Imbolc- If we had no winter, the spring would not be so

✺

Oh how we endured those darkest depths of Mordor. Every year, as the Winter Solstice welcomes us, we come face to face with our shadows. The liveliness of nature tucks itself in and takes a mighty nap, leaving us with no sound but our own inner thoughts and dialogue. But how are we ever to appreciate the light that Spring brings without experiencing the darkness that Winter unearths? How are we able to conjure up more energy for those busy warmer months without adequate rest and emotional tending? 

Today marks the first day of light overcoming the darkness. Imbolc, a Gaelic celebration of light and the Goddess Brigid, is the day that life starts to awaken again after it's Winter sleep. We have been through the darkest hump of the year and will slowly to start see hints of a warmer and lively land ahead. Around this time is where you can start to see flowers trying to sprout back up again, more sunshine bathing our cold and congested bodies, and our inner emotional states perking up out of it's winter blues. There are many ways to celebrate this tradition: some light a candle once the sun sets and into the next day to symbolize the coming light, some tidy and sweep their house to get rid of the stagnant winter energy and emotions, some journal about their experience coming face to face with their shadow self while stating what they would like to work on in the coming year and planting it into the ground, some make alters devoted to the goddess Brigid, and some even start planting their early seedlings depending on the weather of their origin. 

Brigid, the goddess of healing and fertility, is celebrated on this day. She goes by many names and is celebrated in different religions, but originates from Celtic mythology. Because this day represents the start of the new growing season, it only makes sense that Brigid should represent this day for the ultimate seed is the conceiving of new life. Being the goddess of fertility she represents this aspect, so those trying to conceive should feel her support during this day. Because she also represents healing, she helps you shed the darkness that you faced during the darker months, letting it go, and transforming it into light for the coming year. 

For me, I think of this day as the manifestation of what you want to bring in to the new year starting on the Spring Equinox. The winter was a time to reflect, rest, and tend to those darker aspects. Now it is time to release, plant your seeds, and open yourself up to receiving positive light. Once Spring Equinox arrives, I celebrate it as a new year full of life starting to sprout up everywhere, the first baby leaves of nutritive plants like nettle to regenerate for summer, and a celebration of what seeds were planted today. We don't need to divide the year into 4 celebrations of the seasons. Because there is much to celebrate in the in-between. To check in with yourself during these little changes can be beautiful to your psyche and soul. Now if you want to find me, I will be meditating by our Hawthorn tree and communing with the faeries. 

Much Love

Sydney Rumohr