Celebrate Imbolc! The first signs of spring!
Here in the Northern Hemisphere, it is Imbolc. For our Southern Hemisphere friends Happy Lughnasadh! Happy Lughnasadh to our Southern Hemisphere friends!
Imbolc is a Cross-Quarter Day. There are other names St. Brigid’s Day, Candlemas and several others. Many beliefs celebrate this day!
But for me in my Celtic Path, which is what this blog is about, my path in the Wheel of the Year, it marks the beginning of farming season. This is a time of calving, a time of lambing the stirrings of life and the emergence of seeds from within the earth.
This is a fire festival, marking the beginning signs of spring and the halfway point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Daffodils and crocus are appearing. Imbolc comes from Imbolg which means in the belly.
Nature is preparing for spring. The old growth has dried up and either whistles in the wind or has fallen to the ground contributing its last remnants as compost in the soil. Snow is covering the ground and everything appears to be hibernating. But underneath the surface spring is stirring.
Roots are growing, strengthening and stabilizing. If you look closely at the tree branches you will see that buds are forming bulges just waiting to burst forth.
The cattle and sheep have babies in their bellies; growing below the surface preparing to be birthed into this world.
Just as nature is letting go of the old and preparing for the new growth; we also can release all that no longer serves us as we prepare for the new ahead.
Today I ask myself…what am I clinging to that no longer contributes to my life? What do I have a death grip on that I am holding onto out of fear or guilt? As I take a deep breath now I choose to release it and I blow those fears and limitations away with my exhale.
This is the season of purity, inspiration, creativity and kundalini energy. A nurturing and stimulation of the creative fire that burns within. Moving out of stagnation and into generative, creative & inspired action.
Clearing out the old, starting with a clean and fresh surface if you will. Creation at it’s finest. A quickening of life, revitalization of the seeds of LIFE.
This is a time of nurturing those ideas, it is a promise of renewal, an awakening, hidden potential and hope. What new beginnings are you dreaming of? What intentions are you setting for the coming year. What are you looking forward to with anticipation?
The Celtic holidays are celebrated sundown to sundown. Imbolc is traditionally celebrated February 1 and 2. I practice a bit differently than most. I move through the year treating each Sabbat change as a new season. This allows me to focus on what I intend to experience and it also allows me to be more focused and intentional in my daily round. Reminding me to infuse the mundane with the sacred.
So I now move out of the Season of Yule and into the Season of Imbolc. Appreciative of the experiences and growth I have gone through and moving forward with renewed excitement into the infinite possibilities provided in this new season of living.
What can you do today to reconnect with that flame of inspiration? What can you do that will reconnect with nature, with the fresh springs of water, plant something in the earth, go for a nature walk, pick up trash, get some body work.
What would be nurturing for you.
What dreams are you embodying? What ideas & projects are building beneath the surface preparing for you to birth them into this world?
Imbolc Blessings my beautiful Enchanted Friends,
Donna Kaye
Desert Enchantress