Category: Imbolc

Happy and Blessed Imbolc

To Those Of Your Celebrating Imbolc Today, May The Goddess Bless You On This Glorious Imbolc Morn’! c. 2019

It depends on your Tradition which day you celebrate Imbolc. We celebrated it yesterday and I know some of you might celebrate it today. We generally celebrate our Sabbats the day before for a reason. For instance, we celebrate Imbolc last night. We did our rituals, lit our fires, run out the old stale Winter air and the season, hopefully. We did some cleansing and we have a lot more to do today. We had a good feast and in spite of being so sleepy, we managed to stay up to greet the morning’s first light. The joy of celebrating the night before, it just unbelievable. You get to stay up and greet the new born Sun on one of the most glorious mornings of all, Imbolc. You can feel the freshness as the new born Sun comes over the horizon. As He rises His head and proclaims victory and Spring will return to us shortly. The magick courses through your veins and it seems you are recharged and ready to take on anything that comes your way. As the warmth of the Sun courses through your veins, you feel your magick grow and grow, till you feel like you are the most powerful witch on the face of Mother Earth.

We have made celebrating the Sabbats the night before a habit. If you have never done it, you need to try it. Just go outside and wait for the Sun to come up. You can feel the magick in the air as you welcome Him back. It is so magickal that you can actually hear the Sun talk back to you with His warm rays of light shining down upon you. I cannot explain it fully. It is something you have to experience for yourself. It re-generates your spirit and your soul. You feel the darkest of the Winter months fall off of you. You know when you see the Sun on this special day, it is a fresh start, a new season, a season of rebirth. It is truly a season for us to celebrate, the Sun has returned to us and with this we are promised the season of renewal and birth. Mother Earth is going to come back to life. The birds will sing, the grass will turn green, the flowers will bloom once again, life has come out of hibernation, it is awakening. Awakening to a new start, a new season, what a beautiful time of year this is. I can imagine you have figured out by now Imbolc is one of my favorite Sabbats.

Imbolc is a time for truly rejoicing. Go outside today and let the warmth of the Sun renew your spirit and fill your soul with the hope and joy the new season ahead holds for us.

Wishing You & Yours A Very Joyous & Beautiful Imbolc,

Lady of the Abyss

Imbolc – History, Traditions, Correspondences, and Simple Ritual Ideas

Many Pagans, Witches, and those interested in Nature Spirituality celebrate the seasonal cycles. Sometimes referred to as the Wheel of the Year, and consisting of eight celebrations. Four of these festivals (Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh, and Samhain) are rooted in Celtic history and origins. The other four (Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumn Equinox, and Winter Solstice) represent the sun’s location. I created a complete guide to each season, including history, traditions, symbols, correspondences, ritual ideas, and how you can celebrate.

Imbolc is a fire festival that celebrates the home and the halfway point between Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. It is quite literally Midwinter and while the days continue to grow lighter it is still dark and cold outside. Cabin fever has set in and we are all yearning to unburden ourselves from the long dark days. This can be an especially difficult time for those who suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and is a BIG reason why a celebration is so lovely right now!

After months of self-reflection, planning, and goal setting, aspiration and ambition are beginning to stir. The tiniest bits of enthusiasm is starting to awaken beneath the surface. Goals and dreams that you’ve created over the long cold nights are now being lit from the flames of Midwinter. Let your creativity and imagination help manifest these dreams!

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Click here to read more of this article about Imbolc from www.thepeculiarbrunette.com

Printable Imbolc Correspondences

Imbolc marks the Irish pagan start of spring – something is stirring

As the great wheel turns, we find ourselves slowly re-emerging from the deep dreamtime of winter into the portal of Imbolc.

Kathy Scott Trailblazery  

The Wheel of the Year is a medicine wheel marked and celebrated by most, indigenous cultures around the earth in their own ways.

In Ireland, the ancient ones measured their cosmos in wheels, spirals, in the movement of the stars, and the rising and setting of the sun and moon.

The ancient Irish were deeply connected to the land, the seasons, and the cycles of the natural world and honored these portals with ritual and ceremony. Our ancestors have gifted us with a rich cultural inheritance aligned with the rhythms and patterns of the natural world. This cyclical way of living offers great wisdom that can support and resource our wellbeing today as ‘ancestors-in-training’.

The Wheel of the Year is a medicine wheel marked and celebrated by most, indigenous cultures around the earth in their own ways.

In Ireland, the ancient ones measured their cosmos in wheels, spirals, in the movement of the stars, and the rising and setting of the sun and moon.

The ancient Irish were deeply connected to the land, the seasons, and the cycles of the natural world and honored these portals with ritual and ceremony. Our ancestors have gifted us with a rich cultural inheritance aligned with the rhythms and patterns of the natural world. This cyclical way of living offers great wisdom that can support and resource our wellbeing today as ‘ancestors-in-training’.

