IMBOLC

February 1, 2023 we honor Imbolc as part of the Medicine Wheel of the Year.

Imbolc is such a beautiful time of year. Honoring the wheel of the year allows for a deeper and more meaningful way of living. It is also a cyclical way to traverse time here on the earth. As a woman and a witch, I connect with the wheel on a cellular level. It serves as potent medicine and personally, I love the way it carries me throughout the seasons and cycles.

Imbolc represents a midpoint between the winter solstice, known as Yule and Spring Equinox, known as Ostara. In many ways, Imbolc feels like a portal within this very liminal time of year. For me personally, Ostara and the Spring Equinox feel more like the New Year. I also celebrate my solar return in March. And so with that, Imbolc feels very much like the dark before the dawn.

If you sit with that knowing, what thoughts, feelings and messages arise for you?

It’s interesting because here in Vermont, in some ways, it feels as though Winter is just getting underway. However, Imbolc always brings a feeling of hope. There is a logical understanding that we are still deep underground but there is an ever-so-slight stirring of the seed that can be felt as well. How do you interact with an energy that is unseen to the eye? You feel it in your spirit.

That is what I feel at this time of year. I may not be able to see what is happening deep below the frozen layers of the earth but my spirit can sense the dormant energy beginning to awaken. There is hope, yes, but there is also visioning. That is why Imbolc feels so liminal. There is a formless feeling of this time mixed with anticipatory feelings of what is to come.

The word Imbolc actually means “in the belly of the Mother” which imbues such a lovely image and metaphor to ponder. Celtic traditions also honored the Goddess Brigid at this time. She was often referred to as the Celtic Triple Goddess of Fire and is depicted with flames coming out of her head.

The flames of creative fire burn brightly with Brigid. Myths about her birth say she was born with a flame in her head and drank the milk of a mystical cow from the spirit world. Brigid is credited with the very first keening, a traditional wailing for the dead practiced at funerals by Irish and Scottish women.She is an inspiration and a powerful deity to call upon during Imbolc.

Questions to ponder or journal:

• What thoughts, feelings, messages and insights are you feeling at this time?
• What lies dormant within you that you can feel awakening and shifting?
• What visions are you holding for Ostara and the year ahead?
• What are you hoping to birth into creation this year?
• What messages does Brigid have for you?

Whatever you may be feeling or visioning please know that I am sending you my love and wishing you all the best on your journey through this life. Community is so important and I’m grateful that I’m able to reach out and say hello while also sharing some thoughts and inspirations with you along the way.