Imbolc (Dedicant Path Essay)

Imbolc is the beginning of the end of the sleeping time. By February we can begin to feel the days lengthening, the light is clearer and brighter, and even in Maine the winter wind starts to soften and smell like mud again. It isn’t spring, it isn’t even the very beginnings of spring, February is often wickedly cold and miserable here. But when I’m observant, I can see that the winter isn’t forever, and its grip is loosening.

Photo by Jon Ottosson via Stocksnap.io

In many traditions Imbolc is the first spring festival. I’ve seen varying names for the holiday, from Imbolc “in the belly” to Oimelc “ewe’s milk” to Brigid or Brigid’s Day. Brigid is the primary association most modern Pagans have with the holiday, whatever they call it, we celebrate it as a fire festival and a sacred feast to Brigid the Irish goddess of smiths, poetry, and the hearth. In Catholicism, the holiday is Candlemas, the feast of the purification of Mary (after the birth of Christ) and the blessing of the candles for the upcoming year. Imbolc is also a day that’s auspicious for divination for the upcoming season – we can even see this tradition in North America when we consult Punxatawney Phil for his yearly weather forecast!

I love Imbolc. Imbolc is my “pagan birthday” I started my serious exploration of Wicca in 2010 and my first halting and tentative ritual was Imbolc of that year. The holiday is deeply meaningful for me on a number of levels. I have SAD, and the cross quarters (Imbolc and Lammas) are the days when I can really, viscerally feel the seasons begin to shift. It’s an incredibly liminal time for me, the pause before the new beginning. I usually celebrate Imbolc with candles… many many candles to drive back the dark of winter and bring the spring. It’s sympathetic fire magic for the fire festival. Even though my main hearth is Gaulish, I normally do honor Brigid on Imbolc, she was the first deity I experienced and even though that turned out to be more of a passing encounter than a lasting relationship, I honor her on the day of new beginnings, the day I rekindle my fires for the coming year.