The pagan holiday Imbolc is celebrated on February 1st. Also called Brigid’s Day (or Saint Brigid’s Day) it is one of four Cross-Quarter days in the Yearly Cycle— the half way point between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. Celebrated today by Wiccan and other Pagan groups, it was a traditional Celtic Festival with deep roots in the mass consciousness psyche.
As preparations for spring began, lambing season arrived and winter’s hold loosened on the world. The “Quickening of the Year” was greeted with high hopes and the promise of a bountiful year to come. It was a fire or light festival, a celebration of the goddess as she becomes ripe and fertile with possibility, and a time traditionally held for clearing and cleaning both inside and out. It is the traditional time for Spring cleaning to begin. Also a good time to start taking Spring tonics like dandelion greens or tea to cleanse the system of the preserved and often heavy fare of Winter meals. It is a time to reflect on the year past and release negativity or other weighty emotional matters.
Though I do not ascribe to any particular religion or spiritual system, I have always been drawn to Celtic lore and celebration, particularly that of Great Britain and Ireland. Perhaps it is an inclination of DNA, or maybe that Master Merlin has been the most present and consistent of my Spiritual Guides and Teachers through the years, but I resonate with the Eight-Fold Wheel of the Year and am always aware of it.
Love and Light! Blessings to All…
