Farmers Letters: Sunrise - Imbolg's Ending - Groundhog's Day! - Setsubun

Sunday, February 2, 2025

Sunrise - Imbolg's Ending - Groundhog's Day! - Setsubun - The Cycle Renewed

Setsubun is a Japanese festival that celebrates the end of winter and the beginning of spring. This year, the day of Setsubun falls on February 2rd, however festivities related to it will be held from February 1st, depending on the shrine or temple organizing them.

There is a great variety of different rituals and events performed during this event, ranging from exorcising bad luck to demon dances.

The commonly practiced tradition of throwing of roasted soybeans (called "fukumame") in order to drive away evil spirits and bring good fortune into one's home is upheld by both places of worship and regular people.

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Andrei Tarkovsky

“We can express our feelings regarding the world around us either by poetic or by descriptive means... I prefer to express myself metaphorically. Let me stress: metaphorically, not symbolically. A symbol contains within itself a definite meaning, certain intellectual formula, while metaphor is an image. An image possessing the same distinguishing features as the world it represents. An image — as opposed to a symbol — is indefinite in meaning. One cannot speak of the infinite world by applying tools that are definite and finite. We can analyse the formula that constitutes a symbol, while metaphor is a being-within-itself, it’s a monomial. It falls apart at any attempt of touching it."