Together let us move from a space of restoration to a place of connection, celebration, and exploration. Now is the time to begin to flesh out our insights after a time of deep recuperation. We trust the knowing and divine intelligence of Mother Earth, and soon we will sync ourselves with the energy of initiation and reinvention.
We must lean into the resilient practices of our ancestors to help us germinate our creative seeds.
In alignment with the spirits of our plantcestors, soon we will begin to access our potential energy and utilize the momentum to push through any obstacles around us to reach the light at the surface.
We must bring our personal gifts, purpose and knowing forward.
It is time to get to work with peace in the spirit and a compassionate heart. Combine your ideas and hopes with the collective initiation of discovery and open paths.
-byKaren L. Culpepper © Mother Tongue Ink 2023
from pg 43 in We'Moon 2024
We commemoratethe natural turning points in the Earth’s cycle.
The seasonal cycle of the year is created by Earth’s annual orbit around the sun. Solstices are the extreme points as Earth’s axis tilts toward or away from the sun—when days and nights are longest or shortest.
On equinoxes, days and nights are equal in all parts of the world. Four cross-quarter days roughly mark the midpoints in between solstices and equinoxes. Imbolc is the milestone assuring us that weare halfway through winter, and reassures us that springis indeed on her way. This is Brigid beckoning us to look toward the light, however faint. See her there? Her candle glows.
Seasonal celebrations of most cultures cluster around these same natural turning points.
February 2 Imbolc/Mid-Winter: celebration, prophecy, purification, initiation—Candlemas (Christian), New Year (Tibetan, Chinese, Iroquois), Tu Bi-Shevat (Jewish). Goddess Festivals: Brigit, Brighid, Brigid (Celtic).
Imbolc/ Candlemasis well known as a Celtic tradition stemming fromNeolithic Ireland and Scotland, celebrating the halfway point between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox.
Imbolc or Candlemas is a celebration of light and the first spark of spring. It is a whisper of warmer weather and an ember of hope in the darkness of winter.
Crocus' and perennial bulbs start to bloom and Hellebore, Snowdrops, Iris and Daffodils are often the first flowers of Spring to appear.
What about Lunar Imbolc?
Each of the cross-quarter days (Imbolc, Beltane, Lammasand Samhain) have a bonus Lunar Holy Day to mark them. They coincide with the New and Full Moons in Aquarius and Scorpio:
- The New Moon in Aquarius marks LunarImbolc, (dark, seeds-of-the-future, germinating time).
- The Full Moon in Scorpio is Lunar Beltane (think candle light and flirtatious fun with your close-ins).
- When the Full Moon is in Aquarius, it's Lunar Lammas (a beautiful time to share yourharvestbounty arounda blazing hearth fire with chosen family).
- The New Moon in Scorpiomarks Lunar Samhain (an auspicious time to drop into the deep for soul-work, ancestral healing).
These lunar holy days can fall either before or after theirsisterfire festival dates. Serious Moon devotees oftenhonor the lunar holy day rather than, or in addition to, the more commonly celebrated days.
Lunar Imbolc, in particular, is an ideal opportunity to spend time in the proverbial darkroom, to see what is developing ahead.
The images may be vague, because it is dark, after all, and the future is not set. Use the tools you have at hand (tarot, a scrying pool, your drawing pencils, firelight) to intuit what lies ahead, and set yoursights on the path that brings the best outcome, for yourself, your family, your community.Your will ispowerful.
In the wise words ofAlexis J. Cunningfolk
of Worts & Cunning Apothecary:
"Because of their origin partially within the We’Moon community, the Lunar Sabbats are tied to womxn's culture and feminist spirituality, connecting to a powerful thread of revolutionary and transformative magick. For me, I love celebrating the Lunar Sabbats as a more quiet, more intense, and more personal Sabbat celebration. When I’m able to, after attending a public and community-oriented Sabbat celebration, I love being able to gather together with close witch kin for a Lunar Sabbat celebration. If the Sabbats are a bright mirror reflecting the energy of the season in our lives, the Lunar Sabbats are the black mirror of scrying, where we draw energy up from our depths and are guided by the turning of our inner compass."
For a deeper dive into the lunar holy days, readSpiraling Into the Center: The Wheel of the Year & Lunar Sabbats
A Prayer © Lupen Grainne 2009Imbolc Celebrations around the World:
Imbolc is often celebrated with fire rituals, bonfires or gatherings. It is also known as an inward holiday. Solitude in nature or quiet walks are a great way to welcome Imbolc in.
Candlemas:
A Christian holiday celebrating the presentation of Jesus at the temple. This is often a time when folks clear house and remove all the decorations from Christmas or bring candles to places of worship.
France and Belgium: Traditionally celebrate candlemas with crepes or pancakes and candles adorning the entire household.
Luxembourg's celebration centers around children. Children parade through the streets with lanterns and sing to their communities in exchange for treats and sweets.
Puerto Rico celebrates with aprocession to the statue of the "Virgen de la Candelaria" with candles. Others celebrate with bonfires or the burning of their Christmas trees.
