Feast Day of Brigid: So beloved, She is both a Pagan Goddess and Christian saint. Patron of Smithcraft, Poetry and Healing. She presides over birth, brewing, and is Guardian of the Sacred Flame and many wells and springs throughout Ireland.
Imbolc/Candlemas:
Also associated with Brigid, this Fire Festival and greater Sabbat is a time of dedication, purification, and the making or renewing of spiritual vows.
Today is also the Saraswati Puja in India (see also Feb. 18).
Another Brighid day, honoring Brigantia, with Her all-seeing eye. The Gods-eye solar cross represents Her protective blessings.
In the West Indies, this is the time of the Limbo Festival. Few of the Americans who take part in this favorite party dance realize that it originally served as a sacred funeral ritual from the West Indies.
In the ancient western world, this is one of the most important days of the year for all forms of prophecy and divination, for it is sacred to the goddess Tyche and Her counterparts: Fortuna in Rome and Wyrd among the Celtic peoples. All were superseded in medieval Christian Europe by St. Agatha, whose feast is celebrated on this day.
Feast of Aphrodite and Venus, Goddess of love. This is the day for poetry, drama, comedy, music and pictures in honor of the paragon of Beauty.
According to the Mayan calendar, today is the start of the next Tzolkin, or 260-day calendar (1 Imix, Tzolkin 1). It is the Uinal of Fire, the first of the 20-day uinals in the cycle. At this time, we experience the igniting of the divine fire, purifying all of life so that growing may begin again with the next Uinal of Earth.
On this day in 1692, two teenage girls were declared to be under the spell of a witch. Abigail Williams and Betty Parris are declared by a doctor to be "under an evil hand," precipitating the shameful and deadly Salem witch trials.
Feast day of Apollo in his aspect as Helios, God of the Sun.
The Goddess Anaitis (also called Anahita) was honored on this day in Persia, now Iran. Her worship spread throughout Armenia and western Asia, and in remote Scotland, a ancient temple has been found that is believed to be in Her honor.
One of the great Osiris festival cycles in the ancient Egyptian calendar, celebrated especially at the main center of Osiris worship in Abydos
Today is the feast day of the virgin huntress Artemis, or Diana, protector of women and children against all forms of violence. How perfect that the Moon Goddess's day falls this year on the Full Snow Moon!
The Runic half month of Sigel begins today.At sundown tonight, through tomorrow (Valentinešs Day), the feast of Gwyl o Danu a Cernunnos begins, the Feast of Love between Danu and Cernunnos.
Valentine's Day, and the Roman Parentalia begins, and the love feast between Cernunnos and Danu, and the day when Arianrhod steps over the magical wand of Math, which manifests truth.
The Parentalia continues with the Lupercalia, a celebration of fertility dedicated to Juno-Lupa, the Goddess in the guise of Mother She-wolf.
Today is sacred to both Mars, as Romulus, and Juno, the female counterpart of Jupiter. The celebration of both ancestors and fertility continued on this day.
The Lesser Eleusian Mysteries begin today. Those who were planning to participate in the Eleusinian Mysteries in the fall began their preparation now, with initial purification rites, which included rubbing with ashes, plunging into the ocean, donning new clothes, processing by torchlight and asking the Goddess for guidance.
Happy Birthday Pisces!
Also, throughout Bali, today is the holiday honoring Saraswati, the Goddess of Knowledge, Art and Literature.
In Japan, on the 3rd Sunday of February each year since 767 BCE, the Hadaka Matsuri has been held in Inazawa City. This is a Shinto ritual in which bare-bottomed men aged 23-43 ensure their good luck for the coming year by crowding and attempting to touch the ritually chosen Naked Man, the Shin-otokoa, as he walks to the Kounomiya Shrine.
Today is the Feralia, the last day of the Roman Parentalia festival. In ancient Rome, this All Soul's Day ceremony was when family reunions were held and the Lares (ancestral guardian spirits) were honored with prayers and offerings.
Today is Charistia, the Roman festival of goodwill. After the Parentalia, focused on honoring the dead ancestors, today is a celebration of the living. Ruled by the goddess Concordia.
Today, the Egyptian season of Shomu/harvest begins.
Sacred to the Roman God Terminus, who guards personal boundaries. In the Celtic Tree calendar, the month of Fearn, sacred to the Alder tree, begins on this day. This month is considered efficacious for summoning spirits from the Spirit World.
Feast day of St Matthias and weather marker day: if there is sharp frost on his day it will last several days.
For those who study the Draiochtgé, today is the Day of the Dance of Known Places, a fairie holiday when the walls between the worlds are very thin. This is an auspicious day to honor your relationship with the fae and make a shamanic journey to one of the known places in the otherworld.
Nigerian Olokun festiva honoring the
Orisha of the deep sea [Nature] and protector of the African soul. Also Maha Shiva Ratri, the Great Night of Shiva and the power of Creation.
Blessings of the New Moon! Today is the first day of Vietnam's longest festival, held at the beautiful Perfume Pagoda (Huong Pagoda) from now through May.
Today is Fat Tuesday, Mardis Gras, the final day of the Carnival Festivals held throughout Christendom before the time of repentance, reflection, purifiation and denial of pleasure, called Lent.