(Feb 2nd)
(Pronounced 'Im-molc)
Also known as Imbolg, Oimelc, Brigits Day, Saint Brigids Day, Festival of Purification.
This pagan holiday, is one of the (4) Greater Sabbats also known as the Festival of Lights,
it heralds the beginning of spring, and the ending of the dark half of the year, when we finally begin to move into the light half of the year.
This is the time the goddess returns from the Underworld.
It is a fire celebration of the sun piercing the darkness, and celebrates, the slow return of the sun.
Winter has been broken, and we know, that spring will return soon....
Even though Imbolc occurs, at the coldest, and bleakest time of year, when spring seems far
away, it marks the time when the days become noticably longer, and beneath the snow and ice, and frozen ground, unbidden, life begins to stir in the earth from the depths of winter.
Imbolc, represents, a time of hope.
This holiday is about the first stirrings
of spring, and a promise of the return of life, and
this was very important to our ancestors, as it would give hope, that the community, would survive yet another year.
This holiday, along with new life, is also about fertility.
This time of year, was also important, as it was a time when farm animals began to give birth, and cows and ewes, would begin to produce milk,
which was plentiful, and geese began to lay eggs, as at this time of year, food was very scarce, and the milk was necessary to get thru the rest of the winter.
Imbolc means "in the belly" and Oimelc refers to
"Ewes milk"
This is why, our ancestors gave an offering of
milk, that would either be left out overnight, or poured on the step as an offering to the God and Goddess, and to encourage more bounty.
Winter was a harsh season for our ancestors,
and many died from malnuitrition and disease.
It is not surprising that many of the customs around this holiday center around "luring back
the sun" to speed up the coming of spring.
This is why bonfires, and candles figure into this
holiday, so prominently, as they are a symbol,
used to bring back the sun.
In Anglo-Celtic cultures, one of the most popular candle lighting customs, was to have the youngest girl, representing the virgin Goddess, enter carrying a circle of lit candles, called a candle wheel. This was in essence, a lighted Sun Wheel,
a symbol of the wheel of the year, being warmed,
and lighted again, by the returning sun.
Later it was adopted that the youngest virgin girl,
would wear this as a circlet on her head.
This holiday is also called "Brigits Day" in honor of the great Irish Goddess Brigit, who is the Goddess of fire, smithcraft, poetry, healing, the mysteries of
regeneration, transformation, and inspiration,
symbolized by fire. She was considered the
Patroness of Midwives, and she is strongly connected to fertility, and the return of plant life,
in the spring.
At her Shrine, in the Irish capitol of Kildare, a group of 19 Priestesses kept a perpetual fire burning in her honor for centuries.
Brigits holiday was chiefly marked by the kindling of sacred fires, as she symbolized the fire of birth and healing, the fire of the forge, and the fire of poetic inspiration.
The Roman Catholic church, during the times
when they were trying to recruit the pagan people to Chrisitanity, took this holiday, and its symbolism, and created the new Christian holiday,
Candlemas, also celebrated on Feb 2nd, which was a day to bless all candles.
Another important aspect of Imbolc, revolves around cleansing, and purification.
This may have come from our pagan ancestors back when they used to sleep on straw and often had their barnyard animals living in their house with them during the cold winter months.
Between Yule and the Vernal Equinox, they would assess how were doing with the hay to feed their livestock, and also provide themselves with bedding. If they figured they had enough to get thru till spring, they would than take the old hay
outside and burn it, and clean out their houses.
This was a literal act of purification and cleansing.
(Iolo)
This may be one of the reasons, why spring
cleaning is associated with this holiday, and why many pagans burn their greens from Yule, at this time. It was also a symbolic way, of letting go of the old, to make way, for the new.
It is also a time, many wiccans cleanse and consecrate their tools.
This is not only a time, for physical purification,
but can be used for personal, spiritual purification and cleansing. It can be a time for fasting, not only, to clean out ones physical system, but also in rememberance of the times, when food was scarce.
It can also be a time for putting ones personal business in order, to ask for forgiveness, and for forgiving oneself. A time to take inventory of relationships and jobs, a time of letting go of people and material possessions, that no longer
serve our spiritual needs.
During the time before Imbolc, one may experience the feeling of
"waiting alone in the dark"
A time that may appear to be passive, but
unseemingly, it is really an active time.
It's activity is about getting ready to "awaken",
the potential for action, a time for preparation, for freeing oneself, and letting go.
It is a time of hope for the future.
Some other customs of the holiday include:
Weaving "Brigits Crosses" from straw or wheat,
to hang as protection in the house, performing
rites of spiritual purification, making "Brigits beds"
to ensure fertility of the mind, body and spirit, and making "crowns of light" to welcome back the light to the wheel of the year.
~Tala 2006~
~Credits for the above picture & saying is from a card Sister Speake by Leanne Peters & Allison Staley-Sisk.
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In the belly