Imbolc celebrations
What is Imbolc?
It might be hard to tell still, but the sunlight and warmth are coming back. The days have been incrementally lengthening justttt a tiny bit since the Winter Solstice…and we’re over the hump! February 1st is the midway point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. I honor the day loosely based on the ancient holiday, Imbolc: a celebration all about hope, rebirth, and new beginnings.
Ancient Celtic Holiday
Like the other sabbats on the Wheel of the Year, the origins of the traditions I discuss come mostly from pre-christian Europe. Their names are usually derived from Gaelic (a common Celtic language), but because of religious prosecution & erasure, names and traditions became muddled with those of other religious and national holidays. But that’s kind of the point- the practices, rituals, and folklore that I chose to highlight and suggest are ones that hold a very similar through-line in most cultures. The main theme in any of the sabbat celebrations is pausing to notice and give thanks for our current position in the many, never-ending cycles of nature and the universe.
Imbolc traditions specifically originate mostly from ancient Ireland & Scotland. For thousands of years here people have relied on a sustainable, biodynamic relationship with goats & sheep, and the cross-quarter sabbat arrives at the same time their new babies do. This brings us to the name Imbolc, translated as “in the belly,” or “in milk.” Most animals will stop producing milk in the cold months or when they dont have a baby, which meant months without milk, cheese, and all the other dairy dishes. So come Imbolc, baby goats & sheep promised the return of filling, life-sustaining food. These foods were then shared in a community feast as celebration of hope that the Winter will soon ease up, and we’ll all have made it through healthy & hearty.
However Imbolc isn’t just about looking forward to the Spring, and being happy that Winter is more than half way over. In the past I’ve had difficulty differentiating this sabbat’s core themes from the other Spring ones coming up. But I’ve realized Imbolc’s emphasis on milk and animals is what’s unique; it serves as a reminder of our place as humans in the natural world. A reminder that we evolved in harmony with nature, as an integral part of balanced eco system. The only foods we have historically had access to in the Winter are the very nutrient-dense foods that we needed to survive until Spring blooms came again: citrus, stored grains, nuts & seeds, and meat. Then right when essential vitamins & mineral stores are running out in our body… baby animals are born and there is milk & fermented food again.
Candlemas & Groundhog day
When the Catholic Church took over these areas, they made deliberate efforts to assimilate Imbolc celebrations into a similar holiday around this time, Candlemas, which also happens to have symbolism of light, purity, fertility, and birth. To this day, Candlemas is celebrated on 2/2 around Europe and beyond. It’s closely tied to St. Brigid- a saint widely known to be an adaptation of pagan fire goddess Brigid, who happens to be the main deity associated with Imbolc.
Brigid & Imbolc traditions are also largely the reason for an American secular holiday on 2/2: Groundhog Day! Old Irish folklore says that a sunny Imbolc predicts a long Winter, because clear skies allow Brigid to stock up once more on firewood to keep herself warm (and you cold!) for another few months. Similar traditions from this time included tracking game animals’ behavior (like coming out of hibernation) as signs of Spring approaching. This included bears and badgers in Europe, and the Pennsyvania Dutch continued the tradition with the animals available after colonizing the US: groundhogs. The symbolism of Punxsutawney Phil is widely accepted to be similar to its ancient pagan origins, where "seeing his shadow" on a clear Imbolc day symbolizes finally facing the shadow self and not emerging, transformed, until after Winter goes on for another few months.
With that said, it would be a good time to work with animal spirits like goats, sheep & lambs, bears (and I guess groundhogs lol) as well as deities like Brigid or the maiden aspect of the goddess. Traditionally, dolls in the shape of the goddess would be made from oats and placed in the home as a blessing. I personally don’t work with any specific deities like gods or goddesses, though I do utilize the divine masculine or yang energies and the divine feminine or yin energies. In that respect, I think of this sabbat as a powerful time to honor the sacred feminine within myself and the collective at large.
For more ideas for your own modern celebration of this ancient holiday, peep the list below! But remember that ritual is just prayer in motion, so these or anything that you chose can be done to honor the sabbat, so long as that is your mindful intention. Anything is scared that you chose to notice and make so. Even just holding the mental and heart space for the energy of new beginnings is enough!
Modern Day Ritual Ideas:
anoint & light a ritual candle with any intention you chose to amplify
tap into the energy of the divine feminine- whatever that means to you: your favorite self-care actives, dancing, getting dressed up, creating
watch the sunset or rise + some meditation on it
plant something! Depending where you live it might be time to start some plants from seed inside, or just start planning & prepping your garden for when the ground does thaw, like ordering a few packs of seeds for this summer’s garden. Or even just repotting some house plants that have gotten too big for their pot
have a ceremonial bonfire, or just fire inside if you’re lucky enough to have a fireplace!
smoke cleanse or physically clean your space, getting a head start on Spring cleaning. Its officially time to take down any last lingering Christmas decor, maybe burning any natural greenery in the bonfire
decorate your altar, sacred space, or home in general with the energy of spring & Imbolc in pastel colors, flowers, plants, candles, etc. Read about my Imbolc altar favs below!
bake, cook, and have a feast with yourself or some loved ones!
get into some kitchen witchery and bake an intentional cake or treat infused with your Imbolc blessings
Journal Prompts:
In what aspects of my life am I welcoming new beginnings in? In what aspects have I felt stagnant?
