Jennifer Lambert

A Sacred Balance

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Celebrating Spring

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March 20, 2021 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

Spring is a time of renewal.

The breezes and rain wash away the old and bring in something bright and new.

The kids and I love to explore our yard and the woods behind our house, seeking out new shoots of green, awakening insects, migrating birds.

We’re surprised every year by the bulbs re-emerging, like we’ve forgotten or are worried they might not appear for some reason this year.

I’ve always felt like a spring baby, even though I’m born on only the 18th. My aunt was born on the 20th and I always thought she was so special.

I remember all the springtimes at every house we’ve lived – the flowers that grew there and I sometimes miss in a different climate. I long for the blooming azaleas of my Southern home.

After the vernal equinox, the days become longer and the nights become shorter. Daylight Saving Time also helps us to enjoy the warmer sunnier weather.

We naturally long to be outside more as the weather warms, after being perhaps more cooped up inside during the colder months, when the sun set at or even before dinnertime.

We enjoy our after-dinner walks again. It helps digestion and sleep and I just generally feel better.

We visit our resident Great Horned Owls by our neighborhood pond and woods. We will soon welcome the Little Brown Bats from their winter slumber to eat up the mosquitoes. Birds, raccoons, squirrels, and opossums will soon have babies foraging at our feeders and in our yard.

It’s baseball season and we’re running around to practices and games, dodging the rain with prayers, blankets, and umbrellas.

We’re planning our backyard vegetable garden. We notice the herbs returning after their winter dormancy. We’ve pruned the roses and fertilized the lawn and shrubs.

The world is awakening in wonder.

Celebrating the Spring Equinox

  • Spring Books
  • Eggs – decorating or eating
  • Flowers!
  • Backyard birds
  • Easter is soon!
  • Passover is soon!
  • Spring cleaning our hearts and homes
  • Seeds
  • Gardening
  • Rain painting
  • Baby animals
  • Backwoods Mama
  • The Seasonal Soul

Books:

  • A Child’s Seasonal Treasury
  • All Year Round: Christian Calendar of Celebrations
  • Festivals Together
  • Festivals Family and Food
  • The Rhythm of Family: Discovering a Sense of Wonder through the Seasons
  • Birthday Book: Celebrations for Everyone
  • Balance in Teaching
  • Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

Step softly. The earth is pregnant.

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May Themes

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April 27, 2020 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

When my kids were very small, we had monthly themes on our bulletin board, for our homeschool lessons, and to order our daily lives.

As the kids get older, the themes aren’t quite so vivid. I enjoy the liturgical calendar, the natural cycles of the world, and celebrating the flow and small events in our lives.

We loved these themed Calendar Connections.

May Themes

We love reading about Catholic saints and Celtic saints and sometimes do spiritual activities. And we also talk about how white saviors and missionaries weren’t the best for indigenous peoples.

April showers bring May flowers!

Here’s a neat list of what’s on sale in May.

Fun Stuff: National Days. Almost something for every day of the month!

It’s Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

***May 16th is Mimosa Day and May 25th is Wine Day!***

May Day

Celebrating May Day or Beltane.

Free Comic Book Day is the First Saturday in May!

May the Fourth Be With You

May 4th is Star Wars Day!

See our Star Wars Angry Birds craft.

Also National Orange Juice Day is May 4.

Cinco de Mayo

This day is observed to commemorate the Mexican Army’s victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla, on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza.

Eat tacos with this easy taco seasoning!

National Military Spouse Appreciation Day is the Friday Before Mother’s Day

National Infertility Survival Day is the Sunday Before Mother’s Day

Don’t forget to remind your kids about National Clean Up Your Room Day on May 10!

Mother’s Day is the Second Sunday in May

  • 10 DIY Gifts with Essential Oils
  • DIY Bath Bombs and Cards
  • How much is a mom worth?
  • A Mother’s Résumé
  • Navigating Motherhood During Deployment

May 11 is Twilight Zone Day. We love that show!

