Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1897-02-26
CANDLEMAS DAY
Its Origin, Its Myths and I,s o,..
ance.

aus Myths and Its Obsery.
ance.
our oaxon fathers named the months
"oii some characteristic manifestation
OF nature. February was the month ot
sProut kale, and March the wind month
but during the dominance of the Roman
church the days of the month were doc
ignated' not as the tenth or twelfth hut
from the nearest saint in the caIardar
IN the "Patson Letters" that mine %
antiquarian lights which so vividlv re-,
resents the household of life oftbe Fit
teenth Century, there is scarcely . 10.
ter which is not thus dated. as on "tbe
Thursday next before St. Agatha's - the
Monday" after ST. Michaepsn abe
Wednesday after ST. Daule's" curiops
mingling of honorito Wooden and Tho,
with the sacred feasts of a more endur
ing faith.
Inc festival of Candlemas, the synch-
ronous celebration of the presentation
and of the publication, was probably in.
stituted as such by the Bishop Gelasius
in the reign of Justinian, but if is with.
out doubt a more ancient obse,ya,ce
and one of the legacies of diving cult
"Great Pan is dead" but his Worship
fingers in many an unconscious service.
CandIemas. occurring as It does on the
I'd of February, may well be the sur.
vival Of the Roman LupercaIia. the
Februa, or rites Of lustration performed
on the 18th Of that month for cent Iries
before the Babe lay in the manager of
Bethlehem.
The use of candles, although consid-
cred typical of the prophetic words of
Simeon, "a Light to tighten the Gen
tiles, is probably the relic of that fea-
ture of the Lipercalia, when during DAYS
of riotous license under the cloak of
Pious ceremonies, the people ran hither
and thither carrying candles to repre-
sent the torch with which Demeter
sought her lost Persephone through the
plains of Emma. Beautiful myth-sym-
bolizing so much truth, spiritual and
physical-fair Persephone, reincarnate
in the daffodils which sprung up on the
banks of Cyanel The transition from
the Lupercalia to Candlemas was but
ore of the many compromises by which
pagan customs were baptized with
Christian names.
In England, the esttribute to the day
is given by the opening snowdrops-
"Candlemas Bells" "Fair Maids of Feb
ruary," one Of the many flowers dedi-
Gated to Mary, and formerly called the
Publication Flower Henry VIII, by
special proclamation in 1889, permitted
the use of candles and the further OBJ
servance of the day, for neither Henry
nor his daughter in their nominal Prot
estanism renounced the pageantry of
Rome. In every English parish. the
Christmas greens were removed from
church and home on Candlemas Eve,
custom prettily told by Herrick:
Down with the rosemary. and so
Down with the bays and mistletoe;
Down 18th the holly, ivy. and all
Wherewith We dressed the Christmas Hall, |
That so the superstitious find
Not one least branch there left behind.
For look, how many leaves there be
Neglected, there (maids trust to me-
So many goblins you shall see.
In the morning, the Yule log, which |
had burned until Twelfth Night or Old |
Christmas, was relighted:
Kindle the Christmas brand and then
Til sunset let it burn.
When quenched. then lay it up again
Till Christmas next return.
Part must be kept wherwith to teend,
The Christmas log next year.
And where tbs safely kept. the fend
Can do no mischief there.
In Scotland. where the time is of some |
official Importance as the chief quarter
dav. great fires called the "Candlemass
from the ashes of
the long extinct worship of Baal-were
LIGHTED on the hilltops, and woe betide
that neighborhood where for any reason I
the fire did not burn the livelong night. |