Imbolc means “in the belly”, and it is the time when life stirs in the belly of earth. It is a feast of lightness and brightness, but also a time for cleansing, to make way for the new. It is sacred to the celtic goddess Brigid, as she is associated as a deity with spring, fertility, healing, light and poetry.
Rituals to celebrate:
With people, have a walk outside and look for signs of spring’s return.
️In the kitchen, bake poppy seed muffins.
Get crafty, by weaving a Brigid’s cross.
Dress up, using white and bright outfits to celebrate the return of light.
Write in your journal, how you plan to take care of nature and the environment this year.
Meditate, about what healing means to you.
Other ideas to celebrate:
Start planting your garden.
Declutter and clean your living space to prepare for spring.
Light white candles to invite the sun to come back.
First cross-quarter day of the year. Halfway between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, celebrates the approaching return of spring (the Earth waking from the slumber of winter). It celebrates the promise of new lives and beginnings.
Eggs gathered from the barn on Imbolc. These are primarily from Sumatran, Swedish, and Romanian Naked-Neck hens. One or two guinea eggs might have snuck in. Flanked by white-tailed deer, milk, and serpent skeleton on a bed of Eastern Hemlock.
Imbolc heralds the coming spring. The great serpent of the earth stirs and prepares the fallow field to swell and burst with green vitality. Demeter’s bitter tears dry as baying hounds beckon her daughter’s return. The Old Woman of Winter gathers the last of her firewood as her reign suspends for a season.
Seasonal folklore tells of serpents stealing eggs from the barn or milk from goats and cattle. We leave offerings of milk and eggs to symbolically tempt the serpent from its hole. They wake the serpent, who climbs from the mound, which wakes the trees and their blossoms, which wakes the bees, who begin making the honey that makes the mead for the harvest feasts.
It’ll be time to prep the gardens and sow flats of seeds soon enough. May you all grow beautiful things this year.
As the Church honors the Presentation of the Lord, we celebrate Christ as the light of the world by blessing the candles used in our worship and prayer…Candlemas.
Sometimes the witchy activities get a little complicated ✧
Blessed Imbolc for all of you who take part in this Sabbat, we have a very busy one since it was also the Chinese new year and 2/2/22.
What is your favorite way of celebrating Imbolc?
For me, right now, candles are a big part of it and I’m using all the power of the fire these days to fuel my work and life.
Imbolc is the perfect time to renew and plant the seeds for your fruits this year. Its also a time to come together and enjoy or be alone and cure yourself.
