Then & Now: At the midpoint of winter

FEBRUARY comes from the Latin word februa, which means “to cleanse.” The month was named after the Roman Februalia, which was a month-long festival of purification and atonement. It’s the only month to have a length of less than 30 days! Though it’s usually 28 days, February is 29 days in leap years like this year. This means it’s also the only month that can pass without a full moon. Not this year as we had one on Thursday night last. We also have a new bank holiday in honour of St Bridget this coming Monday February 5.

A moon's orbit is 29 ½ days, and since February only has 28 days, there are some years when February will not have a full moon. When this happens, both January and March will have two full moons each. This last happened in 1999 and will happen again in 2037. The second full moon in a month is popularly called a blue moon.

Traditionally, the moon we see in February (whatever the phase) is called the snow moon because usually the heaviest snow falls in February. This name dates back to the Native Americans during colonial times when the moons were a way of tracking the seasons. And the Native Americans were right. On average, February is the USA’s snowiest month, according to data from their National Weather Service.

January and February were the last two months to be added to the Roman calendar (c. 713 BC); originally, winter was considered a month-less period. Originally, February was made the last month of the calendar year! Eventually (c. 450 BC), February was moved to its place as the second month.

Even though so many Roses are sold during February due to Valentine’s Day, the Violet and the Primrose are the symbolic flowers. The Violet signifies watchfulness, loyalty, and faithfulness. Give a Violet to someone to let them know that you’ll always be there for them. The Primrose lets someone know that you can’t live without them.

Like Violet, February’s birthstone is a purple colour, the beautiful amethyst. This gem is a form of quartz; it can range from a pale lilac colour to a deep, rich purple. The name is based on a Greek myth that speaks of a nymph named Amethyst who was inadvertently turned into white stone; in remorse, the Greek god Bacchus poured wine over her to turn her a beautiful purple. The amethyst was thought to prevent intoxication and keep its wearer thinking sharply. It was worn by English royalty in the Middle Ages.

The flower called Snowdrop appears in February and is a symbol of hope. According to legend, the Snowdrop became the symbol of hope, when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. When Eve was about to give up hope that the cold winters would never end, an angel appeared. She transformed some of the snowflakes into Snowdrop flowers, proving that the winters do eventually give way to the spring. There is an old rhyme which says:
The Snowdrop, in purest white array,
First rears her head on Candlemas day.

The name Snowdrop does not mean drop of snow; it means drop as in eardrop - the old word for earring. The Latin name for the snow drop is Galanthus, which means milk flower, and they are also known as Candlemas bells.

Windy and wet
FEBRUARY and spring have arrived after one of our windy and wet winters. It has also been one of the mildest with little frost or snow. It is always good to reach St Bridget’s Day to watch nature unfold as life returns to commence another of the year’s cycles. The daylight hours are extending and there is the promise of brighter days ahead. February starts on the same day of the week as both March and November in common years, and in August in a leap year, which we have this year. There was an old saying that from St Bridget’s Day onward you could put away the candle stick and half the candle.

It is said that if the weather is fine and frosty at the close of January and the beginning of February, there is more winter ahead than behind. February is also known as Fill Dyke month, due to all the rain that falls most years. The following are some verses about February:
When the cat lies in the sun in February
She will creep behind the stove in March.
Of all the months of the year
Curse a fair February.
If it thunders in February, it will frost in April.
If February give much snow,
A fine summer it doth foreshow.

Candlemas Day on February 2 is an ancient festival, and it marks the midpoint of winter, halfway between the shortest day and the spring equinox.

In olden times, many people used to say that the Christmas season lasted for 40 days - until the second day of February. In pre-Christian times Candlemas Day was known as the Feast of Lights. An old saying goes as follows.

If Candlemas Day be mild and gay
Go saddle your horses and buy them hay
But if Candlemas Day be stormy and black,
It carries the winter away on its back.

February is also the month of St Blaise, the patron saint of Dubrovnik. He is the saint associated with the blessing of people’s throats. He pales in comparison with St Bridget, but he still retains a loyal following on his feast day on February 3.

Blaise lived in a cave in the wilderness, and his reputation as a protector from ailments of the throat came from his ability to tame wild beasts and save them from hunters. The hunters eventually turned Blaise over to the Roman authorities, and during his time in imprisonment he gained notoriety as a healer.

Retired garda takes a stroll down memory lane to where it all began in Limerick city

In prison he was told about a boy who had a fish bone stuck in his throat and was on the brink of death. Blaise prayed for the boy who lived, and this divine intervention added to his reputation. On his way to his execution, he is reputed to have saved the life of a poor widow’s pig from the jaws of wolves.

From the sixteenth century, the Franciscan order has been associated with Blaise, and his healing gifts. His love for animals was a talent he shared with the order’s founder St Francis.

The blessing of the throats ceremony is meant to deliver people from all ailments of the throat. St Blaise must have been a welcome soother and curer during the season of colds and flu's, in the days before Hot Lemon, and Lemsip. I will conclude with some more verses about February.

Married in February’s sleety weather,
Life you’ll tread in tune together.
If February give much snow,
A fine summer it doth foreshow.