busy busy week old celebrations all tied to the earth
feb 1..imbolc
feb 2..groundhog day /candlemas day
feb 3 chinese new year
here are just a few of the things you can find on line~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~February kicks off with a bang as seven planets - yes, seven! - vie for your attention. Venus, Neptune, Uranus, the Moon, the Sun, Mars and Saturn all want to remind you of their existence, and they only have four days to do so. Get ready for a whirlwind!
The action begins February 2, when romantic Venus links up with dreamy Neptune to bring you a few moments of pure bliss. Enjoy them while you can, though, because just as quickly, the mood will change once Venus saddles up to Uranus in a pairing that prefers freedom and flirtation to closeness.
Then, overnight and into February 3, the Sun will pair up with the Aquarius Moon, a transit indicating that it's time to get your heart and head moving in the same direction. This New Moon will demand that you totally focus your energy and determination if you want the results you're after!
The following day, Mars steps up to the Sun in Aquarius, and Venus transitions into Capricorn. Mars will encourage stubbornness and avoid compromise; Venus, meanwhile, will require some level of achievement in order to be happy, and life will become all about sophistication. These sentiments will continue until Saturn enters the mix on February 6, bringing a sense of balance. More specifically, Saturn will act to temper Mars' influence, while enhancing that of Venus.
The key rules for the week? Play hard … and work even harder. Don't let trivial stuff get to you. Focus on the big picture and channel your energy into constructive projects. With Venus around, spending some extra time on yourself could have more desirable - and romantic - results than you may have originally expected.
Venus is a powerful force to be reckoned with, and this week will see a great deal of Venusian influence. So what better time to take a look at your own love life (or lack thereof)? Try our Intimacy Secrets Reading for an in-depth look at how you approach relationships, as well as the qualities best suited for you in a partner. Find out how your current relationship stacks up, or you're single, get a better understanding of what kind of person you should be looking for. Try a free sample reading, then save 20% when you order our full Intimacy Secrets Reading through this email.
Sincerely,
http://www.astrology.com--------------------------------------------------------------------------------The First of February belongs to Brigid, (Brighid, Brigit, Bride,) the Celtic goddess who in later times became revered as a Christian saint. Originally, her festival on February 1 was known as Imbolc or Oimelc, two names which refer to the lactation of the ewes, the flow of milk that heralds the return of the life-giving forces of spring. Later, the Catholic Church replaced this festival with Candlemas Day on February 2, which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and features candlelight processions. The powerful figure of Brigid the Light-Bringer overlights both pagan and Christian celebrations.
http://landscaping.about.com/cs/pestcontrol/a/groundhog_day_4.htmImbolc
Imbolc is an ancient festival, Celtic in origin, and considered one of the greater Wiccan sabbats. It is celebrated on the night of February 1st in the northern hemisphere.
The primary purpose of Imbolc is to celebrate Spring's impending replacement of Winter. In this sense, Imbolc may be seen as a spiritual alternative to the secular celebration of New Year's Eve.
At New Year's Eve, we often see the image of old, bearded Father Time replaced with a young baby. Father Time represents the old, outgoing year, and the baby celebrates the year just born. At Imbolc, we have similar imagery; an old crone represents the outgoing year, and turns things over to a young maiden.
Fertility, of course, plays a part here. The frozen earth is incapable of growing things, just as the old crone has grown incapable of producing offspring. This barrenness is replaced by the warm return of Spring, making the earth once again fertile, symbolized by the fertile young maiden.
http://www.worldspirituality.org/imbolc.html--------------------------------------------------------------------------------http://landscaping.about.com/cs/pestcontrol/a/groundhog_day_4.htmlet's explore the origin of Groundhog Day by taking a look at Imbolc, Saint Brigid's Day and Candlemas Day.
In its earliest incarnation, Groundhog Day was Imbolc, a pagan celebration associated with fertility and weather divination. The word, Imbolc is Gaelic, the language of the Celts. There is a strong association between Imbolc and Brigid, a Celtic fertility goddess. When the pagan holidays were transformed into Catholic equivalents, two new holidays emerged from Imbolc. One, Saint Brigid's Day (a.k.a. Saint Bridget's Day), was celebrated on February 1. Saint Brigid's Day honored an Irish saint, named after the Celtic goddess, who was a contemporary of Saint Patrick's.
The second holiday deriving from Imbolc was Candlemas Day and was celebrated on February 2 (Groundhog Day). Candlemas was the feast of Mary's purification and was marked by a candle procession. The ties between purification rituals and the month of February also hark back to the pagan era. Indeed, our very word, "February," which derives from Latin, unmistakably designates the month as a time for purification (februa means "expiatory offerings"). The Lupercalia, a pagan Roman purification ritual, took place in February.
