Weekly Features

The Weekly Shaman

February 2 was the day set aside when the Catholic church held their Candle Mass which honored the arrival of the Christ Child into the temple and the purification of the Virgin it was a day set aside to bless the church candles for religious services. 

Of course, the practice was not official feast day until the 11th century. The day was usually celebrated with candlelight processions likely a relic of procession of people holding torches to purify the land and encourage fertility of the land. February was a time set aside for purifying rituals. The fire ritual was also done to ward off the spirts of winter and blight. It was also a time in which the Christmas evergreens disposed of. It was considered bad luck to leave up the holiday evergreens pass this date was considered unluck. The use of connection to the touch welding Eros whose Roman counterpart was Cupid a popular symbol of Valentine’s Day. Candles have a long history of being part of religious ceremonies, rituals festivals and procession to honor the dead at certain times. Wax candles were often preferred because bees have a connection to paradise. 

In Ireland it was customary to place twelve lit candles around a corpse before it was buried to ensure that the spirit of the deceased from being carried off to Hell itself. In some districts of Eastern Europe to pass a candle over a corpse will cause it to reanimate as undead. Candlelight often represents the divine light in religious services. And so, it goes.