Imbolc
1 – 2 February
Imbolc falls at the point in the agricultural year when ewes begin to lactate ahead of lambing, and the name is generally read as referring to that. It is the first of the year's turning points where the change is visible in the animals rather than the sky.
In Ireland it is bound to Brigid, both the saint and the earlier figure behind her, and the making of rush crosses on her eve is still a living practice in parts of the country.
Weather divination clusters here: whether the day is bright or dull was widely held to forecast the length of the remaining winter, a tradition that crossed the Atlantic and turned into Groundhog Day.