May 21- The Feast of Ascension

May 31 – The Feast of Pentecost

Memorial Day

  • Normandy Memorial Sites
  • Flanders Memorial Sites

May 16th is BBQ Day and the 28th is Hamburger Day.

Learn History with the Racial Injustice Calendar and The Zinn Education Project.

What are your plans for May?

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April Themes

This blog may contain affiliate links: disclosure. Please see my suggested resources.

March 26, 2020 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

When my kids were very small, we had monthly themes on our bulletin board, for our homeschool lessons, and to order our daily lives.

As the kids get older, the themes aren’t quite so vivid. I enjoy the liturgical calendar, the natural cycles of the world, and celebrating the flow and small events in our lives.

We loved these themed Calendar Connections.

We love reading about Catholic saints and Celtic saints and sometimes do spiritual activities. And we also talk about how white saviors and missionaries weren’t the best for indigenous peoples.

Here’s a neat list of what’s on sale in April.

Fun stuff: April calendar theme days.

April showers bring May flowers!

April is a lovely month, with warmer weather and flowers blooming. Sometimes, Easter is in April.

Month of the Military Child

Military Child Day is observed on April 30.

  • What My MilKids Have Taught Me
  • Third Culture Kids
  • MilKids and Stress
  • Homeschooling in the Military
  • Homeschooling Where the Military Sends Us
  • PCS While Homeschooling
  • Preparing Kids for PCS
  • How Deployment Affects Kids
  • Maintaining Attachment During Deployment

April Fools Day

April 1 is my son’s birthday!

Passover

Celebrating Passover

Easter

  • 50+ Easter Basket Ideas
  • Celebrating Easter
  • Natural Egg Dye
  • Favorite Easter Books

Earth Day – 4/22

How to Be Sustainable at Home

Learn about weather, recycling, the water cycle.

Shakespeare

Read and learn about Shakespeare

Nature

  • Baby Animals Unit Study
  • Garden Unit Study
  • Learning About Seeds
  • Pond Study
  • Life Cycles

National Poetry Month

Favorite Poetry Books for Kids

History: Racial Injustice Calendar and The Zinn Education Project.

Fun Stuff: National Days

Something for each day of the month – from fun foods to celebrating squirrels to justice issues to historical landmarks.

Don’t miss April 6, National Caramel Popcorn Day!

April 11 is Fondue Day!

Garlic Day is April 19!

Arbor Day is the 24th. Plant a tree!

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March Themes

This blog may contain affiliate links: disclosure. Please see my suggested resources.

February 27, 2020 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

When my kids were very small, we had monthly themes on our bulletin board, for our homeschool lessons, and to order our daily lives.

As the kids get older, the themes aren’t quite so vivid. I enjoy the liturgical calendar, the natural cycles of the world, and celebrating the flow and small events in our lives.

We loved these themed Calendar Connections.

We love reading about Catholic saints and Celtic saints and sometimes do spiritual activities. And we also talk about how white saviors and missionaries weren’t the best for indigenous peoples.

Here’s a neat list of what’s on sale in March.

Fun March calendar theme days!

Saint Patrick

  • Celebrating Saint Patrick
  • Preschool Saint Patrick
  • Ireland Unit Study
  • Teaching the Trinity
  • My Saint Patrick Pinterest Board

I love learning about the Saints’ lives.

  • March Book Basket by Kennedy Adventures
  • March by Catholic Playground
  • March Feast Table by Elizabeth Clare
  • March Links from Shower of Roses

Read Across America Week

Read Across America Unit Study

Spring

  • Celebrating Spring
  • Spring Unit Study
  • Spring Nature Study
  • Spring Pastel Art
  • Spring Homeschool
  • Favorite Spring Books
  • Backyard Signs of Spring
  • Tot School Spring
  • March Sensory Bin
  • March Tot School
  • Spring Clean Your Heart
  • Learning About Seeds
  • My Spring Pinterest Board

Rainbows

  • Preschool Letter R
  • Wizard of Oz Unit

Women’s History

Women’s Literature Study

Daylight Savings Time

Pi Day on 3/14

Ides of March

Caterpillars and Butterflies

Purim

  • Purim Unit Study
  • My Purim Pinterest Board

Passover

  • Celebrating Passover
  • My Passover Pinterest Board

Easter

  • Celebrating Easter
  • Natural Easter Egg Dye
  • 50 Easter Basket Ideas
  • Favorite Easter Books
  • Resurrection Eggs
  • My Easter Pinterest Board

History: Racial Injustice Calendar and The Zinn Education Project.

