Imbolc is always a festival I enjoy but this year it feels very poignant, like the tiny candle I lit at the Winter Solstice has grown – not yet a shining Beltane Beacon Fire, but very much a guiding light in the darkness that now is shining wider and brighter than before, revealing hope and brighter days ahead, both metaphorically and in reality.
The tree by the well in the woods is garlanded once more. Still bare of leaf but just under the bark there is an awareness that Spring is on its way. Snowdrops are flowering in woodland and in the hedgerow, bowing their heads as the Lady passes, leaving more gentle white flowers in her wake. When the sun peeps through the grey clouds there is a noticeable shift in the quality of light. It may not be Spring just yet, but Brighid’s Festival is like the tentative first kiss of a future lover.
The nights remain long and Orion is still hunting in our skies. I don’t wish him away this year. It’s been a joy to see him and know that we share those same stars with my friends in Australia who I have not seen for so long. I think of them every time I see him. He has been magnificent in his splendour during these dark winter nights. I know he will soon once more disappear below the horizon to rejoin us once more in September, and as he hunts elsewhere so the May blossom will flower, followed by the Elder, and this lizard will bask with joy in the Sun’s warmth once more.
But right now I relish the stillness of Imbolc, the blessing of the Lady of Poets, the Forge, and Healing. May she bless us with inspiration and the will to create a bright future, may she bring healing to division and may friends be reconciled. May she bring the warmth of passion to our hearts and souls as we emerge from this shared experience.
Whatever you are doing to celebrate Imbolc, may it bring wonder and joy. And to all my friends down under, I will step outside and raise a glass to Orion with my best wishes for your Lughnasadh.
Hi Dave, so beautiful and so meaning these words you wrote ❤️.
Also the three candles I lit in Alban Arthan (love, prosperity and health) burned brightly and even my Yule Log burned almost completely, which is not usual, leaving only a few pieces to burn now in Imbolc.
However for me things didn’t go well but like you, I love Imbolc, however I see it more as the last of the Winter festivals than the first of the Spring festivals.
For me it is the warmth of home, of our hearts, Brighid is the fire that never goes out in our fireplaces and also as you said Lady of the forge and of healing and also of the poets and as such, one of the dreams I had for this Imbolc was start my Bard course, but I’ll have to postpone it…
This Imbolc in addition to burning the remains of my Yule Log, I will make a ritual to Brighid, as the Lady of healing, I will write on a paper my wish for healing from all sorrows, from all sufferings and I will light 8 candles over the water and before lighting the ninth candle, I will hold it in my hands and envision a bright future as I put the paper with what I wrote under the candle.
Then, by lighting this candle and joining it to the others, I will deliver my request to Brighid, burning it in The Eternal Fire.
May your Imbolc be wonderful and may everything you have visualized for this year become real and may the brilliance of Brighid reign over the Earth again.
Greetings my friend, Beautifully written, thank you so much for sharing. Wishing you all a beautiful Imbolc. Brightest Blessing.