Imbolc

The Wheel of the Year is the natural progression of the Sun's cycle and its connection to the Earth's seasons. It consists of eight Sacred Festivals, spaced at approximately even intervals throughout the year. These festivals are referred to as Sabbats.

These festivals are understood by some to be the Bronze Age religious festivals of Europe. As with all cultures' use of festivals and traditions, these festivals have been utilized by European cultures in both the pre- and post-Christian eras as traditional times for the community to celebrate the planting and harvest seasons. The Wheel of the Year has been important to many people both ancient and modern, from various religious as well as cultural and secular viewpoints.

The Quarter Days are observed on or near the solstices and the equinoxes and the Cross-Quarter Days are observed roughly halfway between the Quarter Days. In the ancient times however, festivals were occasioned not by the passage of days marked on a calendar, but by events that took place in the everyday lives of the celebrants.

Something that helps sometimes, in working with the concept of the Wheel and its eight festivals, is to imagine that one is part of a primitive society, without all our modern scientific knowledge and records and calendars and almanacs. When all one has with which to measure the passage of time is the passage of the days and the turning of the seasons, one begins to place great significance in events previously considered to be of minor importance. Look at each of the feasts in the Wheel, and think about what is happening in the world around the celebrants as the time for the feast draws near, and you will draw new insights into the meaning of, and the reason for the feast.

Imbolc ~ February 2

Imbolc, also known as Candlemas or Brigid's Day is one of the Cross-quarter, Fire Festivals in the Wheel of the Year. It celebrates the passing of winter and the return of the agricultural part of the year, and the changing of the three-fold Goddess from Crone to Maiden. At Imbolc we can see the promise of Yule made manifest. The days are markedly longer, the sun a little warmer. In the sheltered garden, a lone crocus pushes boldly through the late snows. Overhead, somewhere in the scudding clouds of February, we hear the calling of the wild geese. Now is the time for new growth, as the tiny bobbing heads of Snowdrops and the uplifted faces of Crocuses appear. The Goddess is now renewed and welcomed back. Sacred fires were traditionally lit on hilltops to attract the new Sun, and in warmer climates the first Ewe's milk was available after the Winter. In some areas a celebratory drink called "Lambswool" was drunk - made from cider and water mixed with the flesh of roasted / baked apple - the frothy white mixture somewhat resembling Lambs' wool.

It is a time for shaking off the winter doldrums, for sweeping the dead leaves of winter out of our lives. What baggage, emotional or physical, is it you no longer need to carry into the new year? A ritual house-cleansing might be in order to rid your home of all the negative energies that accumulate during the closed-in months of winter. Try making a loose incense of sage, cedar, bay, rosemary, and frankincense to banish negativity and bless your home.
It is customary to light white candles to welcome back the Sun and to honor the return of the Maiden Goddess. It's a good time to tidy up your altar, refresh it with a white altar cloth, light some white candles and display a picture of the Goddess Brigid.


An evening feast is in order, since Imbolc represents a return to liveliness and all the bounties of Nature. Americans might best grasp the concept of Imbolc by thinking of it as a Thanksgiving celebration for what is about to happen. Celebrants can be happy feasting, knowing that winter is passing and that food will once again be growing and plentiful. The feast begins with a short prayer, or toast:

Blessed be the earth, and all who dwell upon it.
We give thanks for the season now departing from us,
For the blessings it has bestowed upon us,
And upon those with whom we share this world.

Blessed be the new season.
We pray that it will be a time filled with peace,
With abundance, with prosperity,
With wisdom,
With love.

Blessed be all who share this feast.
Let us now prepare for the time ahead
By opening our hearts, and our minds, and our spirits.

Blessed be.

Next: The Goddess Brigid

Jai Mata Di