By The Green Parent
01st February 2022
EAT AND BE MERRY Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. It’s also known as Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day. This year it falls on 1st March. Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the ritual of shriving, i.e. the process of confessing and repenting of sins by fasting and abstaining from luxuries during Lent. Lent is the period of 40 days which comes before Easter in the Christian calendar.
ACTIVITY Try giving up plastic for Lent - get inspired by this family who gave up.
COOK Make pancakes - here’s a recipe for yummy raisin and lemon ones.
New Growth
On 1 February we celebrate Imbolc, the time when winter is beginning to wind down, but it’s still cold and snowy; spring is looming around the corner, but isn’t quite here yet. This is the festival of the goddess Brigid in Celtic traditions. She keeps the home fires burning and watches over the home. We like to make a white meal (roasted cauliflower soup and crusty bread), light the whole house with candles, create a Brigid crown and make a family vision board.
CREATE Make a brigid cross to hang above your bed with straw or rushes - find out how here.
Get Colourful At Holi, on 18 March, Hindus celebrate spring. It’s also known as the ‘Festival of Colours’ due to the practice of throwing and applying coloured water and powder on friends and family. This ritual is said to be based on the story of Krishna and Radha. Krishna would ask his mother why Radha was fair while he was dark, and she advised him to apply colour to Radha’s face to see how her complexion changed. At Holi images of Krishna and Radha are carried through the streets.
HAVE FUN Organise a street painting party.
SPRING IS HERE! The Spring Equinox falls on 21 March. As with all the solstices and equinoxes, it’s a perfect opportunity to stop and connect with the natural world around us, and a lovely time to celebrate with family and friends. The birds are singing, the days are longer, there’s that wonderful feeling of potential in the air – it’s time to celebrate! Spring Equinox is one of the four solar festivals – summer and winter solstice and spring and autumn equinox, marking the turning points of the year. The Celtic goddess Eostre was traditionally connected with the dawn, just as spring equinox marks the dawning of the light. Day and night are equal – in a state of perfect balance - in both hemispheres. But in the northern hemisphere, the scales are about to tip over on to the side of light. Nature is coming alive after her long winter’s sleep, as the power of the sun increases.
MAKE Some natural dyes to decorate eggs - find vegetable dye recipes here.
HAVE FUN Find a big hill and roll down it.
