Imbolc

Design your own ritual to welcome the Maiden Goddess. She is the bride awaiting  the returning Sun God,  the quickening of the year, the first fetal stirrings of Spring in the womb of Mother Earth. Spring lies within sight and the seed is prepared for sowing. It is a fire festival, but emphasis is put on light rather than heat -- light as it begins to pierce the gloom of winter. Think of your directions, questions and needs and focus on them. 

 This is mainly a Celtic celebration. The word from which February comes means purification or purgation. 'Imbolc' means, literally, 'in the belly' (of the Mother). 'Oimelc' means  'milk of ewes', for it is also lambing season.

A traditional Imbolc pastime: Making Dream pillows. These are small pillows filled with a variety of herbs depending on what the desired result is. It is then placed under the pillow of the  person to be affected. For Imbolc, herbs to be used are mugwort, rosemary, and hops, or  lavendar, mugwort, and rose. Cotton material should be used for the pillow, as it is a natural  plant fiber. Colors for the pillow material are as follows:

White:         Meditation
Lavendar:    Physic growth/Divination
Purple:        Intuition/Spiritual development
Light Blue:  Meditation/Understanding
Yellow:        Clairvoyance/Divination

Other traditional activities include making candles for the coming year, infusing them with color, power, herbs, and scent depending on the magickal purpose. Bless candles that you will be using for rituals throughout the year.

Imbolg is the traditional time to collect stones for new magick circles and general  magickal use.

Foods in tune with this day (linking your meals with the seasons is a  fine method of attuning with nature) include  foods  from dairy products and spiced with onion, leek, garlic, shallot, and/or olives. The wine may be spiced and the food may contain raisins. Bread puddings and creamy soups are typical.

Candles are whiteyellow, pink, sometimes red

Incenses to be used alone or in combinations include Chamomile, myrrh, heather. Also benzoin, vanilla, dragon's blood, carnation

Plants and herbs are Ash Tree, Heather, dried sage, celandine, lemon, honey, dried chamomile, coriander seeds, garlic, rose hips, ash leaf or wood, witch hazel or hazel leaves, sunflower seeds, dried sunflower petals, vervain,violets, wheat, corn, grains, myrrh, storax, balsams, dragon's blood, benzoin, mastic

Stones to use include Clear quartz, citrine, yellow tourmaline,green tourmaline, rose quartz, hematite, lodestone, ruby, garnet, red zircon, pearls

Animals and mythical beasts for this time of year are sheep, goats, dolphin, whale, mermaid, otter, unicorn, and eagle.

Altars can be decorated with white flowers. Have a white votive candle within the cauldron. Lay your besom upon the altar.

Goddesses honored at this time represent the maiden.  These  include Brigid in her maiden aspect, Lugh, Bran, Brigit, the Dagda, Diancecht, Go Ibniu, Manannan mac Lir, Nuada, Cernunnos, Bel, Mab, Ma cha, Nantosuelta, Ogma, Rhiannon. Aphrodite, Juno, Kuan Yin, Aradia, Diana, Demeter, Persephone. 

Gods honored at this time include Thor, Cernunnos, Groundhog, other creatures emerging from hibernation; young Sun 

Chakra is the 

The element is water for purification.

Cast spells for fertility and protection in your life. Imbolg is a good time to get your life in
order, spiritually,mentally, emotionally, and physically.

On Imbolg Eve, it is customary to leave food and drink out for Brigid -- buttered bread, milk, grains, or seeds. Also leave buttered bread in a bowl indoors for the faeries who travel with the Lady of the Greenwood. Next day, dispose of it outside as the "essence" has been removed.

If you have no plans for a ritual, but would like to do someting simple to honor the time of year, here is a gesture. Tonight, before you retire, leave a slice ofbuttered bread outside your door as an offering to Brighid, as a request forher protection in the comming year. She is the Goddess of poetry, healing andsmithcraft- as well as flame,herbs and the hearth.

Prayers to Brighid 

These are some prayers to Brighid  adapted from prayers to the Irish Saint Brigid. 

"KINDLING THE FIRE"

This morning, as I kindle the flame upon my hearth, I pray that the flame of Brighid may burn in my soul, and the souls of all I meet today.
I pray that no envy and malice, no hatred or fear, may smother the flame. 
I pray that indifference and apathy, comtempt and pride, may not pour like cold water on the flame.
Instead, may the spark of Brighid light the love in my soul, that it may burn brightly through the day.
And may I warm those that are lonely, whose hearts are cold and lifeless, so that all may know the comfort of Brighid's love.

Brighid, preserve the fire, as You preserve us all.
Brighid, may its warmth remain in our midst, as You are always among us.
Brighid, may it rise to life in the morning, as You raise us to life.

 I live in the Chicago suburbs, and here is is late winter. The temps got up to 40 today, much of the snow has melted, and we went out to a local forest preserve for a Mini Imbolic festival.

I had saved boughs from our Yule greens ( an armload of them), as well as a variety of herbal brooms that I have made over the last 3 years, a couple of old Brigid Crosses, herbal protection charms that have expired and so forth. We grabbed these, along with a basket of pinecones that had been picked up and stored for craft projects for the last few years and assorted peices of paper with magical notes. Then we grabbed some hot dogs, marshmellows, skewers, buns and headded off.

Once there, I made a fire out of some paper napikins that were in the glove box, and mentally consecrated the flame to Brighid. Then we all started tossing in the items, and we got a nice blaze going ! Then we all passed through the smoke, asking for Brighid's blessings of health in the comming  year...and then roasted the hot dogs, with the awareness that these were absorbing her energy, and we in turn would take this into our bodies. It  felt sacred...and purifying ! 

Then we played Hide and go seek for a time while the fire burned down. Hide and Go seek was in honor of the Groundhog :-). Thew when it was safe, I scooped up a mayonaise jar full of the ashes to add to my herb garden and  indoor plants as a soil amendment- blessing. It felt like a very appropriate thing to do with the ashes of all of these sacred things.

Our formal ritual was held on Monday night, but this was a totally spur of the moment kind of thing that simply felt like a great way to make the festival last just a little longer.

 Diane

Then we went outside for a (clockwise) procession around  the garden (visualizing the vegie garden in full green and  talking about   the renewal on its way), and through the barn, (talking about the life  growing in the wombs and the udders filling with milk). As we returned  to the house, we could see the brilliant candlelight shining from the   windows and the light of the stars above. 

Inside, we placed  three  additional candles before us (green, lavender and white); as we  lit each  one, we projected onto it a "wish" -- one for the earth at large, one  for someone we knew outside out family, and little Josie did one for  herself.  We sat and tried to visualize what it would be like if the  energies manifested themselves according to our desires.  We shared part  of some buttered bread and part of a cup of milk, and put the remaining parts outside the door.  Then we extinguished the candles.