Although this all happened on private messages, I thought maybe it was justified in becoming its own thread here, and here, then, is the story so far, the story of what to do about midwinter, the story of why the women folk should greet the visitors with "Fáilte leat a Bhríd" or, as Wayne astutely notices ...

From: wayne tanner
To: garym
Subject: Re: Failte Brede
Date: January 12, 2008 - 10:12pm

g> It goes by many names. The Festival to St. Brigit,
g> patron of lawyers and poets, some call it Imbolc,
g> a light to its dark companion Samhain (aka Hallowe'en),
g> it is the start of spring to the Celts and the Chinese
g> and this year lands on a Saturday (Feb 2)
g>
g> Reason enough?

So it celebrates the burning of lawyers and poets.....????

I really can't think of anything that would draw a raucous crowd...consider the die cast and the justification qualified!

Indeed, may the call go far and wide for the birth of new Sauble Beach tradition! After all, everyone loves a good bonfire!

And here's a fun craft idea the whole family can enjoy: make straw doll effigies of your (least) favourite lawyers or poets to bring to the festivities! Guests arrive, they get the traditional greeting, head over to the pyre to cast in their straw devils, hey, everyone has a darn good time!

Its cathartic, its creative, and it involves fire, what more could we want?

I'm going to start mine right now -- I think I'll start with my ex-wife's lawyer ...

Any other nominees? If this spreads we could sell the dolls in the village to boost the local winter-slumped economics, "Get yer BRI-AN MULL-ROONEYS right HE-AR! ... Allen Ginsberg? Yeah, kid, I can get you a ginsberg, but it will cost extra, y'understan' ... but I got a couple of Oscar Wildes left from last year, real cheap! Ok, how about a nice Johnny Cochran? Looks just like him!" ... Raymond Burr? Raymond Burr??!! Ok, I like the eyes but .. oh what the heck, g'wan, toss it in!!

Fun and literary too! we may even get a Trillium for this one!

I am reading the history of this event, and wondering how I could safely incorporate this in my back yard without getting raided by the police. Now... the thought has occurred to me.... I'm not gonna be picketed by some fundementalist's group coming by the busload from Arkansa and have my family name removed from its places of honour in English churches and cemetaries. This isn't some heathenist blasphemous ritual thing is it, inclusive of Celtic sacrificial rituals. And if I look out the next morning, with a big head, and see a true to scale styrofoam copy of stonehenge in my back yard I aint gonna be happy.
But if you ain't living on the edge, you are taking up too much room
wt

On the second of Feb if you look over Arther's back yard and see a confluration ( fire) then start the phone chain. If conditions are right I will benignly say " honey I think we should deal with 3 years of xmas trees, plus a few 2x4's, plywood and some skids and pallets...several tires, old propane tanks, army surplus shells and the neighbours car. Once the ball get rolling then what happens ...happens.
Note- I get one person showing up in a druid robe and I see a bunch of sheep show up... I am shutting it down, right away
wt