Jean M. Roberts : The Book's Delight

    Imbolc   Imbolc is approaching. This ancient Gaelic/pagan festival begins at sundown on 1 February and is celebrated until sundown the following day. This day is one of four days known as cross-quarter days. It is halfway between the Winter’s solstice and the spring equinox.   There is very little written about how Imbolc was celebrated. It is mentioned in a couple of 10th-century manuscripts; the Tochmare Emire (The Wooing of Emer) an epic poem and Sanas Cormaic (Cormac’s glossary) but it is only given a line or two. From these documents, we know that Imbolc was associated with the lambing season and the milking of ewes. It has been suggested that this is a mistranslation and that it really means ‘in the belly’ and refers to the unborn lambs. Peak lambing season in Ireland is March to early April. In either case, the date marks the quickening of spring. It’s not here yet, but it is coming. The pagan Irish were an agricultural society. They had no wri...