Spring stirs

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Imbolc or Candlemas (2nd August) Southern Hemisphere.

Imbolc is the celebration of the first foetal stirrings of Spring. Candles are lit, homes decorated with fresh flowers, and thanks is given that warmth is returning to the earth. Imbolc is a celebration of all that is fresh, new and imminent. It is a particularly feminine festival, sacred to women, associated with the earth as the Great Mother the earth giving birth to new life.

Imbolc is associated and also often known as Candlemas (British), Imbolic (Irish), Brigantia (Scottish) and Lupercus (Italian/Latin). It falls on August 2nd in the Southern hemisphere, and February 2nd in the Northern hemisphere.

Associated with the goddess Brigid in the Celtic world, special crosses were made and a straw figure of Brigid, called a Brídeóg, would be paraded from house-to-house. To receive her blessings, people would leave her food and drink, while items of clothing would be left outside for her to bless. Brigid was also invoked to protect homes and livestock.  Brigid is the Goddess of Fire, Poetry, Healing, Smithcraft, and Midwifery. If you can make it with your hands, Brigid rules it. This is a time for communing with her, and tending the lighting of her sacred flame. At this time of year, it is common tradition to light multiple candles, reminding us of the passing of winter and the entrance into spring, the time of the Sun.

It is the festival commemorating the successful passing of winter and the beginning of the agricultural year. For us it is a time to come out from the cold, dark and hermit like energy of winter and begin to sow the seeds we want to grow in our lives. To nurture dreams, projects, hopes and desires. To give energy to and pay attention to the process of growth in our lives!