Celebrating the Ancient Festival of Imbolc
Earth awakening
The beginning of Spring, or the great awakening in the land, has begun. As daylight lengthens and the land begins to warm with the sun, though we might remain cocooned within our wintry nests, we can feel the rising energy of new life within the Earth.
Hazel trees have started flowering, their catkins full of pollen, whilst snowdrops, primroses and early daffodils begin to send up new shoots. Many creatures are shaking off winter and becoming active. Robins, blue tits and blackbirds are already heralding in the dawn and for some, like the long-tailed tit, the breeding season has begun. So too mammals like the fox and grey squirrel and in many areas the mating calls of the common frog can be heard around ponds at night in February.
Though the land remains icy and cold, the light is visibly returning. This is a liminal time; a time between death and rebirth, when the land is waking up.
This big shift is mirrored within ourselves and our lives. On sunny days we may take tentative footsteps out on the land, beginning to shake off our winter slumbers.
It is at this point that the ancient festival of Imbolc is celebrated by those who honour the Old Ways within Britain and Ireland. The word Imbolc means “in the belly”, as Mother Earth is pregnant with new life. Imbolc is a time of hope, renewal and possibility, as the wheel turns and new life is born.
Imbolc is the sister of the festival of Samhain. As the latter celebrates the passing of life, the former welcomes its return. Both are part of the feminine mysteries of life, that great threshold of birth, death and rebirth.
As life is born, it can be slow and not always successful, much like any birth. On chilly frosty mornings, the birds and animals in the fields, hedgerows and copses struggle to survive. Whilst Imbolc is a time of birth, it’s a threshold that crosses at times into death.
What is born can also bring reminders of what has passed as what has died goes on to fertilise new life. For me, it is a personal time of remembrance, honouring the birthday of my late father.
Imbolc celebrates the beginning of the birthing season as the animals and birds prepare to create their young, feeling the energy rising in the Earth. Energy that is strong and filled with the hope of life.
All that is born comes from others, from family who pass on their knowledge and experience. From compost filled with nourishing nutrients from what has died. And so the circle of life continues. The shoots of new life are born strong, energised and hopeful. Held by their ancestors and ready to create a new world.
Ancient roots
The Christian celebrations of St Brigit’s Day and Candlemas occur around the time of Imbolc and this is no accident. It is known that these celebrations are the Christianised reworking of the older festival of Imbolc, honouring the Goddess Brigit, also known as Bride, Brid or Brighid.
It is said that St. Brigid lived in the 6th century in Ireland and founded the monastery of Kildare. However, history and folklore bleed together in early writing about the Saint, with St Brigid and the Goddess Brigid having the same qualities and focus. Both are associated with wisdom and poetry, blacksmithing, healing, birth and fertility, and domesticated animals, particularly lambs who are often born at this time.
Brigid is also the Goddess of fire, inspiration and learning is associated with holy wells, sacred flames, and healing. Brigid is the Goddess of childbirth, protector of all children and the patroness of midwifery. Brigid represents the light half of the year and the transition from the dark season of winter into spring.
In Irish mythology, the Goddess Brigid was the daughter of the Goddess Danu, whose people are the Tuatha de Danaan, ancient Irish royalty. The Tuatha de Danaan are also linked to the Faery folk or Fae, who, like the Tuatha de Danaan, were forced to retreat from the human dimension but who still appear at certain times of year.
The Fae are the ancient protectors of this land who the ancient shamans (seers/ wise women/ men of ancient Britain) worked with. They can still be found and communicated with at various places on the land.
In 2022, St Brigid’s Day, also known as the Feast Day of Brigid, was made into an official public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, marking both the Saint’s Feast Day and Imbolc.
Historically Imbolc was widely celebrated in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. It is mentioned in early Irish literature and had much earlier roots, spreading throughout the whole of Britain. Some argue that Imbolc was celebrated since Neolithic times, claiming that passage graves such as the Mound of the Hostages on Tara hill in Ireland are aligned with the rising sun at Imbolc (also at Samhain), though it’s not clear on what date this alignment occurs.
The date that Imbolc is celebrated is unclear. Traditionally it marks the half-way point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox and is generally celebrated on February 1st. However, many say it arrives with the first full or new moon in February. Each year I look to the rising energy of life in the land to find the date. But aligning with the cycles of the moon feels apt.
Celebrating Imbolc
There are many ancient customs for how to celebrate Imbolc. In a modern context probably the best way to celebrate is to spend time in quiet stillness in nature, beginning to notice all the life returning to the land.
Walk on the land (barefoot if possible), cuddle up to a tree and listen to the heartbeat of the Earth, feel life returning in the warming soil. Take some time for self-care and leave the busy-ness for another day. Now is a magical time that can best be deciphered in that place of deep, silent presence.
Find an ancient well or spring and walk sunrise around it asking for Brigid’s blessing, taking some of the blessed water to sprinkle around your home and family. Decorate the well or spring with greenery and leave offerings of ribbons tied to nearby trees.
You could also ritually cleanse your home and yourself, bathing in clean, flowing water to purify and renew.
A traditional custom was to leave a shawl or piece of cloth outside your home for Brigit to bless with her protection and healing. You could also leave out an offering for the spirits of the land, the trees and plants in your garden.
Other ancient customs included lighting fires and crafting from rushes, making a Brigid’s Cross to hang above your doorway to bless and protect your home.
It was also customary to practice weather divination. It was said that if Imbolc day brought good weather, spring would come early. The customs also involved the ancient wise-woman Cailleach, known to influence the weather. It was said that if the Cailleach wished winter to remain, she would bring good weather over Imbolc so she could gather firewood. However if the weather was poor, she was asleep and spring would return soon.
Lastly around Imbolc the seeds from last year’s harvest would be planted for a new season of growth, bringing fertility and abundance to the land and her people. We can recognise this symbolically in our lives as our own internal seeds, those that we may wish to plant in the coming year and those that we may inadvertently plant.
Work with this time of year, still deep within winter’s Dreamtime, to gain some clarity about what you put effort into and what you may prefer to prioritise in future. Spend some time with the spirits in the land, perhaps even the Fae, inviting them to help you work in harmony with them.
Above all take the time to be still and feel the energy rising within the land, feel the animals, the birds and the plants waking up to begin a new cycle. Feel their zest for life, their positivity and resilience despite the hardships of winter, and feel this inspiration and hope deep within your soul, bringing renewed energy and positivity into your life.
Samara Lewis
Imbolc, 2024