North America: Much of North America celebrates Groundhog day which falls on February 2nd. This holiday entails weather-lore concerning a badger or groundhog, a germanic weather predictive animal, predicting how many more weeks of winter occur before spring. This tradition says that if a groundhog emerges from his hollow or nest on February 2nd, and the animal saw its shadow, six more weeks of winter weather remained. If, however, the day was cloudy and the groundhog didn't see its shadow, it was a sign that the weather during the following weeks would lead to an early spring.
Brighid's Altar© Beth Lenco 2017
Celtic Celebrations:
Many Imbolc festivals honored the goddessBrigid,
who invokes fertility,
prophecy and fire.
Celtic goddess of fertility and motherhood. She is also a creative goddess holding favor for skilled crafts folk, passion, poetry, creativity and invention.
Like her season, she is a goddess of multitudes and contradictions.She is a goddess of healing, fertility, and motherhood, but also of passion and fire. This season reflects the dichotomy, the promise of spring and the continuing brutality of winter.
Brigid is often portrayed as a fire goddess
with a cauldron or vessel near her.
She has a strong connection with the sun, and Imbolc itself is reflected in the sun's return to the world, as winter’s lessens on the earth come to their culmination. The sun gets brighter and the nights grow shorter.
In ireland, Brigid is a queen of keening at death rituals. Like many mother goddesses she can preside over both life and death. She often resides in and protects cemeteries.
Imbolc rituals
- Plan or plant a garden: Imbolc is a great time for garden planning! Take some time today and plan the garden rotation or start planting tiny seeds to sprout for Equinox.
- Go on a nature walk: Many plants have already started their upward journey out of darkness. Crocuses, daffodils, Hellebore and Iris are starting to show their lovely colors. Go outside and look for signs of spring.
- Create an Imbolc Altar: Gather fresh herbs and sprouts to adorn the altar. Always bring a candle, as imbolc is very much about light. Honor the passing of winter with dead leaves or brush. Draw Brigid's cross in the center, or make one! Learn more about Altar making on our blog!
- Fire and Candles:Fire is a traditional aspect and friendly face in many Imbolc traditions. Light candles around your house or have a bonfire outside in the crisp night air.
- Intention setting:Occurring shortly after the new year, Imbolc is a reflective time to look deeper into your goals and intentions for the coming spring. Meditate or journal with your intentionsand think about what you want to tend and grow this year in yourself and your world.
- Spring Cleaning and Cleansing Ritual: Cleanse your space with salt or smoke to make room for new energy. Open the windows to let the ever changing air waft through your home. Or take the literal approach and start early on spring cleaning. Start a donation box to weed out unnecessary clutter or old memories. Make space in your body and home for the burst of new energy that spring brings.
There are many ways to celebrate Imbolc. We hope these ideas inspire you to create your own and share them with us!
Head in the Clouds © Corinne "Bee Bop" Trujillo 2019
Imbolc Inspiration and Poetry
Prayer for Sacred Pauses
Goddess of the sacred pause
please grant me the courage
to lay aside swiftness
and take up slowness,
to embrace limitations as learning,
silence as stabilizing,
waiting as worthy,
and sitting as divine.
Goddess of the sacred pause
help me to know stillness as strength,
patience as powerful,
and healing time
as holy necessity.
© Molly Remer 2019
Winter Ritual
The pile of sticks has grown all winter—
Sticks like witches' wands, weathered prayer sticks
picked-up sticks, built into a woody tent,
a grey and brown latticed cone.
Yesterday it snowed
and now I strike a match
to papers torn and pushed
under damp kindling.
I sit by the crackle,
am smudged
in silver smoke.
I am burning the past
on its last remaining day:
Unsent letters
in unaddressed envelopes
Old journals,
pain pressed between pages
like dried flowers
Outdated bills, lists, memos
emptied from their files—
Time's linearity seared.
Flickers of orange curl back black edges,
thin and ephemeral as shed skin.
Words are lifted from their page,
carried off and transliterated
into the primal language of combustion.
Surrounding snow melt
trickles toward the wane of flames.
The day's final blaze flares
from mottled afternoon clouds behind me,
and warms my back
like a brief blessing.
© Jenna Weston 2011
We offer a posting for each Pagan / Wiccan Holiday on ourPagan Holiday Rituals and Traditionspage.
These, and many more articles come from our best selling Moon phase planner, and astrological calendar:We'Moon: Gaia Rhythms for Womyn.
Highlights of our desk top date book include information for every day:
- Astrological data in PST
- Moon phases depicted for every day
- Notation on when the moon changes signs
- Void of Course Moon data
- Announcements about when the Sun changes signs
- Astrological predictions for every sun and rising sign in the zodiac
- Holiday / Holy Day writings about each of the wiccan / pagan holy days
- Over 100 images of fabulous feminist art and over 100 righteous writings by amazing poets and storytellers. All of these works are submitted by women from all over the world.
- Week-at-a-glance format
- Month at a moon phase calendar pages in the appendix
- year-at-a-glance calendars with full and new moons for both the current and following years, so you can schedule your full and new moon circles well in advance.
- Bylines for the hundreds of contributors whose work is included in the day planner.
- Information about how you can contribute your creative workfor possible publication
- Intro articles about astrology, both Chinese and Western, herbs, the wiccan / pagan holidays, eclipses and mercury retrogrades that are coming up for the year
- Appendix articles on how to understand the various influences of the planets and signs, a veritable feast of Astrology 101
- ...And So much more!