Imbolc marks the quickening

The word Imbolc derives from the Irish, ‘i mbolg’, meaning ‘in the belly’, or “first milk” in the old Irish Neolithic language. It heralds the birthing season, as the soon-to-be-born lambs are growing in their mother’s bellies. Another powerful metaphor to describe this time is ‘winter pregnant with summer’. The seeds of summer are still hidden deep in the earth, in the womb of the goddess and while the worst of the winter darkness is over, Spring has not fully arrived yet.

In the ancient Celtic tradition, there is a celebration of the relationship between the dualistic forces of light and darkness, between what is seen and …

Click here to read the rest of this article about Imbolc from www.irishcentral.com

Flashback 2002 Imbolc

Imbolc is an important day of purification and initiation; on the Sun’s day, February 2, the energies are very airy. This Sabbat is a good day for coven work, with an emotionally detached masculine Moon and Sun on the Sun’s day.

Dress yourself and your altar in white, while serving white beverages or any dairy food to honor the calving season. Spread the top of a one-pound round Camembert or Bire cheese with raspberry preserves. Cut a circle of puff pastry large enough to cover the cheese, wrap it, tucking the ends of the pastry under. Use scraps to decorate the top with goddess symbols. Brush with beaten egg yolk. Bake at 425 degrees until golden, and serve hot and melting on crackers. During this ritual, bless and dedicate all candles you will need for other ritual work throughout the year. A good way to start the ceremony is to light candles in the darkened room with chanting to encourage the lengthening days.

©️ By K. D. Spitzer Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook 2002 Page 41

IMPORTANT NOTE for the Southern Hemisphere Imbolc falls on August 1st.

Magickal Ideas for Imbolc

Imbolc Lore and Rituals

Celebrating the Seasons
by Selena Fox

Imbolc, also known as Candlemas and Groundhog’s Day, occurs at the beginning of February. It marks the middle of Winter and holds the promise of Spring. The Goddess manifests as the Maiden and Brigid. The Groundhog is a manifestation of the God. Colors are White, and sometimes Red. It is a festival of spiritual purification and dedication.

Thoroughly clean your altar and/or temple room. Do a self purification rite with Elemental tools — cleanse your body with salt (Earth), your thoughts with incense (Air), your will with a candle flame (Fire), your emotions with water (Water), and your spiritual body with a healing crystal (Spirit). Bless candles that you will be using for rituals throughout the year. Invoke Brigid for creative inspiration. Take a Nature walk and look for the first signs of …

Click here to read the rest of this article about Imbolc from www.circlesanctuary.org

Let’s Have Some Fun – Imbolc

 

For Your Viewing Pleasure – Imbolc

Imbolc – St Brigid’s Festival | Documentary | Pagan & Christian Folklore

Flashback 2004 Imbolc

 Imbolc

Celebrate this festival by draping the altar in white and silver. Kepp the entire altar white — white candlesticks, white incense bowls, etc. Represent the Goddess with a figure of a horned cow. If you wear robes in ritual, honor Brigid in her guise as the goddess of the dairy by wearing white. With Neptune lending the glamour to your robes to the Sun this time, as glitter to your robes with sliver and “diamonds.” Let your imagination run wild.

Save snow from the last storm, or use crushed ice, and put it out in bowls on the altar. Scrub clean an old milke bottle or cream jar and fill it with fresh milk; freshly made mozzarella cheese will round out your cakes and ale. Nestle all bowls in the snow.

The planetary energies are particularly favorable this sabbat for working magic for world peace. Place all the candles you’ll be using this year on the altar and start this ritual in the dark — this is, without lights. Add your magic to the returning Sun. Dedicate and consecrate all your candles during this festival of lights, and consecrate your agricultural tools for use in the coming cycle of growth. This is the festival of new beginnings.

Copyright By K. D. Spitzer in Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook 2004 Page 39

Flashback 2000 Imbolc

Daylight hours are gradually lengthening, and the Earth is beginning to stir. Although she is still in the middle of her winter’s rest, our planet subtly begins to plan. It’s appropriate that this period is represented by Aquarius, an air sign, since all change begins first in the mind. Every new thought or idea is full of raw potential as the Earth is now,nailing for the touch of fire to ignite her new growth period. Uranus is the ruler of Aquarius, and the planet best known for its jurisdiction over the future. This electric energy only looks forward, never back. It is during Imbolc, in fact, as the Sun is passing through Aquarius, that many ideas are born. As we prepare for the upcoming Equinox, then, it’s important to be sure that we’re looking ahead, as Uranus does, with all the electric enthusiasm and genius of Aquarius. Honor the potential of the coming spring by uncovering your gift of prophecy. Whether you use a crystal ball, a dream journal, or another type of predictive tool, prepare for the Equinox in your heart, by understanding how much is possible now.

©️ By Kim Rogers-Gallagher Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook 2000 Page 95