Imbolc
February 1 – 2, or when the sun reaches 15 degrees of Aquarius
Imbolc, one of two sabbats associated directly with a specific deity, is a festival to celebrate the beginning of spring. Imbolc’s partner across the Wheel is Lughnassadh, the Feast of Lugh.
The modern eclectic Wiccan perception of Imbolc comes from three very different festivals. Imbolc is one of the clearly Celtic festivals, with no Saxon influence. The Celtic Imbolc is celebrated from sundown on February 1 to sundown on February 2. This agricultural festival marks the lambing and calving season in the British Isles. Candlemas, which is the Catholic festival of the purification of the Virgin and the blessing of candles, is celebrated on February 2. From these two festivals comes the modern Wiccan Imbolc feast of purification and growing light. The third important festival that has influenced Imbolc is La Feile Bhrid, or Brigid’s Feast Day and this influence is perhaps the most popular for modern Wiccans. Celebrated in Ireland and the outer isles of Britain and Scotland, this festival honors the goddess (and later saint) Brigid. Her name is spelled and pronounced in different ways depending on the location in which she was worshiped. The original translation of her name in Irish Gaelic meant “bright flame,” and from this the association of Brigid with fire arose.
Brigid is quite a multipurpose goddess, encapsulating different associations from different cultural and regional affiliations. Over time, her association with poetry and inspirations has led her to be a goddess often invoked for creative purposes. She is often assumed to be a gentle goddess, but one of her cognates, Brigantia, was the martial goddess of a warrior tribe in the British Isles, and any deity associated with smithing has a connection to warcraft (as well as hearthwork).
Brigid is one of the original triple goddesses—not the maiden-mother-crone triptych postulated by Robert Graves in the mid-twentieth century, but the triple-sister form that predates the modern conception of the age-separated Triple Goddess.
In some myths, Brigid is the maiden goddess who seizes control of winter away from the Callieach, the crone goddess of winter. In the climate of the British Isles and in Western Europe, the beginning of February does indeed bring the first real signs of spring. In the British climate, farmers plough and prepare the fields for crops. Cattle and sheep feed on the newly sprung grass, and give birth to young, which results in the production of enriched milk. The new lambs and calves are signs of new life, confirmation of the ongoing life cycle. Brigid is associated with cattle, sheep, and milk; in fact, some of the later saint depictions show her with a churn or pails of milk. For these reasons, milk forms a focal point in many Imbolc rituals.
In the modern Wiccan mythos, the infant God born at Yule is now a child, nicely fitting into the Brigid and Imbolc associations of children and hearth and home. Imbolc is one of the sabbats that revolves around fire, as both a source of warmth and a source of purification. By this point, the returning light has noticeably lengthened the days.
–Solitary Wicca For Life: Complete Guide to Mastering the Craft on Your Own
Arin Murphy-Hiscock
Witches Of The Craft® 