Editing Wheel of the Year (section)

===Imbolc (Candlemas)===
{{main|Imbolc|Candlemas}}
{{see also|Dísablót}}
''Imbolc'' is the traditional Gaelic name for 1 February and traditionally marks the first stirrings of [[Spring (season)|spring]]. In Christianity it is [[Brigid of Kildare|Saint Brigid's]] Day, while 2 February is [[Candlemas]]. It aligns with the contemporary observance of [[Groundhog Day]]. It is time for purification and [[spring cleaning]] in anticipation of the year's new life. In ancient Rome, it was a shepherd's holiday,<ref name="Plutarch">{{cite book |last=Plutarch |title=Life of Caesar |series=[[Parallel Lives]] |volume=[[Alexander and Caesar]] |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Caesar*.html#61}}</ref> while the Gaels associated it with the onset of ewes' lactation, prior to birthing the spring lambs.<ref name="Chadwick and Cunliffe">{{Cite book |last1=Chadwick |first1=Nora K. |last2=Cunliffe |first2=Barry |title=The Celts |year=1970 |publisher=Penguin |location=Harmondsworth |page=181 |isbn=0-14-021211-6}}</ref><ref name="Rabinovitch and Lewis:232">{{cite book |last1=Rabinovitch |first1=Shelley T. |last2=Lewis |first2=James R. |title=The Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism |year=2004 |publisher=[[Citadel Press]] |pages=232–233 |isbn=0-8065-2407-3}}</ref>

For [[Celtic neopaganism|Celtic neopagans]], the festival is dedicated to the goddess [[Brigid]], daughter of [[The Dagda]] and one of the [[Tuatha Dé Danann]].<ref name="Rabinovitch and Lewis:232"/>

In the [[Reclaiming (neopaganism)|Reclaiming tradition]], this is the traditional time for pledges and rededications for the coming year<ref name=Starhawk>{{cite book |author=Starhawk |author-link=Starhawk |title=The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess |url=https://archive.org/details/spiraldancerebir00star/page/7 |url-access=registration |year=1979 |publisher=[[Harper and Row]] |location=New York, New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/spiraldancerebir00star/page/7 7–186, 246] |edition=1989 revised |isbn=0-06-250814-8}}</ref> and for [[initiation]] among [[Dianic Wicca]]ns.<ref name="Budapest 1980">{{cite book |last=Budapest |first=Zsuzsanna E. |title=The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries |year=1980 |publisher=Wingbow Press |isbn=0-914728-67-9}}</ref>