I have never felt much of a connection to Imbolc and Brigid who is the more popular goddess associated with February and it’s beginning. In searching for alternatives, I found a connection to Juno. Having a preference for Graeco Roman divinities, this is who I choose to devote the first cross quarter feast to.
Juno/Hera often gets the short end of the stick in most popular media these days. Usually the stories of her vengeance on the bastard children of Zeus from his uncountable paramours is the most often told story, and for that she is painted as being cruel, wicked, evil, vindictive, a harridan, and generally a bad example of a woman. They often overlook her other qualities, and other stories about her.
One overlooked and rather important thing, that is often left out from modern retellings is that she was the divine patron of Jason of Jason and the Argonauts. Jason’s success in his journey came about because she favored him and helped him. As long as he held her favor, his ventures worked out for him. It wasn’t until he lost Hera’s favor, by screwing over Medea and breaking promises to her, and abandoning his own children, did his fortunes change and he ended up losing, hard.
The month of February is also named for an title of Juno, that of Juno Februa, or Juno of Purification. The month February in the old Roman calendar was closely connected with purification, which would culminate on the 15th of February with the Februa purification. After this it would become a time of feasting and honoring the Gods, the dead, the Lares, and the prosperity of the people and the city itself as evidenced by it’s stability and prosperity.