Sunday, January 22nd
Today, I gathered with some lovely ladies to celebrate Imbolc. My creative action was small, but satisfying. I read my Meditation on Brighid, shared a song and worked on a drawing. Most importantly, I shared time with others in an uplifting and loving way. Having such connections with others in my life fuels my fires. I feel more alive, supported and validated and rest assured knowing that as much as I receive these feelings, I give back by being present and supportive for those I share this time with. I am grateful for the community of people I have in my life. They make life worth living!
Imbolc? Please, share more background for us who are ignorant of your esoteric knowledge.
ReplyDeleteImbolc is one of the cross-quarter days on the modern Celtic wheel of the year. On this wheel, there are two solstices (Summer and Winter), two equinoxes (Spring and Fall) and four harvest festivals, known as the cross quarter days. These are: Samhain (pronounced Sow-in, October 31), Imbolc (pronounced Imolk, February 2nd), Beltaine (May 1st), and Lammas or Lughnasah (August 2nd). Imbolc, also known as Candlemas or St. Brigid's Day in the Christian tradition, is a time of returning light and life. The world (in the North) begins to thaw, awaken and emerge into the Spring. This is the season of lambing, thus the name Imbolc, likely deriving from the term "ewe's milk". The first flowers show up, in the form of snowdrops, with crocuses and daffodils not long in following. It is a time to wake up from the inward dream-time of Winter and begin planting new seeds in the way of dreams and ideas for the coming year. For some, Imbolc marks the beginning of the year, instead of the more popular Samhain (the final Harvest) which is often celebrated as the end and beginning of the new year. I was considering this recently and came to the conclusion that perhaps Samhain is most appropriately the year's end and Imbolc best thought of as the new year, with the Winter months in between being more aptly a time out of time, where inwardness and dreaming are optimally emphasized. Winter is a rather dead, hibernatory, sleepy time, where everything has slowed to a near stand still. This is not the time for new beginnings, but instead, a time for pause, for stillness, for waiting and resting. Imbolc is the time when that pause slowly melts back into movement and the firey anticipation of warmer, more abundant months ahead. It is, in my mind, a very good time to celebrate and plan for new beginnings in the new year.
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