By February, most of us in the North are
tired of the cold, snowy season. Imbolc
marks the beginning of the lambing season, signaling the beginning of Spring
and the stirrings of new life. Most commonly it is celebrated on 2 February (or 12
February, on the Old Calendar) in the Northern Hemisphere and 1 August in the
Southern Hemisphere. The moon will be waning, last quarter this year. Imbolc reminds
us that Spring is coming soon, and that we only have a few more weeks of winter
to go. The sun gets a little brighter, the earth gets a little warmer, and we
know that life is revive within the soil.
Depending on your particular tradition,
there are many different ways you can celebrate Imbolc. Some people focus on the Celtic
Goddess Brigid,
in many aspects a Deity of fire and fertility. Others aim their rituals more towards the
cycles of the season and agricultural markers. Rituals and activities might include the
making of candles, planting Spring flowers, reading poetry and telling stories.
In Norse, the Charming of the Plow is a
festival of fertility and beginnings of the planted seed. Many celebrate the courtship by Freyr of the
Maiden Gerd; a symbolic marriage of the God of Fertility with the Mother Earth.
In much of Northern Europe, grain cakes
were offered for the soil’s fertility and were invoked to that end.
In other
areas, the plow is decorated and then whiskey or ewe's
milk is poured over it. Pieces of cheese
and bread are left by the plough and in newly turned furrows
as offerings to the nature spirits. It
is considered taboo to cut or pick plants during this time. Some more modern traditions may use other garden
tools such as the rake, shovel or hoe.
The holiday also generally honors all
Goddesses and female ancestor spirits who bring blessings of fertility as well
as important lessons. This is a good time
to recall outstanding women in one’s family line. For those of you who garden, this is the time
to plant seeds indoors to later be transplanted into the Spring garden. Another
way to make the day is to meditate upon you dependence on the soil.
You live on soil, gleba, Earth,
land, erz - whatever you call it, it is common dirt that everyone shares. Soil supplies over 90 percent of the world's
food - rice, corn and wheat. The early
people thought of the Earth as sacred.
Earth was home and the provider of life.
But now the world's supply of soil is shrinking - lost to cities, floods
and paved roads. Most of the food today
comes from huge farms doused in pesticides.
Truth is simply
being honest about what you believe or know to be true and right.
Var, Goddess of awareness, personifies
an idealized concept of truth and honesty. Var and Vor were handmaidens of
Frigg, and are invoked to witness oaths and to punish oath breakers. Goddess of love-vows, she listens to (and
punishes those who break) agreements between men and women. Newly married couples say her name when they
take each other's hands.
The truth is not absolute, it changes over
time. (The Earth use to be the center of the universe once upon a time). Spend
today reviewing what is in your food.
What is going into your garden in a few months. What you can do to honor Earth and treat it
well. Take a nature walk and look for
the first signs of Spring.
The
Goddess Brigid
The
Irish Goddess Brigid is the keeper of the
sacred flame, the guardian of home and hearth. To honor her, purification and cleaning are a
wonderful way to get ready for the coming of Spring. In addition to fire, she
is a Goddess connected to inspiration and creativity. When Ireland converted to Christianity, it was
hard to convince people to get rid of their old Gods, so the church allowed
them to worship the Goddess Brigid as a saint -- thus
the creation of St. Brigit
's Day. Today, there are many churches around the world which bear her name. Brigit's Cross is a traditional fire wheel symbol - found at the hearths of homes
throughout Ireland and beyond as a symbol of protection.
Imbolc or Candlemas is a great day to honor the Sacred
Feminine. It can be done in a
traditional way, like burning candles and offering flowers at a shrine in Her
honor. This date also coincides with the feast of St. Brigit, a Irish Catholic nun
whose life work was to tend to women’s health, particularly in childbirth. What better way, then, to honor this special
day by volunteering or making a donation to your local women’s shelter.
Purification
and Light
For
Christians, February 2nd continues to be celebrated as Candelmas, the feast of purification of the
Virgin. By Jewish law, it took forty days after a birth for a woman to be
cleansed following the birth of a son. Forty
days after Christmas – the birth of Jesus – is February 2nd. For the Christian calendar, this holiday was
reformed and renamed 'Candlemas' when candles are lit to remember the
purification of the Virgin Mary. Candles were blessed, there was much feasting
to be had, and the drab days of February suddenly seemed a little brighter.
Love
& Courtship
February is known as
a month when love begins anew, in part to the widespread celebration of
Valentine's Day. In some parts of
Europe, there was a belief that February 14th was the day that birds and
animals began their annual hunt for a mate. Valentine's Day is named for the
Christian priest who defied Emperor Claudius II's edict banning young soldiers
from marrying. In secret, Valentine
'tied the knot' for many young couples. Eventually,
he was captured and executed on Feb. 14, 269 C.E. Before his death, he smuggled
a message to a girl he had befriended
while imprisoned -- the first Valentine's Day card.
Imbolc
was traditionally a time of weather divination, and the old tradition of
watching to see if serpents or badgers came from their winter dens may be a
forerunner to the North American Groundhog Day. Some people believed that Imbolc predicted the
weather
for the rest of the winter. If Imbolc Day be fair and bright, winter will have
another fight. If Imbolc Day brings
cloud and rain, winter won't come again.
May you have a blessed Imbolc!
End of
Winter Meal Blessing
The winter has come to an end
The stores of food are dwindling,
And yet we eat, and stay warm
In the chilled winter months.
We are grateful for our good fortune,
And for the food before us.
The stores of food are dwindling,
And yet we eat, and stay warm
In the chilled winter months.
We are grateful for our good fortune,
And for the food before us.
Blessed be.
Hello. This imbolc post is 6 years old, but I am dying to know where the artwork on the last image originated. It is stunning. Thank you. Showy
ReplyDeleteArt by: Jaine Rose https://sacredmoongrove.wordpress.com/2016/02/02/imbolccandlemasst-brigid/
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