February bounces in and whilst the weather still brings a chill there is certainly more light as the days lengthen.
Morning birds greet the dawn
With that growing light have you noticed how the mornings become filled with birdsong? Our feathered friends sense the approaching spring and their singing is optimistic,bright and cheerful.
A great tit pauses for a drink
Indeed, it is often said that St Valentine’s Day (14th February) is the day on which birds choose a partner ready for the mating season.
Valentine’s Day brings glowing hearts
But singing is good for humans too. It helps reduce blood pressure, improve lung function, posture, and it boosts the immune system. Breathing deeply and filling the lungs with air opens our body and mind up to new possibilities. Try some deep breathing exercises and see just how much more wide awake, alert and aware you feel. Singing triggers chemical changes in the body and releases ‘happy hormones’ including dopamine and endorphins, which help reduce stress and create a sense of wellbeing.
Enjoy that sense of wellbeing…
You can sing alone – or with others. It can be huge fun joining a choir – it teaches you to listen to one another, it helps improve memory and you have the satisfaction of creating something beautiful. Any more benefits? Yes! Lasting friendships can be formed – with a common bond these can be sources of joy for many years. No wonder the birds sound so cheerful!
29th January 2025 sees the beginning of the new Chinese year – the Year of the Wood Snake. In Chinese culture the snake is seen as a symbol of wisdom, change and agility.
November heralds the season of drawing down and drawing in. The clocks have gone back; the evenings are suddenly so much darker. Countryside and garden lose leaves, blooms and colour. All seems to be shrinking in on itself. If a cold snap takes hold we hasten indoors. If those grey lightless days have charge we feel like taking cover and hiding away.
Fog darkens the days as autumn draws on
There’s still the possibility, however, that we might be blessed with a brief Indian summer – a spell of mild and sunny autumnal weather falling specifically on the nine days between Martinmas, on the 11th November, and 20th November. Bringing sunny and hazy days this interlude is also known as a ‘Martinmas Summer.’
A child makes the most of a sunny autumn day
This welcome phenomenon is said to influence the direction of the wind and therefore the severity of the forthcoming winter.
‘If the wind is southeast on Martinmas, it will stay there till Candlemas’
so we’ll be in for a mild winter. But – if the wind has veered round to the north this suggests that we’ll be in for a hard winter. However, other folklore says that if the weather is warm on St Martin’s Day, then a harsh winter will follow. So, take your pick…
A sparkling day in the midst of a harsh winter
Saint Martin’s Day or Martinmas is the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours and is celebrated on 11th November. Martin of Tours (died 397) was a Roman soldier who was baptized as an adult and became a bishop in Gaul. He is best known for cutting his cloak in half with his sword and giving half to a beggar who was dressed in only rags in the depth of winter. That night Martin had a vision of Jesus Christ wearing the very same half-cloak.
Martin of Tours gave half his cloak to a beggar
In the Middle Ages and early modern period, it was an important festival in many parts of Europe, particularly Germanic-speaking regions. It marked the end of the harvest season –
An abundant grape harvest
and the beginning of the “winter revelling season”.
Street parties get going with a swing
In Welsh mythology Marie Trevelyan recorded that if the hooting of an owl was heard on St Martin’s Day it was seen as a bad omen for that district.
Seeing an owl at Martinmas might be a bad omen
If a meteor was seen, then there would be trouble for the whole nation.
A meteor can signify a cataclysmic event
In the 6th century, the church called for fasting on all days, except Saturdays and Sundays, from Saint Martin’s Day to Epiphany. However, this period was shortened to begin on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and became the current Advent within a few centuries.
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