Fun Stuff: National Days

Don’t miss Chip and Dip Day on 3/23!

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Spring Unit Study

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May 8, 2019 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

Spring is a great time to shake off winter blues and explore in the sunshine and warm weather!

I long for the flowers to bloom and the hummingbirds to return.

Everywhere we have lived, springtime announces her arrival differently.

Growing up in Georgia, springtime meant crocus and daffodils and Easter. I remember cold mornings and hot afternoons. I remember the scent of tulips on the pollen wind and tomato plants planted early in the red soil.

Texas was much the same, but much hotter.

Hawaii was like ultimate springtime.

Utah seemed never to get warm until late June. Crocus would push up through the snow and we would get excited for warm weather. The sun could burn our faces, but the ground was cold and the wind was biting for months.

Germany was always wet and foggy. Snowdrops, crocus, and daffodils would poke through the slush to brighten the day in late winter and early spring. The woods would suddenly spring alive with bugs and leaves and warm earthy scents.

Ohio is very wet in spring. We look forward to the blossoms of flowers and it seems to get later and later every year. Then, finally the bees and birds get as excited as we do to feel the warm sunshine.

Our Spring Activities:

  • Garden Unit
  • Pond Unit
  • Baby Animals Unit
  • Seeds Unit
  • Spring Work 1st Grade
  • Spring Nature Study
  • Favorite Spring Books
  • Rain Painting
  • Pastel Art
  • Celebrating St. Brigid
  • Celebrating Spring
  • Celebrating Passover
  • Celebrating Easter
  • Natural Easter Eggs Dye
  • Celebrating May Day
  • Earth Day Tot School
  • Spring Clean Your Heart

Spring Resources:

  • DLTK
  • True Aim
  • Homeschool Preschool
  • Homeschool Den
  • Life Over C’s
  • Ben and Me
  • Living Montessori Now
  • Life of a Homeschool Mom
  • My Little Poppies
  • Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
  • This Reading Mama
  • Homeschool Creations
  • 3 Dinosaurs
  • Hodgepodge
  • Homeschool Share
  • PreKinders
  • 1+1+1=1

Spring is my favorite season!

ProSchool Membership - Productive Homeschooling
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Celebrating May Day

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April 29, 2019 By Jennifer Lambert 11 Comments

May Day is the 1st of May.

May Day or Beltane is an ancient spring festival in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s an astronomical holiday. It’s one of the year’s four cross-quarter days – a day that falls midway between an equinox and solstice. May 1st is between the March equinox and June solstice. The other cross-quarter days are Groundhog Day/Candlemas/St. Brigid’s Day or Imbolc on February 2, Lammas on August 1, and Halloween on October 31. The day stems from the Celtic festival of Beltane, which was related to the waxing power of the sun as the Northern Hemisphere moves closer to summer.

Because the Puritans of New England considered the celebrations of May Day to be licentious and pagan, they forbade its observance and the holiday never became an important part of American culture.

May Day probably was originally a fertility festival in ancient Greece and Roman times.

In Germany, the eve of May Day is Walpurgis Night, and the village youth often play pranks and ours charged a toll to enter the village! They decorated a little evergreen May Tree with ribbons and flowers that is then carried by parade to the village barn or town hall. It stayed there until it completely rotted.

Saint Walpurga, an English abbess and missionary, has been hailed by German Christians since 800 AD for battling “pest, rabies and whooping cough, as well as against witchcraft.” In folklore, Hexennacht, literally “Witches’ Night,” was believed to be the night of a witches’ meeting on the highest peak in the Harz Mountains. Christians prayed to God through the intercession of Saint Walpurga in order to protect themselves from witchcraft. Saint Walpurga was successful in converting the local populace to Christianity. People continue to light bonfires on Saint Walpurga’s Eve in order to ward off evil spirits and witches.

