Imbolc is celebrated on February 2nd. Imbolc is also known as Candlemas. It’s on February 2nd. We honor the goddess Brede, who is also called Brighid or Bridget.
The Crow Women Pagan Choir, who host this website, have several songs for this Sabbat. Our song Womb of Brighid conveys the gentle potentiality of this time of year when spring is gestating. Imbolc Vows reflects the way the Crow Women celebrate this holiday–each woman makes promises to the Goddess, the group and to ourselves, committing to the kind of woman she wants to be in the coming year. This is a holiday of candles–thus the name Candlemas–and the piece Candle Flame explores our sacred relationship with the flame.
Check out our Imbolg playlist on Spotify
Posts about Imbolc / Candlemas:
A Time of Rest, Renewal, and Letting Go
The Song Meadow Awakens Begins In the very early spring of 2020 I was asked to write a poem for Circle Sanctuary to celebrate Imbolc, using a picture of one of the springtime meadows in the sanctuary as a reference. Gazing at the photo of a green meadow nestled at...
Brigid Songs
I have been a Brigid devotee ever since I learned of this Celtic Goddess back when I was a young aspiring actress in New York City. Perhaps I was drawn to her initially because her image is often described much like my own: Tall, fair-skinned Goddess with long red hair. But...
Celebrating the Spark of Life at Imbolg
Imbolg, a sacred time in the Celtic calendar, symbolizes the peak of winter. It is often acknowledged as the coldest time of the year, comparable to the early hours of the morning on a 24-hour clock. Just like how the night reaches its coldest point before dawn, Imbolg offers the...
New Starts and Old Lessons
When I started my journey thirty years ago, it was the Spring that was standing at that gateway. It was the spring that first showed me the beauty of the Divine and the Feminine rolled into one beautiful flower basket. Through no fault of their own, the first magic works...
Candle In The Dark
You’d think that we humans would be used to it, this dark time of Winter. It happens every year, with greater intensity the farther north you live. It is almost a ritual in my own home to remark on how dark it is and how early the darkness comes, how...
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...
Imbolc and her Cousins
February holidays like Imbolc celebrate moving towards the light...
Imbolc – Time (and Dessert) of Great Potential
Happy Imbolc season! Greetings from the Crow Women’s own kitchen witch, here with another recipe from our cookbook for your Sabbat enjoyment. As we approach Imbolc, I am inspired by a song I just discovered called Imbolc – Time of Great Potential by Cernunnos Rising. In particular, these lyrics strike...
Songs to Brighid for Imbolc
Whether you call it Candlemas or Imbolc (or Imbolg or Imbolic or Brignassa), the Sabbat between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox is a wonderful day to honor the Goddess Brighid (a.k.a. Brede or Bridget). Spelling aside, the Lady who is the patron of poets, smiths, bards and healers features in...
Imbolc: Day of Beginnings
Imbolc is traditionally a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of spring. It is also Goddess Brighid’s special day when she is specifically honored and invited in to bless home and hearth. For many pagans and Wiccans, the Imbolc ritual is a time to make and renew vows, bless magickal tools...
Brighid’s Bean Soup
Imbolc marks the beginning of spring and is the time we honor the multi-talented Brighid, Celtic Goddess of midwifery, smithery, poetry and healing arts. Lambs and goat kids are being born and little signs of spring are starting to show. Though it may still feel like winter there is promise...
Candle Flame, part 2
In hopes that you, dear reader, may be inspired to incorporate this song into some of your ritual work, I am sharing some thoughts about how that may be accomplished. It would honor the Crow Women greatly to know that others in the Pagan and Wiccan community find our music...
Candle Flame, part 1
This post, part 1 of the Candle Flame series, describes Marilyn’s experience in writing the song Candle Flame. Part 2 will explore ways you can use the song in your own ceremonies. The song lyrics appear at the end of this blog entry. “Let us light a candle flame” How...