Today is the day when Wiccans honor the Goddess Brighid, today is the traditional day for Imbolc. It's funny to use the word traditional with a religion that was born in the 1960's. Like the last 40 yrs of Wicca have accelerated our work such that anything can be referred to as a tradition? I'm not sure.
Something that has challenged me since the beginning of my studies has been the cross quarter Sabbats. We read in many books how they are honored on X day, yet when you research what makes them cross-quarters, it's the fact that they happen 45 days from a solstice or an equinox. Uhm... but the traditional days are not always 45 days from a solstice or an equinox.
So I started counting. And I noticed that more often the cross quarters happen near a lunar event that is +-4 days from the 45 day mark. Thus, my coven and I started honoring the cross quarters on those days. Why? Because it felt more real to me than to just honor a day because someone chose it? It's hard to provide a reason for doing something in Wicca that is any more solid than any other reason. Wicca is such a new religion that compared to other religions of the world, it feels a little silly to make bold statements like "this is the traditional way of doing things." Traditional? So in the past 40 yrs there haven't been a dozen or so authors and community leaders who haven't found faults with any number of our "traditions" and modified them to suit their needs?
45 days, February 2nd, the next lunar event... there is no more justification for any of one those times to honor Brighid than any other. I like to think that the Goddess weaves her visions from a loving and creative source, and as such isn't all that upset if it's one day or the next, just as long as it happens sometime when the community feels it should.
Common sense plays a role here as well: if you want to hold a large celebration, and most of your coven members work, then they either have to take the day off... or you have to schedule it on or near a weekend so that everyone can relax and enjoy the time spent in celebration of Brighid's fire.
The overall goal of this Sabbat is to honor Brighid, the rising of the God's fires (the sun's warmth), and to gather together in a celebration of light to soothe the pyschological damages of a long, dark winter. When those things are accomplished with a deep emotional commitment, the day upon which the ritual occurs becomes less of an issue.