In Hawaii, May Day is also known as Lei Day since 1927.

How to Celebrate May Day

Plant flowers or a tree.

I love getting out in the garden in springtime. I love shopping for vibrant flowers, even if we don’t have much of a budget for them. The kids and I scatter wildflower seeds for a bee and hummingbird garden around Earth Day, Arbor Day, and May Day. Hawthorn is traditional and we like to gather it for decorations with wildflowers.

Make a maypole or personal flower wands.

These are just lovely and fun for all children (and big kids)!

Dance around a maypole.

Dance away the cold winter weather with colorful ribbons and weaving in and out with friends and family.

Make a flower crowns or leis.

These are super fun with real or fake flowers. Makes fun presents!

Have a bonfire.

We use our fire pit in the backyard and roast hot dogs and marshmallows and talk and sing. It’s a fun time.

Give flower baskets.

I love this tradition that must be revived! Make small baskets with some fresh flowers and hang on neighbors doors!

Have an outdoor picnic.

Super easy to gather up some snacks and spend some time in the sunshine at a park or back yard.

Go on a nature walk.

We love exploring nature during season changes to see what’s new.

Read books (especially poetry) about springtime.

May first is the day
When children play,
And hang a basket of flowers
On your doorknob—
and mine.                   ~Nellie Edge

How do you welcome May?

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Celebrating Easter

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April 15, 2019 By Jennifer Lambert 10 Comments

What is Easter?

Easter is the most important and oldest festival of Christians, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and held (in the Western Church) between March 21 and April 25, on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the northern spring equinox.
The Orthodox date for Easter Sunday often occurs at a later date than the date observed by many western churches. The holiday is also known as Pascha.

Constantine wanted Christianity to be totally separated from Judaism and did not want Easter to be celebrated on the Jewish Passover. The Council of Nicea accordingly required the feast of the resurrection to be celebrated on a Sunday and never on the Jewish Passover.

Many Ancient cultures viewed eggs as a symbol of life.

The Easter egg is hard-boiled and often dyed red to symbolize the blood of Christ. It was an important symbol connected with spring fertility rituals in many early civilizations. Many Greek Orthodox Christians rap their eggs against their friends’ eggs and the owner of the last uncracked egg is considered lucky.

In addition, in some areas, eggs were forbidden during Lent; therefore, they were a delicacy at Easter.
Some speculate that early missionaries or knights of the Crusade may have been responsible for bringing the tradition to the West.

Another important symbol associated with Easter is the lamb.
The lamb comes from the Jewish Passover, where each family killed a lamb as a sacrifice. When Christ became the Passover Lamb for everyone, the lamb became a symbol for His sacrifice. It is often depicted with a banner that bears a cross, and it is known as the Agnus Dei, meaning “Lamb of God” in Latin.

Easter word origins are complex. The word may have come from the Anglo-Saxon Eeostre or Eastre – a Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility.
The Norse eostur, eastur, or ostara, meant “the season of the growing sun” or  “the season of new birth.” 
The early Latin name for the week of Easter was hebdomada alba or “white week,” while the Sunday after Easter day was called dominica in albis from the white robes of those who had been newly baptized. The word alba is Latin both for white and dawn.
The German plural word for dawn is ostarun. From ostarun we get the German Ostern and the English Easter.

The hare is an ancient symbol of fertility and for the moon. The date of Easter depends on the moon. This may have helped the hare to be absorbed into Easter celebrations. Bunnies live in burrows and when they come out of their holes in spring, it reminds us of Jesus’ empty tomb. Easter baskets were originally like bunny nests in Germany. Bunnies, pastries, and candy also came to the New World with German immigrants.

