For those of us who celebrate a Celtic year, Imbolc (in the Northern Hemisphere from February 1-to the evening of Feb. 2) is the true beginning of spring (It didn't occur to me until last year that it would be celebrated August 1st or 2nd in the Southern Hemisphere as it is a seasonal holiday). It is midway between the Winter Solstice and spring equinox.
Where I live, it marks the beginning of lambing season although our son, who looks after the livestock while we are in Arizona, had the first lambs weeks ago. Imbolc (you do not pronounce the b) means ewe's milk. Whether on a farm or not, this is the time of stirrings of new life, what might be called the quickening when life comes back from where it's been dormant.
