happy almost imbolc! the solar gate of imbolc is exact tomorrow saturday february 3rd at 1:12pm PST.
many people celebrate imbolc on 2/1. why is this? well my understanding based on my research is that is not the true date of imbolc.
first of all our current calendar we adhere to that began in 1582 is gregorian and the calendar before that was julian. the disparity between dates between these too calendars is large (i.e. in 1500 they were 10 days off). so when the gregorian calendar began 2/1 was actually about 1/20 or 21 in the julian calender.
well what calendar did the ancient celtic people’s align with? based on my research the ancient celtic people’s based their festivals on a solar and lunar calendar (because of agriculture and planting). the gregorian calandar date of 2/1 is not aligned with either.
based on my research (both studies but also tuning into to the portals) lunar imbolc at the new moon in aquarius (which this year is the solar eclipse on 2/15 but it changes each year) and solar imbolc when the sun is at 15 aquarius (this year 2/3) are the true lunar and solar gates that align with this fire festival.
in my studies i have found that as the christian church super imposed their feasts and celebrations on the ancient pagan dates (in order to convert pagan people) they overlaid them aligning with 40 days after the solstices and equinoxes because in their tradition women were unclean for 40 days after giving birth to a boy (80 days for a girl!)- and the date of 2/2 is 40 days after mary would have given birth to jesus. so this whole 40 days later has to do with a construct about a woman being unclean and needing to be purified after giving birth.
2/1 has no solar or lunar alighments- and although i have read that it used to align with the pleiades it no longer does and the pleiades alignment constantly shifts so if that was the case i would think the date would constantly be shifting over centuries and millennia.
as you will see here this archeoastronomy website lists the 8 sabbats (high holy dates) based on the solar gate alignments- and then the mid season festivals can also be celebrate on the dark moon to new moon in scorpio and aquarius during samhain and imbolc respectively and the full moon in scorpio and aquarius during beltane and lammas respectively.
i personally find this inquiry into dates and alignments very interesting because astrology is very much about precision. the sacred sites around the world were aligned to the sun, the moon and the stars. the precision of these alignments was important for the mystical gate/portal to open up. today the Greater Sabbats (imbolc, beltane, lammas and samhain) are mainly celebrated on days that don’t align with the sun, the moon or the stars and there’s a conspiracy theory out there that they were intentionally changed so that people would not have access to the true power point of the solar and lunar alignments.
if you have not heard my SOLAR GATE OF IMBOLC call that i recorded with my husband you can find that here- https://soundcloud.com/divineharmony/the-solar-gate-of-imbolc-gate-of-emergence
and if you are interested in these solar mysteries and learning about the gates of the sun in the upcoming year i hope you will join us for the rest of the solar gate calls we will be sharing in 2018. for more information click here- https://www.divineharmony.org/the8solargates
blessed imbolc! may the Light within and without start to emerge with clarity and brilliance!
~divine harmony
p.s. please note in the imbolc call i accidentally called the solstices and equinoxes the greater sabbats and the cross quarter points the lesser and it’s the other way around. i know this and messed this up when talking! i clarify it in the notes under the soundcloud link <3