The Easter lily is another new addition to Easter celebrations. Throughout the years, painters and sculptors used the white Madonna lily to symbolize purity and innocence, frequently referring to Mary.
The Easter lily is a rather new addition to Easter celebrations. 
In the 1880s, Mrs. Thomas Sargent brought Bermuda lily bulbs to Philadelphia. A local nurseryman, William Harris, saw the lilies and introduced them to trade. They were easy to force into bloom in time for the Easter season. The Bermuda lily, now the familiar Easter lily, spread throughout the country.

Easter means faith and family.

As the children grow older, Easter egg hunts, colorful baskets full of candy, and all the commercial festivities aren’t as important to us.

We prepare for Easter with Mardi Gras pancake dinners, Ash Wednesday fasting, and Lent daily reading.

Holy Week begins with palms waving, processions and parades, shouts of “Hosanna!” and celebrations, remembering Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem.

Holy Week should be about inclusion into the Kingdom. Jesus wanted it that way and we have taken his idea of Kingdom as legalism – church attendance and excluding those who don’t look like us, talk like us, think like us.

Communion is inclusion.

Eucharist is thanks.

How do we express thanks and inclusion on this holiest of Christian holidays?

Faith

Many churches offer Ash Wednesday service throughout the day or at least several times during the day, to accommodate busy schedules.

There are special Bible studies during Lent.

We read Bible and missionary stories every morning and evening the year-round, and I just choose different ones during Lent.

When the kids were old enough, we sometimes attended sunrise Easter church services.

I like teaching and discussing The Trinity. Visuals make it special for kids and Sunday school classes.

Learning about and planting seeds are great lessons for children and I often tie in stories about our faith and the teaching of Jesus and saints.

Resurrection Eggs are great visual tools for young children to understand The Stations of the Cross and The Passion. But I don’t like to focus on punitive atonement.

I’m still evolving in my faith and searching for good resources to teach my children well.

Family

We’ve lived in many places and celebrated Easter differently with our friends, neighbors, and churches.

Our Utah church held a large pancake dinner on Mardi Gras.

Our neighborhood in Utah held a huge Easter egg hunt that was like trick-or-treating, with each yard throwing out or hiding candy and eggs and toys for all the children in their front yards. We still remember it fondly.

The kids have never enjoyed large Easter egg hunts, so that’s an easy event to forgo.

We love reading books about Easter – Jesus, bunnies, eggs, and springtime!

We made natural Easter egg dye one year. It was fun, but not as vibrant as we would have liked.

My husband and children don’t really like hard boiled eggs that much, so it’s wasteful to dye many eggs.

We made cascarones another year and that was great fun!

We like to learn about Easter traditions and celebrations around the world.

Brunch is popular on Easter Sunday. We often have a lovely special dinner of lamb or ham on Sunday. I love deviled eggs!

Since we lived in Germany, we make lamb cake – a light pound cake in the shape of a lamb, covered with powdered sugar.

How do you celebrate Easter?

Christ is Risen!

You might also like:

  • Celebrating Passover
  • Celebrating Spring
  • Favorite Easter Books
  • 50 Easter Basket Ideas without Candy
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Celebrating St. Patrick

This blog may contain affiliate links: disclosure. Please see my suggested resources.

March 11, 2019 By Jennifer Lambert 6 Comments

We really like the story of St. Patrick.

It’s a fun holiday. It’s been popular in the USA for many years.

I love the prayer Breastplate. In part:

Christ be within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ inquired, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

Legend of St. Patrick:

Patrick’s birth name was Maewyn Succat. He was born a Roman citizen in Roman Britain, in the town of Banna Venta Berniae, sometime in the late 300s AD. He was kidnapped into slavery and brought to Ireland. He escaped and became a priest, went back to Ireland, where he had a lot of luck converting the Druids into Christians.

He changed his name to Patricius (or Patrick), which derives from the Latin term for “father figure,” after he became a priest. 

It became a popular feast day or holiday in the 17th century.

Since the holiday falls during Lent, it provides Christians a day off from the prescriptions of abstinence leading up to Easter.

The first ever St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in Boston in 1737. In 1762, the first New York City parade took place.

It wasn’t until 1798, the year of the Irish Rebellion, that the color green became officially associated with the day. (It used to be blue.)