But how did a groundhog become the symbol for a holiday that was marked by a candle procession? Well, the Romans, for instance, had celebrated a rough equivalent to our Groundhog Day in early February -- only a hedgehog was in charge of the weather divination, not a groundhog. And such beliefs survived the Christianization of Europe (going "underground," if you will), attaching themselves to Candlemas Day as folklore. European settlers in North America kept the pagan tradition alive, but substituted the native groundhog for the European hedgehog. Clearly, Imbolc and the older traditions have won out: today in North America, almost everyone in the general public has heard of "Groundhog Day," while mention of "Candlemas Day" would generally draw expressions of puzzlement!
Most people have now distanced themselves from fertility rites, purification rituals and weather divination (well, except for meteorologists, perhaps!). Nonetheless, on some level, don't we still intuitively associate fertility and purification with spring? Nor can we help but spend our winters speculating on spring's arrival. If hope had a scent, it would be the smell in the air on a warm February day. On Page 5 we move from its origins in Imbolc, St. Brigid's Day and Candlemas Day to the modern significance of Groundhog Day....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------http://www.moonslipper.com/chinese.htmlhttp://www.gotohoroscope.com/chinese-astrology.html--------------------------------------------------------------------------------http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/28/AR2011012806363.htmlFortunetellers: Year of the Rabbit not too cuddly
By DEBBY WU
The Associated Press
Friday, January 28, 2011; 8:27 PM
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Year of the Rabbit conjures images of fluffy bunnies, but fortunetellers in Asia predict that the coming year on the Asian lunar calendar will be anything but cuddly. Among key predictions for the new year beginning Feb. 3: terrorist threats, continuing tensions between China and the United States, natural disasters around the world and wobbly global markets.
Even Hollywood celebrity couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie is not immune from the grim prognostications. Both were born in Rabbit years, and one fortuneteller sees their longtime relationship coming under increasing strain as the year wears on. As the Lunar New Year approaches, Asians from Hanoi to Harbin put great stock in the soothsayers' predictions using feng shui - the traditional practice of foretelling events through dates and classical texts.
In feng shui lore, the Year of the Rabbit is associated with the natural elements of metal and wood. This is a likely recipe for conflict, according to Hong Kong-based feng shui consultant Raymond Lo. Taipei-based colleague Tsai Shang-chi goes even further.
"This year the West will suffer from a vicious energy and will be prone to more terrorist attacks," Tsai said. "The East will also be affected by a negative energy, reflected in ongoing tensions on the Korean peninsula."
While Tsai and Malaysian prognosticator Rev Yong offer assurances that the problems between North and South Korea won't escalate into all-out war, Yong is less sanguine about the chances for avoiding an onslaught of natural disasters. He foresees severe flooding around the world, a powerful earthquake in Japan and the emergence of a number of worrisome new diseases.
One of the upshots, he says, will be big problems for the global economy and the possibility of a major stock market plunge toward the middle of the year. "People think the rabbit is very gentle, but it's not going to be a mild year at all," Yong said. "It won't be a good year. There will be a lot of world conflicts."
Hong Kong prognosticator Peter So predicted that developing tensions between the United States and China would persist, and that Chinese leader Hu Jintao would have an advantage over President Barack Obama as the sides faced off.
So attributed Hu's prospective dominance to the compatibility of his winter birth with the Year of the Rabbit's fire element, and the countervailing shortfall suffered by the August-born Obama. "(Obama's) administration won't go that smoothly," he said. "He won't be able to register that many achievements."
Taiwan's Tsai said the Year of the Rabbit will bring new challenges to Hollywood lovebirds Pitt and Jolie, who share the Rabbit birth sign, one of 12 in the Chinese zodiac. In feng shui lore, people entering a year whose sign is the same as their birth sign are considered to be "in conflict" and may encounter bad luck.
"The three stars affecting their relationship this year are related to disputes and arguments," Tsai said. "They'll be lucky if they manage to stay together."
Still, Tsai said, there may be a way out of the muddle - not only for Pitt and Jolie, but indeed, for anyone who appears to have gotten the short end of the stick in Year of the Rabbit portents.
"Wear yellow and white cloths and consume food in these colors," he counseled, listing pumpkins, oranges, white radishes and apples as likely antidotes.
Hong Kong's Lo added that carrying a dog pendant may also offer help, because dogs and rabbits are astrologically compatible. ---
Associated Press writers Min Lee in Hong Kong and Sean Yoong in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.
Tue Feb 01, 2011 7:03 pm
