Imbolg

imbolg

Greetings for Imbolg

Mother Earth stirs from her Winter's sleep

The thaw has begun and her mountains weep

With musical notes the water runs down

As I glimpse our Mother's fertile new gown

The snowdrops nod gently in the evening's hush

Their dark green leaves, silky and lush

I wend my way through the forest of rebirth

Seeing visions of the life force and feeling new mirth

In the snow that remains, small feet leave their mark

A trail of a fox, hurrying home before dark

My eyes are now drawn towards the hill

Where the end of Winter is celebrated still

I stride to the East, making haste to this rite

Under the Moon, the Queen of the night

Happy voices call friendly greetings to me

Flames illuminate the faces I see

Embraces and kisses are eagerly claimed

The Winter is over as the Wheel turns again

I am cleansed and prepared for the months ahead

As my feet crunch the leaves, my worries are dead

I ask of the Goddess that she empower me

And bring hope, fun and laughter with clarity

Celtic Moon

For our ancestors, Imbolg was a time of celebration even though it was a long way to harvest and was cold and dark. They awaited the first signs of reawakening life, inspired by the snowdrops and crocus that pushed through the snow. Imbolg, which literally means "in the belly", marked the end of Winter, it was a festival of survival and new life was anticipated with joy as Mother Earth stirred from her Winter's sleep.

Imbolg is one of the cross-quarter days, which is halfway between the Winter Solstice and Vernal Equinox. It is celebrated on the Eve of February to 3rd February, depending upon tradition and sometimes referred to as Imbolc, Brigantia, Candlemas or Lupercus.

Seasonal Wheel

Imbolg is a fire festival but with an emphasis upon light rather than heat and bonfires (or bonefires as they were in the days of our ancestors) were lit to encourage the return of the Sun. This may seem a little strange today, but in years gone by understanding of the cycle of the Sun was a mystery and it was feared that the warmer days may not return. Like all the pagan festivals Imbolg was taken by the Church and renamed Candlemas or Candle Mass and the bonfires reduced to lighting candles indoors.

Today it is a great time to make your own candles for the coming year and bless them with the aid of the festival. Here is a very simple recipe for making your own spell candles following these simple instructions.

Candlemaking at Imbolg

You will need:

A reel of candle wick (no more than 15 ply), cut into lengths of about 12 inches

Some beeswax or paraffin wax

A saucepan

A used food tin, cleaned & dried thoroughly

An old spoon for stirring

A candy thermometer is handy, but not essential

Some lengths of doweling

Somewhere to dry your candles, just a pole suspended over two items of the appropriate height or a couple of chairs with some newspaper underneath to catch the drips.

Method

Heat some water in the saucepan on the stove
Place your food tin with the wax inside it into this, making sure non of the water gets into the wax.
Tie your candle onto some doweling with two half-hitches, so that the wicks are held apart
When the wax is hot (about 145 degrees F), remove from heat and soak both ends of each wick leaving roughly 3 inches untouched in the middle.
When the wick has absorbed some of the wax, remove and straighten it and allow to dry.
Now continue to dip the wicks until you have candles of about 4 inches tall by half an inch round. These take about 2 hours to burn down and are perfect for spell work. To encourage the candle to "grow" do not use wax that is too hot and allow time for candles to cool in between dipping by hanging to dry.
To finish your candle roll gently when it is still warm on a smooth surface and polish with a nylon cloth. Then cut the bottom end of the candle straight through using a hot knife to give a steady base. Finally trim the wick to about half an inch.

NB: If you wish to add colour do so only with specialised candlemaking dyes and NEVER heat wax over an open flame!

Never leave heating wax unattended!

As Imbolg is a time for planning and personal assessment/transformation it provides us with an opportunity to do a seven day candle ritual, helping to bring better things towards us in the coming year. It is also a time of cleansing and many Witches choose this festival to re-dedicate themselves to their chosen path and, once again, cleanse, consecrate and dedicate their tools.

