Solstice celebration deferred is reborn as Imbolc
at the Takoma Park Library
Photos: Julie Wiatt
The resourceful Morris Dancers came up with a medieval rationale for having the snowed-out annual solstice celebration on February 9: Imbolc. Morris dancer (and Voice cartoonist) Bill Brown quotes a reference that "The festival must be pre-Christian in origin, but there is absolutely no direct testimony as to its early nature, or concerning any rites which might have been employed then.... The latter part of the word, however, certainly has something to do with milking ... this is the time when ewes begin to lactate."
Ethnomusicologist Bill Jenkins brought his treasure trove of international drums and shakers to the event for kids to drum and shake, to bring back the light. (Or make ewes lactate?)
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