Whatever the ground hog does or doesn't do, we're half-way there. Early February marks the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. Spring, that glorious season of renewal, is starting now according to Pagan tradition. Despite the Northern Hemisphere's snow and cold, Pagans celebrate Imbolc and the returning light. Imbolc is a time to consider intentions and tools; it is a time to clarify aim and dedicate one's self for the coming year. Now is the time to consider spring cleaning, to let go of clutter of the physical and mental varieties, and to prepare for the season of growth. Spring cleaning is better done before the warmth of a fresh spring breeze calls us outside.
While still in the dark time, the inner focus can be brought on the year to come. We are poised in a reflective moment, at a time to set aim. Caitlin Matthews offers this Threshold Invocation for the Festival of Imbolc in her Celtic Devotional:
Midwife of Mystery, open the door,
Infant of the Infinite, come you in.
Let there be welcome to the newborn truth,
Let there be welcome to the Spring of the Year.
In cold and darkness you are traveling,
In warmth and brightness you will arrive.
May the blessed time of Imbolc
Kindle the soul of all beings,
Bringing birth to innocence and integrity
From the depths to the heights,
From the heights to the depths,
In the heart of every soul.
The New Year is taking form. Now is the time to nurture intentions, to feed and fuel and retool according to those intentions. Are my tools ready at hand, and honed for the work ahead? What gets in the way of my fullest creative productivity? How can I minimize obstacles, both inner and outer? What help do I need? What simple joys fuel my work?
How can I make sure I dance enough to keep me happy and inspired in the seasons to come? Dancers use a focal point, so that as they spin on the dance floor, they can stay oriented and not lose their balance or spin off in dizziness. Ritual at points on the wheel of the year can serve the same purpose.
It can be a time of affirmation of connection with the divine, of asking for help to overcome fears, to keep on walking each step without turning aside. It can be a time of forging simple aims and tools to cut through the excesses of our lives: the material clutter, the informational clutter, the clutter of excess demands, of websites and applications, of upgrades and learning curves, the clutter of excess stuff and excess wants, anything that gets in the way of hearing Spirit and acting on our own best intentions. Now is a great time to focus intention and check on our tools. Sharpening one's insight can help maintain one's aim in the months to come.
For many this holiday is dedicated to Brigid, the three fold Celtic Goddess of smithcraft, poetry and healing. Hers is a complex and powerful combination of attributes -- the forging of tools, the insight of poetry and the ability to render whole and holy that which has been hurt. Many dedicate themselves to Her each year, both giving and receiving in relationship throughout the year. Offerings are left at Her wells across Ireland, considered to be sources of healing and portals to spiritual realms. Chants are offered to Her: We are shaped in your fire, and cooled in your waters ... Brigid, Brigid we call your name.
For some, this holiday is most closely connected with the agricultural cycle, with the early birthing of lambs and the ewe's milk, and with the planting decisions to be made now, well in advance of the warmer days to come. We can nurture the seeds of intention for the coming year. Letting go and focusing, cleansing and clarifying, are most appropriate activities for this cold part of the spring quarter. Every day is longer, offering more sunlight and the promise of greater warmth to come. Surely, this is reason to celebrate.
Wes Isley: May Day: Rekindling the Heart of Beltane
Paganism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Meanings of the terms Pagan and Paganism
Owl reminded me that though this winter has been hard, it will end.
does the green still run deep in your heart?
Or will these changing times,
motorways, powerlines,
keep us apart?
Well, I don't think so ---
I saw some grass growing through the pavements today.
-Ian Anderson Jack-In-The-Green
O hallowed well of wisdom,
O flame of my desire,
Burn bright, holy spark,
That we may drink
Of the water and the fire.
-Laurel Olson, for Brigid
I do think the world could use a little better inspiration right now, and perhaps some of that's moving out there, to look at the news. It's been quite a winter so far, so the better we hail the returning light, and for today, a warming fire of inspiration. :)
We all know that lighting a single candle is better, now let's show em why. :)
You present Imbolc as a ‘pagan’ holiday yet you give no appropriate naming of which pagan worship celebrates this day. Is it the Norse? Is it Native American? Is it Greek? I am disappointed with the lack of information you provide here. ‘Pagan’ is not synonymous with Celtic tradition – it is a reference to any ‘old’ religion.
That being said, Imbolc is currently celebrated by Neo-pagans, a group of western religious believers who have latched on to the old traditions and worship of the goddesses across multiple pantheons.
Historically Imbolc was a celebration by the Celts, a cross-quarter day with the others being Beltane, Lughnasadh, and Samhain. The suggestion is that Imbolc was also a celebration of Brigid the Celtic goddess. Once Christianity came to Ireland the people turned her into a saint, approved by the church because it helped to convert the ‘pagans’ and desired by the people so they could have their cake (Christianity) and eat it too (goddess worship).
Please do not call Imbolc simply pagan – that is an oversimplification of the holiday observance. It is celebrated by Neo-pagans who have created a new belief by combining multiple religions and it is celebrated by folks in the Celtic lands by paying honor to St. Brigid, and perhaps a few who may still believe in the old ways.
Actually, the eightfold Wheel of the Year is pretty common across modern Pagan traditions of many various European extractions: while the quarter and cross-quarter days may not correspond with equal importance across traditions, but this holiday calendar is very widespread in modern practice: the Wiccan synthesis of them has rather a lot to do with the various cultural contexts actually hearkened to in the British Isles: (that's part of why there are very Celtic and very Nordic festivals combined: they've both survived in the folk tradition) Unless someone's going for a very strict reconstruction of a specific heritage, perhaps calendar and all, at least some of their major holidays will fall around these days on a modern calendar, and it seems most observe things that way, at least a little. ;) .
I think the way this post is written also has a lot to do with the way HuffPost chooses to cover paganism in this section. We get an obligatory mention on the major holidays in a general news bulletin like this one, so that we don't bitch too much, then are ignored the rest of the time. I think this way of going about things promotes the lie that the Islamic-Christian-Jewish and Buddhist ways are more 'real' or relevant. I don't usually mind being ignored this way, except when I see the lovely comments from the not-necessarily pagan here, and realize that the beauty and power we know could inspire them too if they had a path to it.