The Celtic Goddess of Imbolg is known by many names. Commonly these are Bride (Scottish), Brigit (Irish), Bridget (Swedish), Brigandu (French), Brigantia (N. English) and Ffraid (pronounced "ffry-ed") (Welsh) and means "bright arrow", "the bright one," or "fiery arrow", an apt name for such a fiery Goddess.

Imbolg Seven Day Ritual

You will need:-

Seven White Candles

Candle Holders

7 pieces of paper and a pen

Prepare your altar and place the seven white candles in a circle around your pentagram (or centrally if you do not have one). Next, on a piece of the paper, write a review of the past year, the good, the bad and the ugly!

On the Eve of Imbolg, at Sundown, take the first candle, the one that is in the Eastern Quarter and hold it for a few minutes while you visualise your past year. Now place it into the holder and light it, watching the flame for a few minutes. Next burn the review you have made while focussing upon any new plans you have and visualising leaving behind past mistakes.

On Imbolg write an outline of six projects or/and wishes that you have for the new year and roll each up like a scroll. Place these upon the altar and each day when you rise, light another candle (holding and blending your energy with its own first) moving in a clockwise rotation. Burn the corresponding paper when you go to bed and focus upon the wish you have made.

House Cleansing & Blessing

In addition to the usual cleaning items

You will need:-

A blue and a pink candle for each room

Music

Food & Drink

Bell, rattle or pots, pans & wooden spoons

A little salt

Oil of Rosemary

"Moon Water"

A Sage bundle

A broom

Some small rose quartz crystals

This works best if all the family or close friends join in - yes, including reluctant teenagers!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Each person in the family should have a role to play, for example, one should carry the bundle of sage, another should beat the saucepan with a wooden spoon and yet another should carry the crystals. If there is just one person within the household, then that's fine, you'll either have to invite some friends around or be very busy. However you do this, try to create a party-like atmosphere, laugh, share jokes and dance...

Select some happy up beat music, have drinks and something delicious to nibble - fruit is good and is, after all, a gift from Mother Earth.
Physically clean and de-clutter your house, have a really good sort out and make a pile for the charity shop, the dustbin and perhaps a car boot sale.
Collect together a bell, a rattle (a home-made one is great), pots, pans and wooden spoons and place these in the "heart" of the household, quite often the kitchen, and put everything onto a tray.
Make some 'cleansing' Moon water by stirring some salt into water that you have left outside under the Moon on 31st January and then adding a few drops of oil of Rosemary. Into this put your crystals, already washed.

Once every where is cleaned take your broom (a Witches' one is best) and "sweep" (the bristle need not touch the ground) from the front door to the back saying:-

"I sweep my dust clean away to bring good luck in every way"

Gather together in the heart of the house and create a circle. Holding hands attune your energies visualising the house being filled with clear bright light. In this light you see little flowers that shower down. Where they fall they leave angel dust and impart love, happiness, health and harmony.
Next all intone the word "clean" or "clear" or, indeed anything you want and with a humming like way move the circle in together and then out as far as your arms will stretch. Do this for a few minutes and don't worry if you fall in a heap laughing, it's all part of the fun...
With everyone in charge of their chosen "job" proceed through the house in an anticlockwise direction.
As you go "cleanse" each room by lighting one blue candle, sprinkling your Moon water and smudging with the sage, saying "I cleanse this room with Fire, with Earth and Water, and with Air (making the appropriate gestures with your magickal ingredients). Also ring the bell and bang the saucepan and as you do this shout "Unhappiness be gone" and "Illness depart". Pay special attention to any room where there has been illness, arguments or unhappiness and make sure you attend to all the doors and windows.
When each room has been spiritually "cleansed" leave a rose quartz crystal by the door (or over the architrave if you have small children or pets as rose quartz or no, small crystals can cause serious damage if swallowed!)
When the house has all been cleansed, set the "noisy" things back down on the tray and retrace your steps, carrying the pink candles.
Light a pink candles in each room asking the Goddess for her blessing upon your home.

Mother Goddess bless this room

Clean and clear from all gloom

Front to back and side to side

Love, health and happiness now abide

Believe... and the magick will be yours...

Visualization

Celtic Moon X