In what aspects of my life can I take a radically new approach?
How can I revise my 2022 goals at this point to make them more meaningful & attainable?
How will I be reborn & transformed, come Spring?
When do I feel most connected to my divine feminine? What does sacred feminine mean to me?
How I’m celebratING (2023):
Seeding the spring
While it’s still too early to actually plant seeds outside, it’s time to start planning the garden & maybe starting a few seeds indoors. Normally I wouldn’t even try to start indoor seeds at Imbolc because we have so little light in Michigan at this time of year that no matter how high I turn up the heat, I can’t trick anything into putting out new blooms. But this year I’m going to be helping a friend with their wedding flowers!!! I’ll probably have to use a few small grow lights to get them going, but I want to ensure they have enough time to grow as big as possible by their wedding in late summer. The themes of the sabbat (love, fertility, etc.) are also perfectly aligned with the blessing & intention that will be infused in these blooms!
Kitchen Magick
Invoking some kitchen magick in baking a seed bread! Bread is associated with this time in part because it may not have been available until recently, when the goats started giving milk again. Before you could go to the store to buy a packet of live yeast to make your bread rise, you may have made your own starter from milk. When that runs out, the winter is filled with dense corn bread until the return of fluffy, light, rising bread come Imbolc.
Spring cleaning
The weekend leading into Imbolc is when I officially take down any lingering Yule decor, and start to bring pops of pink & purple in to phase out the dark greens. This year is the first year that I’ve really brought a lot of evergreens inside to decorate all over the house, so I want to adopt the tradition of having a bonfire to burn any that are still up & getting shabby by Imbolc.
How I’m Celebrating (2022)
New Moon Circle
Tonight I’m hosting a yoga class and new moon circle under the sabbat! I always make these classes intentional and aligned with the moon, but there's something extra special and ritualistic about it being on the sabbat itself. I will usually pull some cards for myself & the class, journal, and create a little offering of crystals and a candle around it in an abalone shell. If it were in person, we’d make it together and all contribute our flowers or crystals, but I always share the picture and keep it up for the remainder of our class & week as a physical reminder!
Altar decoration
One of my favorite parts of every sabbat, this is something I actually do several days or even weeks ahead of time to really start tapping into the energy of the celebration. For Imbolc I tend towards pastel pinks, purples, & blue candles, flowers, & crystals. This sabbat and the coming 2 spring celebrations are my favorite ones to decorate my altar for, since crystals of those shades are my favorite! Simple rose quartz & amethyst are my most favorite for Imbolc. I also like to keep the oracle cards and tarot cards from my reading that day on display on my altar, as a reminder and amplification of the messages from the reading. Brett and I redid our bedroom altar last night too, refreshing the crystal grid and renewing our intention.
Kitchen Magick
Brett surprised me with a traditional Imbolc cake for dessert when I got home from hot yoga last night! I love kitchen magick because it can be as simple as infusing your intention to honor the sabbat into something as you cook or bake it. The symbolism of ingredients transforming into life sustaining food is more than reason enough for it to be a magickal act… or you can really dive into edible herbal correspondences and get real witchy with it! Either way- its always best to leave an offering to your ancestors and any spirits nearby, so I cut a little piece on a faery plate on my altar this morning.
How I’m celebratING (2021):
Morning ritual and meditation
I start most of the sabbats the same way: my normal morning routine, but with an added energy of magick in the air. The veil is thin so it always feels like Christmas morning to me, like Santa Claus has just been in the house. I usually do a spread of cards from my tarot and/or oracle decks, which typically ends up making me feel super inspired to journal or continue channeling source energy through some automatic writing. Then I simply try to carry this energy of alignment throughout my day, returning back to my intentions for the sabbat often, even when not doing anything specifically ritualistic.
Fire
Like the ancient pagans, my go-to way of celebrating most sabbats is with fire! Though I prefer to also spin and dance with it ;) We typically make a traditional bonfire in our backyard and then also light up some number of fire props. Fire dancing is super cathartic because the danger forces you into an immediate state of presence we call the ~flow state~ and I can allow myself to totally let go. I set the intention ahead of time to allow this burn to be a release of all the energy from the past year that no longer serves me and my expansion. I also make my burn as an offering to the sun & solar energies, my dance an expression of gratitude for the warmth and longer days- even if they haven’t really arrived yet.
Spring cleaning
I moved in the very end of August, but there were still several finishing touches to decorating and making the new place feel like home that had gotten put on the back burner. I am a super visual person, so my space being neat while also inspiring and colorful is SO important to me. We got some final additions (including a disco ball- photoshoot(s) to come) hung up, and just seeing everything look beautiful and new when I walk past it makes me feel refreshed too. I’m a firm believer you can change the whole vibe of a room with just a new bouquet of flowers- or a pile of stuff finally out of the corner.
