February 2, Candlemas, Imbolc, Feast of Purification
Candlemas is a very old holiday with a Christian-Pagan history. Its Christian version is called the Purification of the Virgin and is the end/culmination of the forty day period after Mary God-Bearer had her baby on December 25. Women had to wait forty days after childbirth before entering a church or Temple again due to "uncleanliness". This waiting period is still observed in Eastern Orthodox Christian churches today, and all Christian churches schedule the Christening for forty days after the birth in keeping with this ancient purification practice. Therefore today is Yeshua’s Christening or Naming Day when an exorcism is performed and the baby formally enters the Church.
This special forty-day period in the Christian calendar is one of four such in the esoteric Church year. The other three forty-day periods are: Fall Equinox (Sept 21) to Halloween/AllSaints Day (Oct. 31, Nov.1), Spring Equinox (Mar 21) to May Day (May 1) and of course, Lent. Lent is the forty-day period beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on Easter Sunday every year.
Candlemas is a church “adaptation” of a pagan goddess holiday called Imbolc where people light candles to banish dark spooks. Candlemas is celebrated on the same day as that pagan holiday, February 2nd. The word Imbolc, variously spelled Imbolg, Oimelc and Imelg, means “ewe-milk” because this is the time lambs were born in old England, Ireland and most of Europe thus bringing back the flow of ewe’s milk.
Christianity didn't come from England, and neither did Christian holy days.