Imbolc menu and memories

The days are getting longer. Depending on where you live, the first little green shoots might be poking up. It’s time to celebrate Imbolc!

I’m musing about the many Imbolcs our coven has celebrated, in many different conditions. They are priestessed by the out-going Maiden, Mother, and Crone priestesses. (I wrote about the Crows’ priestess roles in this article, if you’re curious.) They always involve water. They honor Brigid. They are where we dress in white and re-dedicate ourselves for the year and transfer titles/ jobs  – Maiden, Mother, Crone, Malama (treasurer), and a couple others based on a job draw ritual in January.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, we were privileged to have Imbolg in a member’s house with an indoor hot tub. Then for many years, we had Imbolg at another member’s rural house with an outdoor hot tub. Each of us would go out separately with our robe and towel and take a couple minutes of personal reflection in the tub. 

One year during my turn, a crow sent a greeting (or I took it as such). Of course I had to return the greeting. Caw, caw, caw. The crow responded. I responded. It became four caws, then caw, caw, caw… caw caw. As if the crow was saying, “You think you’re so hot, try this one!” I did. It was an amazing exchange for someone who identifies as a Crow Woman. Then I had to get out of the tub and go inside so another sister could have her turn. I took that crow energy with me into the Imbolc ritual.

One snowy winter, the sister at that same house and her husband had to shovel thigh-high snow so we could get to the hot tub. Talk about dedication!

Another snowy winter, we moved Imbolg into town at the home of another sister with a hot tub. I think it was 2008. The next day the region was slammed with major snow and was pretty much shut down for several days.

There were no little green shoots visible in either of those Imbolgs.

Our musical soundtrack for Imbolc

Certain songs are part of each Imbolg. As each sister heads to the hot tub we sing, “Born of water, cleansing, powerful, healing, changing, I am.” As each comes back in, we gather around her and celebrate our sisterhood by singing “(name), you are beautiful, (name), you belong; wonderful to see you, as we go along; (name), hear our loving song.” Then we anoint her with glitter.

Laura wrote a post for this blog that includes all the songs we use in the Crow Women Imbolc ritual. I recommend the article: Imbolc, Day of Beginnings. It’s interesting how she and I can write about the same ritual but have our own unique perspective on it.

One Laura didn’t include in her post, though, is Womb of Brighid. Our prolific song writer Alane wrote it as an Imbolg song. I always think of it as “Transformation”. It’s on the Crows’ Seasons album, which you are welcome to purchase from us here. It was the last song Alane got to record with Donna Pauline. We finished the vocals and Issa added a virtuoso tongue drum part after our sister was gone, but I like listening to it and picking out Donna’s voice. Anyway, we sing that one on Imbolc, too, to bring in those who are no longer present in the body.

After all have been to the hot tub, we dress silently  in white and proceed to the altar. Each of us has a white tapir candle. We bring tools that we want to dedicate or re-dedicate, items representing a direction, energy, or power animal that we will work with for the year, and Imbolg-related items such as palm-sized jewelry anvils. Usually there are red roses. We sing chants to call in Brede. (There are many beautiful songs to Brede, Alane wrote about some more of them in this article.) Each sister lights her candle from the mother candle, kneels and says her dedication.

At the end the altar is full of lighted candles. Then we transfer jobs to the new sisters. We each get a silver disk bead representing the past year as a Crowwommyn, and a colored bead representing the job we had in the past year to add to our membership necklace. We are anointed with Crow or Raven spirit oil.

Another tradition has been that once the circle is opened, group pictures are taken. This requires either a non-participant to take the pictures or tech-savviness to get the camera (or phone?) to take a delayed shutter release photo.  Over the years these become records of who was part of the coven 10, 15, or 20 years ago.

Imbolc during the pandemic

2020 was very different. Little if any snow. We had moved to another sister’s house with an outside hot tub. It was warm in the sun, no need to hurry back inside. Some of the sisters were in a rebellious mood. We have always donned white after the hot tub. This year two of us wore tie dye. Little did we know that a month and a half later, the COVID shut-down would hit.

Imbolg 2021 was held on Zoom since we weren’t vaccinated yet. It was complicated by Zoom wanting me to download an update, just as it was time to log in for the ritual. Arrrrgh!!! Why can’t they give notice that you need to do this before the next time you want to Zoom??

I was flustered and scattered and not at my best when I finally got logged on. We each had set up our own red and white altar in advance with a white candle and whatever other alter trappings suited us. We used pans of warm water to put our feet in instead of immersing ourselves in a hot tub. A poor substitute, but we made do. We put on our white clothes, at least what would show up on a Zoom screen. We lit our candles, said our dedications, transferred jobs. We got our year and job beads later.

We’re looking forward to a normal in-person Imbolg this year, COVID willing. Fingers crossed.

A feast of red food

Another of our Imbolg traditions, interrupted in 2021, has been the after ritual meal featuring white and red food. We celebrate Imbolc as Brighid’s Day, and red and white are two of Her colors. Plus, it’s a fun challenge to lay out a feast that has a color scheme. There are lots of options.

Bean Soup, a staple at Imbolctide

How about a white bean soup with chicken meat and broth? Or ground turkey. Add your choice of spices plus onions, diced tomatoes, and red bell peppers. It could be Southwest style – white bean chicken chili. Add chili blend powder, cumin powder, garlic powder… Diced celery cooks up pale enough that it can add flavor and texture without disrupting the white and red color scheme.

The chili could be accompanied by quesadillas, white cheese in white corn tortillas or flour tortillas, with salsa for the red.  I’d probably add canned diced green chiles into the quesadillas if not the chili itself. Can’t help myself!

Got you hungry? Check out this recipe for Brighid’s Bean Soup that my crowsister Melanie wrote for the Pagan Song blog. Her version has more kale, less chili. Bean soup is infinitely variable, just like us witches are.

A bounty of options for a red and white feast

• Spaghetti with marinara sauce? Spaghetti with a chicken or shrimp cream sauce and red bell pepper? For those who want gluten free, there are now lots of offerings, both pasta and flour for baking.
• Our dear departed sister Donna Pauline, who left her body in January 2018,  used to bring a delicious salmon bisque.
• White clam chowder with red peppers is another yummy option.
• Fish or chicken can provide protein in various dishes.
• You can avoid the carbs with raw or cooked cauliflower; a veggie plate with that cauliflower plus sticks of zucchini, turnip, carrot, cherry tomatoes, radishes, red bell pepper
• Cocktail shrimp with red dipping sauce.
• To break up all that whiteness, our out-going Maiden is tasked to bring a green salad. This year that’s me.
• For dessert, how about cranberry bread?
• Or bead pudding? Here a recipe for it from our cookbook.
• Drinks could be red or white wine, cranberry or pomegranate juice.

In our coven, Imbolg is a long ritual. The meal is a satisfying end before we change back into street clothes, gather up all our stuff, and head home. Another magickal year has started.