“If Candlemas Day be fair and bright
Winter will take another flight.
If Candllemas Day be cloud and rain
Winter is gone and will not come again.”

The sweet snowdrops that are bravely beginning to grow again in our garden, are also known as Candlemas Bells!
It was felt, long ago, that by the 2nd of February, we shouldn’t need to get up by candlelight…

“Candlemas Day stick beans in the clay
Throw candle and candlestick right away.”


What a delight to read of all the beautiful folklore and traditions surrounding this special day, very generously posted on EF. I feel honoured to have been inspired, and able to learn so much. I am grateful to you clever and well-read enchanted folk for sharing such treasures, it has been a joy to celebrate with you here ~ enlightened with new knowledge and hopeful for the light to return…

Although I am not nearly as well versed as many here, through the years that my boys were at a Waldorf Steiner school, our family entered into the rhythm of some of the more traditional festivals. These then gifted our lives with an ongoing annual pattern of familiarity and continuity, a wonderful thing for children in this challenging modern era. This following is just my ‘mum’s’ account of my own involvement with Candlemas, as this has left a powerful legacy of poignant memories that I thought maybe I could share with you here this day.
As a parent I was introduced to Candlemas at a lecture, by one of my son’s amazing teachers. This sensitive, enthusiastic chap encouraged us to make Earth Candles to celebrate the 2nd of February. I was so taken with this simple ritual, that I decided to create an annual project for the whole school, to enable the newer parents and children to continue to witness this magic if they wished.
So the following year, we began in the winter term by collecting the ends of old candles from all the families, and being a Steiner environment, most of us used candles on a regular basis *grin* On the day before, February 1st, having previously planned out that year’s design, I walked the school grounds, placing a stick where each of the earth candles would be made the following day. I was inspired to plan for as many lights as our school had been in existence, so there were at least seventy tiny flames (as one of the first Steiner schools established in the UK) with an extra one added each Candlemas. One year we made a huge star shape and on another, I followed the straight lines of the foundation plans for our desperately needed New Hall. (This was something we were continually fund-raising to build, and my hope was to bless that special space so that when it was finally built, the generations that followed could maybe remember the dedication of those who had brought the amazing eco project into being.)
I had already visited the local craft shop to buy lots of wick, and throughout the evening before, I spent many contented hours trimming 4” lengths of wick and threading cocktail sticks through the tops, at about the 3”mark. Very early on the morning of February 2nd, we would get a fire going in the grounds and melted all those kindly donated, colourful old candle stubs in a large heavy tin can. It was such fun to see the recycling and melding of what would normally have just been thrown away ~ at the threshold of a new season, what better way to celebrate than to surrender the old and prepare for the new!
This is usually a cold time of year here in England, so, wrapped up warm we got each of the classes, aged from 4 to 19 years old, to come and make the holes in the frozen ground where I had previously placed each of the stick markers. The youngsters used a dibber (like the end of a broom handle) and pushed it into the earth leaving a hole about 3” in depth. If the ground were very frozen, then the older ones would help by carefully hammering in the dibber with a mallet. These were always team efforts with the little ones aspiring to help the class below them the following year.
The next task was to gently place the prepared wicks into the holes, using the cocktail sticks to keep each of them hanging in the middle, spanned across and suspending it above the ground by laying across the top of the hole on the grass. The youngster’s favourite part, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, was to then pour the melted wax into the hole, right up to ground level. It didn’t matter if it splashed or spilt, although the older lads just Had to put their hands into the actual mixture too of course (being a teacher, and parent of naturally inquisitive boys, I’d expected that particular ‘test’ *smiles*) We left the stick markers next to the holes for when it got dark, as I went round trimming the wicks to about half an inch, and then left ingenious mother nature to harden the wax for us. This was an all day activity which involved the whole school and however cold it was, those who’d done this in the previous years were as keen as we were for dusk to fall…
At about six o’clock when it was dark, the pupils, parents and friends returned to the school field for hot juice, heated on the same fire, and some cake (many Steiner parents are excellent cooks!) And now for the best bit, we lit all the earth candles, removing the markers (the cocktail sticks burnt away quickly) and eventually there were dozens and dozens of little lights looking like we’d brought sparkling stars down from the night sky. Whatever the weather conditions, those astonishing candles stayed alight through wind and rain, it always amazed me. We grouped around this beautiful scene and sang together ~ Steiner schools are brilliant at encouraging music and choral participation, so harmonies and rounds were in full swing as some of these songs the children had learnt together over many years. This moment would bring me to tears of joy as we communally thanked the earth for all her bounty and blessings, whilst bringing down the light in preparation for the spring to come. These very special earth candles would then burn merrily all through the night, without the need for watchful eyes, as they were quite safe holding the light.
Early the following morning, as this festival took place on the playing field where Games lessons were played, I would make sure that all was okay. Nothing would be left by then, other than little black holes surrounded by bits of scorched grass. This meant that all the pupil’s running, jumping and ball games could be played quite safely. The most astonishing thing was that within a few days, you could hardly see the pattern at all anymore. Then when a couple of weeks had passed, Mother Nature had naturally filled in those holes, as though our earth stars had never been there… The next year would be a whole new beginning.
So now you can see why Candlemas is so dear to me, whatever is going on in this mad mortal world, those beautiful earth candles remind me of Hope, of a very precious time for me when my boys were young. And, hopefully, some memories that may be recalled as those dear children who took part, now grown up, remember and maybe wish to recreate a similar moment for their younglings. That, to me, is part of what all these wonderful festivals and rituals are about, creating and evoking magical memories, giving thanks and counting our blessings.

On this Candlemas day, I give thanks for the returning light, and the approach of Spring, my favourite time of year. I am thankful that my beloved boys, now also grown up, are safe and snug with me here in front of the cosy fire, as the snow is still falling and thickly laying around our cottage, creating an exquisite, quiet, winter wonderland.
In between working today, I have regularly put out fresh water, breadcrumbs, varieties of seeds, nuts and scraps for my garden birds. Dozens of fieldfares and blackbirds, together with a few song thrushes, gathered till nightfall around the apple trees, feasting on the windfalls. Luckily one of our old trees seems enchanted, as it holds onto its apples until the end of winter and there is still plenty of fruit to go round. Two pairs of cheeky robins kept swooping to the backdoor, keeping the chattering sparrows, chaffinches and shy shuffling dunnocks in order. My peanut feeders were teaming with coal tits, tiny blue tits, great tits, darling little long-tailed tits, often joined by a pair of assertive blackcaps, a rather dominant nuthatch and a magnificent greater spotted woodpecker. These also shared the other seeds when they got too crowded, while pretty goldfinches, greenfinches and serins laid claim to the niger thistle seeds. Our resident pheasant, his tail laden with snow, was running backwards and forwards from the orchard area to outside my kitchen, noisily making sure he didn’t miss any meal opportunity! I was living in the magic.

I really appreciate you reading my Be ramblings, and warmly wish you, my lovely friends, Happy Groundhog's Day! The night is here now, JellyBean has to be encouraged to go out again and then warmed back up after another of her snow adventures, and I need to make another hot cup of tea for my family before supper ((Hugs))
The light is returning, Spring is coming, All Will Be Well.