Happy New Year! It’s a new calendar year, and a new presidency in the US. It’s a new age for us astrologically, with Jupiter and Saturn moving into Aquarius! We are moving out of the Holy Darkness and now, with our Imbolc ceremonies, we join many around the world in celebrating the awakening of mother earth for this new year.
February Celebrations
In the Jewish Kabbalistic tradition, Tu BiShvat is celebrated as “the new year of the trees.” When I first learned of this holiday, it was described to me as a celebration of the sap beginning to flow in the trees, preparing for spring. It is celebrated this year on Jan. 27th – 28th. This is one of Imbolc’s cousins, celebrating what Imbolc marks as the halfway point to the Vernal Equinox.
Of course, we are familiar with Groundhog Day, on Feb. 2nd each year. In the US we celebrate the possibility of spring’s ascendancy in 6 weeks, according to the omen of a groundhog in Pennsylvania! This tradition comes from the Christian Candlemas holiday.
Imbolc Origins
Candlemas, which is celebrated on February 2nd, was taken from the older pagan holiday of Imbolc, the cross quarter day between the Winter Solstice (Yule) and the Vernal Equinox (Oestara). On Imbolc, we celebrate new beginnings, initiation and purification. Candelmas is a Christian feast day celebrating the ritual purification of the virgin Mary 40 days after giving birth to Jesus.
The name Imbolc means ewe’s milk, which would have been a looked-for sign in ancient agrarian communities, when sheep would begin to lactate and grass to grow. Up to 5,000 years ago, Neolithic people in the British Isles constructed passage tombs that marked the cross quarter day by aligning with the sunrise.
The Goddess Brighid
The Goddess Brighid, of the Tuatha de Danaan, was honored on this day as long as 2,000 years ago by the Celts as a life-giver, so the return of spring is her celebration. We honor her today on Imbolc by creating Brigid’s crosses to put by the door on the night of Imbolc, so she can bless them and see that we honor her. Brigid is traditionally associated with animal healing and poetry. She is also associated with fire and smithery, and St. Brigid’s day (Candlemas) is when candles are blessed in the Christian tradition. The Irish stories of Brighid and St. Brigid have been combined in a beautiful way.
Imbolc Today
Now, at Imbolc, we ask Brigid’s blessing on our ritual tools, and on red ribbons or cloth which we may use to heal and comfort sick animal and human friends and family. Several of the songs recorded by the Crow Women reflect these customs that are central to our Imbolc ritual.
On Imbolc I light a white candle
from Imbolc Vows music and lyrics © Alane Susan Brown, ASCAP, 2019, from the from album Seasons.
I lay magic tools out before me
I kneel before Bridget the Goddess
And dedicate them to Her duty
At Imbolc, we light white candles to symbolize purification after the travails of winter and to celebrate the return of the sun. It is a good time for initiation of new ideas or projects, as well as for initiation of new coven members. For more witchy stuff for your Imbolc altar, I like this complete altar kit for your ritual that you can order from Etsy.
My song about the eight pagan Sabbats, We Turn the Wheel, includes this verse for Imbolc. (In this blog post, I shared my process in writing the song, which journeys through the entire wheel of the year.)
On Imbolc we dress all in white
from We Turn the Wheel, music and lyrics © Deborah Ann Taylor Nielsen, ASCAP, 2018, from the album Seasons
On Imbolc we dedicate our energy
On Imbolc we join in sacred rite
to cleanse our souls and honor Goddess Brede*
Red and white are the colors of the garments, tools and the delicious food we use to mark this day when out of the ice and sleep of winter we feel the sap rise in the trees and the blood begin to quicken in our hearts. For more on the Crow Women’s Imbolc ritual traditions, check out this blog post.
Both songs above are on the album Seasons: A Pagan Journey Around the Wheel, which you can purchase direct from us here.
Traditions Marry in Ireland
I will never forget when I was in Doolin, Ireland one February and I went to a mass to commemorate the musicians who have kept the culture alive. I was awestruck when a young girl, dressed in red and white, walked down the aisle singing a beautiful haunting melody in Irish Gaelic, carrying a Brigid’s cross. I had thought only to honor the local religious and cultural traditions by attending, but was blessed by this honoring of my own tradition as well! Here is an Irish traditional song to Brighid, Gabhaim Molta Bríghde by Aoife Ní Fhearraigh.
I find a deep beauty in the way many different traditions honor and celebrate similar festivals and holy rituals. There is more we have in common with each other than we know. Blessed Imbolc!