Thanks to a marketing push from Budweiser in the 1980s, downing (green) beer has become a common way to celebrate.

  • St. Patrick’s Day Parade.com
  • Irish Genealogy
  • Ireland Calling
  • Catholic.org

How We Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day:

  • We visited Ireland in 2016.
  • I designed an Ireland unit study.
  • Check out these fun preschool St. Patrick’s Day works.
  • Teach the Trinity with shamrocks.
  • Go on a nature rainbow scavenger hunt.
  • Special Irish-themed meal. We don’t like corned beef, so I sometimes make pastrami sandwiches or lamb stew.
  • Make soda bread.
  • Game Night.
  • Wear green of course!

St. Patrick Resources:

  • St. Patrick Unit by The Homeschool Mom
  • The Kennedy Adventures St. Patrick printables and Snacks and
    Preschool and
  • March Saints Books
  • Rainbow Watercolor Salt by the Rhythms of Play
  • Fruit Rainbow by Passion for Savings
  • Skittles science by Homeschool Preschool
  • Lucky Charms catapulting from Joy in the Works
  • Science activities from Feel Good Teaching
  • Printables from You Brew My Tea
  • Sugar Spice and Glitter Unit
  • EdHelper Resources
  • Montessori From the Heart unit
  • DLTK St. Patrick
  • Crayola St. Patrick
  • Printables from Spaceships and Laserbeams
  • Preschool Printables and Booklet from Teach Mama
  • A Slice of Smith Life
  • Christian Preschool Printables
  • Three-Sided Wheel Trinity Printables
  • 50 crafts and recipes from I Heart Naptime
  • Red Ted Art crafts
  • Living Montessori Now
  • Paper Dali coloring page
  • coloring page from Classical Family
  • Homeschool Share lapbooks
  • Embark on the Journey pack
  • Gift of Curiosity pack
  • Resourceful Mama dot printables
  • pack from 3 Dinosaurs
  • preK pack from Over the Big Moon
  • The Notebooking Fairy pages
  • The Notebooking Nook pages
  • Cynce’s Place pages
  • Notebooking Pages St. Patrick
  • Story of St. Patrick by Homegrown Learners
  • My St. Patrick’s Day Pinterest board

Learn about the other patron saint of Ireland: St. Brigid.

How do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?

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Filed Under: Faith Tagged With: Ireland, March, saint, spring, stpatrick

Easter with Dollar Tree

This blog may contain affiliate links: disclosure. Please see my suggested resources.

March 1, 2019 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

**I was compensated for this post. This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.**

I love browsing Dollar Tree in spring time for frugal and creative craft and decorating ideas.

Flowers, candles, tablescapes…we love springtime and decorating – even if there’s snow falling outside.

We long for warmer weather that’s surely right around the corner!

WWYF 300x250

My creative kids love to go to Dollar Tree for supplies for their arts and crafts, especially around holidays and season changes.

My three kids made these adorable bunny floral headbands!

It was super quick and easy. We gathered lots of pretty flowers – each in a complementary color theme – and hot glued them to fun fuzzy bunny ear headbands.

Perfect Easter and springtime fun!

Shop Easter favorites at Dollar Tree.

See all that’s NEW to usher in springtime.

Check out Easter inspiration at Dollar Tree!

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Celebrating Saint Brigid’s Day

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January 21, 2019 By Jennifer Lambert 11 Comments

Candlemas…Imbolc, the feast day of the Celtic goddess Brigid marks the beginning of spring, celebrates the arrival of longer, warmer days and the early nature signs of spring on February 1.

Born at a liminal time in a liminal place, Brigid is said to have been born on the threshold of a door (neither within or without the house) and at the breaking of dawn (neither day or night). There is ample proof that Brigid is most likely a continuation of the earlier goddess Brigid/ Brigantia who was worshipped in ancient Ireland.

The word Imbolc means “in the belly,” in the old Irish language, referring to the pregnancy of ewes.

Imbolc is one of the four major “fire” festivals (referred to in Irish mythology from medieval Irish texts. The other three festivals on the old Irish calendar are Beltane, Lughnasadh, and Samhain/Halloween).

