. The days are not long enough to feel the warmth of the fiery sun, and in colder climates, it’s easy to long for a trip to a sunny, hot locale – for a few days, at least. We are bogged down by the winter demons, the doldrums that often come with short days, overcast skies, and feeling just “blah.” But still, as we see the calendar flip into February, knowing that March is just 28 or 29 short days away, we power through. Mentally and physically, we pile on the warm weather gear, make plans for spring, and for the early birds, prepare to fully clean the house.
The blessings of winter include the ability to contemplate, absorb, and reflect upon the knowledge gained throughout the year. Cold winter nights, with or without snow and harsh temperatures, encourage indoor group gatherings with a cup of tea or hot chocolate for game night, story telling, or reveling in a sporting event. The opposite of summer, we are both more separate from our neighbors and more together with our friends.
The recent pandemic presented the rise of video technology as a partial replacement for being within touching distance. We could attempt to connect and to share a common language through new emojis or discover a different way to expand our emoji lexicon for any and all situations. Work life changed forever with the increased use of Teams meetings or Zoom conferences by those who worked from home.
Now, in the few years since the height of the pandemic, the trend of return to office has led to some preferring to continue a work from home or to venture into the office perhaps once a week or less. In short, humanity endured a crisis by adapting.
The Wild Hunt is grateful for the recent support.
The Wild Hunt is very grateful to our readers for your recent financial support and amazing words of encouragement. We remain one of the most widely-read news sources within modern Paganism, and our reporters and columnists remain dedicated to a vision of journalism for and about our family of faiths.
As a reminder, this is the type of story you only see here. This is how to help:
Tax Deductible Donation | PayPal Donations | Join our Patreon
You can also help us by sharing this message on your social media.
As always, thank you for your support of The Wild Hunt!
The COVID-19 disease and ensuing pandemic represented a time of global purification, in body, mind, and spirit. We were swords tempered by the fire of a disease we did not understand, and changes we did not wish to make. Our ability as a species to survive the pandemic as well as we did demonstrates human viability.
Humanity thrives due to the willingness to accept new life patterns without knowing when or if any changes required would become permanent. There are those who consider the use of masks, quarantines, and communication changes to have been a test run for a future crisis.
I believe that each year we have the choice and the benefit of embracing purification on a personal level. We survive the winter and usually around February, we simultaneously feel the tug of winter dreariness in the northern hemisphere and a spark of creative curiosity that will see us through. We know that the worst is nearly over, and we are strong enough to survive.
The meaning of Brunalia in my home tradition is accepting the need to purify oneself, one’s home, and to strip away the buildup from winter as a means to exorcise inner demons while laying the groundwork to feel the warmth of the returning sun in our souls. For this reason, this sabbat is one of fire, creativity, and the hearth.
For those who celebrate the sabbat of Imbolc, and the blessings of the goddess Brigid, this is a perfect time to acknowledge the halfway point between the winter sabbat and the spring sabbat. A tasty stew, fresh baked bread, and a cozy fire are symbols that remind me of this time of year.
Black History Month 2024 logo [WomenArtistUpdates, Wikimedia Commons, CC 4.0]
During this time of year, we review our various geographies of knowledge – what we consider “fact” or canon, and what should be dropped, through our celebration of Black History Month. In the United States, we do not have an official common language, despite using English as our legally unofficial common language. While this represents our country’s goal of being welcoming towards all, it can cause problems at times as the United States does not have a commonality in experience or in language.
For example, each Black History Month is spent in part by dredging up facts which should be common knowledge from completing a standard primary, secondary, and post-secondary educational experiences. The same can be said regarding Women’s History Month (March), Native American Heritage Month (November) or Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (May). Talk shows, local news programs, billboards, and schools post a fact or a person who represents the culture in question as reminder of sorts.
The need to do this stems from a lack of an overall communal canon of experience. For individuals of color currently living and attempting to thrive in the 21st century United States, reality includes straddling multiple streams of community knowledge. What is valued in one’s home community of origin may not be valued by the larger economic, social, or governmental power structure.
Contemporary attempts to address this use terms such as “whiteness” and “ablelism” to facilitate a common language for those who live in the United States in the 21st century. For those who straddle multiple communities, the only thing that keeps the world together is resistance: resistance to be labeled and put into a box; resistance to hiding parts of ourselves with the goal of safety; and resistance to erasing one’s past due to public shaming or stereotypes about our true identities.
As we celebrate the sabbat of transformation, purification, and the mid-point of winter, we have a connection as people of the earth – Pagans, Heathens, and polytheists – to power in its most pure and spiritual form. We know, see, feel, and embrace what our planet and our gods are telling us. Climate change is not just a political issue, but a planetary crisis. We resist denying what lies before us and in doing so we lay claim to a certain type of power.
During the month of February, Black History Month reminds us of the successes of those beyond Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. or W.E.B. DuBois, or George Washington Carver that classes in our elementary and secondary schools often forget. History only requires repetition when we do not learn from it. Knowing one’s past including those who have taken key roles and shaped it, such as Matthew Henson or former contemporary Black celebrities who gave to the Civil Rights movement – Lena Horne, Eartha Kitt, and Harry Belafonte. This time of year allows us to stoke our fires by remembering the history and discovering successes that have been forgotten or overlooked.
What is remembered, lives. When we choose to affirm through language and culture what matters to us and who matters to us, then we transform ourselves and others. The fires that burn within each of us spread to purify those who feel the touch and embrace of historical recollection.
Many will remember the fires and protests after the murder of George Floyd on May 25th, 2020 – on Memorial Day. What is not always remembered is the scenes afterwards from those who wished to express feeling through a communal experience. Art, such as this mural at the original site, allows humanity to bring to life a type of purification that endures because each person who sees it finds something new. If purification is transformative, the very nature of creativity, then art is a fire that blazes across memory for those who have a reaction to it.
The only thing that keeps the world together at times is resistance, and the use of art to explore lost identity or to memorialize is a part of many cultures. The sabbat of Brunalia and the sabbat of Imbolc are about home, hearth, and most importantly a type of transformation. Just as the gentle flame burns in the fireplace, the flame in ourselves and our hearts empowers and transforms us from the inside out.
For those who remember the role of Kore who becomes Persephone in the Underworld, she enters a maiden as in innocent, lacking knowledge. She emerges each spring transformed. Purification in February allows us to see and recognize the truth and not run from it.
Valentine’s Day candy [Pixabay]
Valentine’s Day is one of the most well-known holidays where restaurants, roses, and jewelry are equally expensive. The stereotypes surrounding traditions to keep among lovers pop up as early as elementary school when candied hearts and little cards or emojis are passed around by children. It is difficult to avoid any mention of romantic love, weddings, proposals, or just love in general during the month of February. Like most holidays, it was not meant to be commercialized; however, it has now become an opportunity to spend on gifts for others or even just yourself.
For some, the most transformative act during the month of February is that of coming to terms with love for the self. Painting, drawing, writing, singing, dancing – each of these allows the spirit to shine through. Self-purification involves an internal and external transformation. No matter how warm or how cold the temperatures are, there is room and time to celebrate through movement, to bring forth our soul in expression, and to enjoy a chocolate (or two).
The Wild Hunt is not responsible for links to external content.
To join a conversation on this post:
Visit our The Wild Hunt subreddit! Point your favorite browser to https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Wild_Hunt_News/, then click “JOIN”. Make sure to click the bell, too, to be notified of new articles posted to our subreddit.