February Notebook: Now We Stretch
Candle magic, daylight and new notebooks
Happy February!
Who else can feel a tiny shift in energy today?
It’s still cold out there and we’re still in winter, but there’s also a little whisper underneath of something else.
The amount of sunlight is increasing each day, the nights are getting shorter and the first of the daffodils are in the shops.
We’re gently waking up.
In the ancient calendar the first of February was celebrated as Imbolc or Candlemas, depending on your local tradition. It was a time of purification, cleansing and candlelight.
A very slow, tentative start to spring.
I suggest we all take the same approach to this month: tiny steps to wake us up a little bit, interspersed with cosy rituals, fresh notebooks and warm coffee.
If you fancy joining me, here are 5 awakening rituals to try this month:
Awakening rituals for February
1. Light candles
Candlemas is an old Christian festival of light and purification celebrated on the 2nd Feb. It was traditional to take candles to church on this date to be blessed for the coming year.
You could then pass these candles on to a friend, or keep them as a talisman for the coming year to be lit any time you need a little extra luck or hope.
Filling this month with clean white candlelight feels entirely appropriate as the light returns and everything starts to feel brighter and fresher.
If you light one each day at sunset you’ll also start to notice how much later it falls as the month goes on.
2. Soak up some full moon energy
The full moon this month falls on the 1st February, imbuing the start of the month with an extra shot of energy.
Some folk names for it are the Snow Moon, the Storm Moon or the Ice Moon. If you want to harness the power of the full moon this month, today would be the perfect time for moving about a bit, getting outside, or celebrating achievements.
Here’s an intro to lunar living if you want to find out more about how the moon cycle impacts the way we feel and act.
3. Count the growing minutes of daylight
Every day since the winter solstice we’ve been gaining extra minutes of daylight, but this month it feels like a switch has been pressed and the pace really picks up.
On the first day of this month we will have 9 hours and 11 mins of daylight; by the last day of the month we will have 10 hours and 50 minutes of daylight. That’s a significant leap.
If you fancy it, you can track the sunrise and sunset times where you live here and follow the steady return of the sun (I’ve set it for the UK but it works internationally).
4. Listen to this ambient soundtrack
You know I love an ambient soundtrack - I always have one on when I’m working.
Here’s the perfect one for February. Wintry but also uplifting. Look at that little apricot sun peeking over the horizon.
5 Start a fresh notebook
If January felt too soon for making resolutions (it should do - it’s a month for hibernating, not fresh starts) February has a little more New Year energy to it.
I don’t suggest we all start making self-improvement lists (I will never suggest this), but this does feel like the right time of year to take a slow stretch, open a fresh notebook and start making a few tentative plans.
In fact this year feels particularly like a clean slate for me. After 20 years of working full time as a writer and editor in-house for magazines, I’ve just made the switch to go freelance. I’m leaving the world of regular pay checks, pensions, stability and security behind, and exchanging them for the open road and pure creative freedom. What could possibly go wrong!
So this year feels even more like a fresh notebook than ever. Equal parts exciting and terrifying.
I have plenty of ideas and creative projects simmering away, so keep your eyes peeled for updates and news from me over the next few months as I find my feet and start to share my plans with you all.
But I do know a couple of things for sure:
Will this newsletter and community continue to be free? Yes.
Do I have the first bit of exciting news to share with you soon? Also yes.
Good times ahead!
Ok, that’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed your February newsletter and I hope you have a wonderful month filled with candlelight, moon gazing and fresh notebooks.
Now it’s over to you to share your February rituals and traditions in the Comments. I’m really interested to know if anyone else loves February and if so what your rituals and traditions look like?
I’ll see you next month for a March edition of the Monthly Notebook. We’ll be celebrating the Spring Equinox which is a very lovely festival indeed. Look forward to seeing you there.
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Until then, happy Candlemas!
Vicky xx
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Happy St. Brigid's Day from Ireland. Love these rituals for February Victoria ☺️ Good luck with the freelancing ✨ 🤞🍀
The last of the Christmas beeswax candles is burning down, I might melt down the stubs to make a handy lump of wax for I know not what! (Polishing wood, waxing sewing thread...) We just had our first pancake day of the year (Chandeleur, or Candlemas), we're lucky being sort of dual nationals as we get another one on Shrove Tuesday, if I remember!
I really appreciate Imbolc/St Brigids/ Candlemas as a time of hope and emerging, and always send something to a pagan friend or two, sometimes a Brigid cross or doll, a card or drawing of snowdrops. The moon was amazingly bright already last night.