February 2: Ordinary Time

That’s the liturgical season that comes after Epiphany, which ends today, February 2. We all know “ordinary” means quotidian, uninteresting. But it also means ..basic, reliable, and relating to a duty attached to one’s office or station in life. F’rinstance, it used to refer to the standard bill of fare of an inn or restaurant. We’ve had our great celebration of nativity, we’ve had our divine revelation. Now it’s time to mop up, get ready for the Next Big Thing:Lent.
I’ve written before about Candlemas, Imbolc, Groundhog Day. Feb 2 is one of the cross-quarter days in the old Northern Hemisphere calendars, falling between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox. We moderns still have some holiday on or near each of ‘em (except maybe Lughnasa, but then August is one long holiday). For Imbolc nd Candlemas, it’s Groundhog Day. Which seems to be becoming an increasingly big deal in the US, with people from all over the country making pilgrimages to Punxatawney PA, to judge by the crowd I saw on Fox this AM. Idk, maybe Bill Murray’s perennially popular movie has sump’n to do with it.
But here’s why I wanna tell you: it’s a celebration of female fertility and sagacity! Candlemas celebrates the ritual purification of Mary after childbirth, and the infant Jesus’ presentation in the Temple , where He was recognized as divine and hymned by Simeon AND the prophetess Anna.
Imbolc, which has to do with the fertility of the ewes, is also the feast of the goddess Saint Brīd. Deity of light and of wells, springs.
I know you’re thinkin’ yeah, well, what about Punxatawney Phil? Shouldnt it be Punxatawney Philomena? Yes it should, because the somewhat counter-intuitive divination has to do with the Celtic hag-goddess the Cailleach, Dhe goes outside on Feb 2 to gather firewood for the rest of the winter. If she’s gonna make it a long winter, she needs to satupy out longer, so she wants Feb 2 to be sunny. If she doesn’t need to gather much more, or any more firewood, she doesn’t care if Feb 2 is cloudy.
Anyway, dear Ettes and other women reading this: ordinary time is our time,the season of the magic and sacredness of the domestic, the daily, the maternal! The blesséd lullaby of the quotidian routine. The sacredness of the hearth.
it’s really not the low point of the year, as it may seem. It’s more a time of gestation, nursing, incubation of the great spring festivals which will be upon us as the wheel of the year continues its rotation.