Celtic Festivals
The Celts divided the year into two halves, the bright, warm half known as
Imbolc (IM-bulk) took place on February 1. It was the feast of the goddess Brigid, associated with the birth of lambs and the lactation of ewes.
Beltane (bal-thu-na) was celebrated on May 1. People lit bonfires, danced around maypoles, and made merry. This feast marked the start of summer.
Lughnasa (LOO-na-sa) was a harvest festival held in late summer in honor of the god Lug. Festivities included games, drinking, dancing, matchmaking, and racing horses naked.
Samhain (SOW-in) corresponds to modern Halloween and marked the end of summer. This is the day that tombs opened and ghosts walked about with gods and goddesses.
All four of these festivals correspond very closely to the solar equinoxes and solstices, all of which were easy to identify using the solar devices incorporated into various megalithic mounds. The Celts were masterful astronomers, given that they didn't have telescopes. They knew about the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, and their year lasted 365 days.
The fairy cave at Cruachain in County Roscommon was an important center for celebrating Samhain; legend said that lots of ghosts came out of this cave, led by the Mórrígan, or “Great Queen.”
