Imbolc // Brighid's Day
Imbolc, or Brighid’s Day, is known as the first light in the Darkness. It takes place January 31-February 2; at the midpoint between the darkest day of the year and the Spring Equinox. We turn the wheel of the year decidedly towards the return of the light and new growth. In the context of an Northern agricultural society, this holiday marks the point in the year where stores are running low, spirits may be weary of the cold, wet, winter, and illness must be held at bay for a few more weeks. Livestock animals will be pregnant and beginning to lactate again, providing families with life-saving milk to survive the winter, giving Imbolc its alternative name, Oìmelg, “ewe’s milk”.
The Goddess Brighid plays a central role in the Celtic holiday, and she is invited into the home and honored with offerings and crafts. Brighid is the goddess of humanity, being the Lady of the hearth, the forge, milk, fertility, wells, and sacred midwife to the pregnant woman. From her are inspired the foundations of human existence, water, fertile fields, tool-making, arts & crafts, pregnancy and birth, lactation, and the hearthfire in the home. I like to think of her as a midlife woman in green, huge and vast guiding the workings of the Earth with a loving and mirthsome smile in her face.
In the magical sense, Imbolc is also a traditional time of initiation, especially for a follower of Brighid. Consider taking time to assess your spiritual path, and officially claim what it is that guides you through the dark night of the soul. If you have already made clear within yourself and to your loved ones your chosen path, celebrate this journey with a re-dedication to that which you hold most sacred and life-giving. Candles are a widespread tool for spiritual practice, and this time of year is also known as Candlemas in the Christian tradition. I invite you to light three candles for the Triple Goddess or simply the Triune to honor your guides and spiritual allies. Herbs for this holiday are Coltsfoot, Angelica, Bay, Blackberry, Myrrh, and Violet. Any warming herb will be of benefit, and I have been drawn to Elderflower to help move the damp energy in my body.
Brighid is goddess of crafts, and creating a Crios Bridghe, or Brighid’s Cross, is a wonderful way to celebrate Imbolc and set intentions for all the intangible desires that will be made tangible in the coming months. This craft is also known as a God’s Eye, and stems from the Brighid’s Cross. You can invoke protection throughout the remainder of the winter over your body, mind, heart and spirit by hanging this craft over your doorway to remind you of this protection as you step out into the world.
Traditionally Yuletide decorations are taken down this weekend and burned, and if you still have your Christmas tree hanging around take heart: that is probably just an old memory of ancestral ways showing through, not procrastination. That is what I am telling myself, anyway! We may begin to feel a shift out of the emotional depths we may explore this time of year, and if you have been feeling overwhelmed, rageful, grievous, depressed, lethargic, or a loss of self-confidence and sense of direction, know that you are not alone. Everything in nature is down to the last of its resources, whether it is through snow and rain in the North or a tropical dry season, and we are but a part of this natural wheel of the year. Imbolc is a time of considering renewal, and I encourage you to accept your limitations and trust that you will be inspired to get busy again, soon. Sooner rather than later you may be feeling the beginnings of the urge to tidy, clear out, and restore order to your life. Seeds are being sown, and how exciting to get through the last few weeks of cramped gestation in order to see what will be born come Spring.
Merry Imbolc, dear ones, I wish you peace, perseverance, and deep rest as we invite the spark of creation into our hearts.
In Love,
Susan Marie