St. Brigid is the patron saint of babies, blacksmiths, boatmen, cattle farmers, children whose parents are not married, children whose mothers are mistreated by the children’s fathers, Clan Douglas, dairymaids, dairy workers, fugitives, Ireland, Leinster, mariners, midwives, milkmaids, nuns, poets, the poor, poultry farmers, poultry raisers, printing presses, sailors, scholars, travelers, and watermen.

Celebrating Saint Brigid's Day

Celebrating Saint Brigid’s Day

  • Nature walk to look for signs of spring
  • Eat customary Irish foods
  • Read books!
  • Donate to charity or serve others
  • Make Brigid crosses out of straw
  • Visit a farm to learn about the cattle and sheep
  • Leave out scarves for blessings! Known as a “Bratog Bride” in Irish folklore, this special garment can then be used as a cure for headaches or sore throats.

Customs

Brigid would be symbolically invited into the house and a bed would often be made for her and corn dollies made as her representatives. Often a family member, representing Brigid, would circle the home three times carrying rushes. They would then knock the door three times, asking to be let in. On the third attempt they are welcomed in, the meal is had, and the rushes are then made into crosses.

Irish children, especially girls, often dress up in rags and go door to door like trick or treating, chanting:

“Here comes poor Brigid both deaf and blind,

Put your hand in your pocket and give her a coin

If you haven’t a penny, a halfpenny will do

If you haven’t a halfpenny, God bless you.”

One of the earliest references to the St. Brigid’s Cross is from a 1735 poem:

“St. Bridget’s cross hung over door

Which did the house from fire secure

O Gillo thought, O powerfull charm

To keep a house from taking harm;

And tho’ the dogs and servants slept,

By Bridget’s care the house was kept.”

Resources:

  • Recipes for a Feast of Light
  • St. Brigid’s Blessings and Poems from Brigidine Sisters
  • Shower of Roses
  • The Kennedy Adventures
  • PB Grace
  • Coloring Page from Waltzing Matilda
  • Irish Folklore: St. Brigid
  • Fish Eaters: St. Brigid
  • Imbolc Activities and Recipes

Books:

  • The Life of Saint Brigid: Abbess of Kildare by Jane G. Meyer
  • Brother Wolf, Sister Sparrow by Eric A. Kimmel
  • The Story Of Saint Brigid by Caitriona Clarke
  • Brigid and the Butter: A Legend about Saint Brigid of Ireland by Pamela Love
  • Brigid’s Cloak by Bryce Milligan
  • Saint Brigid and the Cows by Eva K. Betz
  • Folk Tales of St. Brigid by Fr. Joseph Irvin
  • Brigid’s Way: Reflections on the Celtic Divine Feminine by Bee Smith
  • Brigid: History, Mystery, and Magick of the Celtic Goddess by Courtney Weber
  • Brigid of Kildare: A Novel by Heather Terrell
  • Brigid: Meeting The Celtic Goddess Of Poetry, Forge, And Healing Well by Morgan Daimler
  • Brigid of Ireland by Cindy Thomson

Spring is just around the corner!

Linking up: Pinch of Joy, House on Silverado, Eclectic Red Barn, Grammy’s Grid, Random Musings, Suburbia, Mostly Blogging, Pam’s Party, Pieced Pastimes Shelbee on the Edge,, My Life Abundant, InstaEncoouragements, LouLou Girls, Ginger Snap Crafts, Fluster Buster, Ridge Haven Homestead, Jenerally Informed, Stroll Thru Life, My Wee Abode, Penny’s Passion, Bijou Life, Artful Mom, Try it Like it, Soaring with Him, Debbie Kitterman, Anchored Abode, Imparting Grace, Slices of Life, OMHG, Modern Monticello, Cottage Market, Answer is Choco, Momfessionals, Lyli Dunbar, CWJ, Hubbard Home, Lauren Sparks, Moment with Franca, Create with Joy,

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Filed Under: Faith Tagged With: faith, February, Ireland, saint, spring

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