Celebrating Imbolc
Are you celebrating Imbolc this year? I know for many the idea of welcoming the earliest signs of spring can be really challenging when it’s freezing cold and snowing. In many Pagan families, The Wheel of the Year divides each calendar year into 8 slices anchored by the solstices and equinoxes and connected by the holidays that come in between. Like most of what we do here, we don’t use the Wheel traditionally, we aren’t formally Pagan, but we do many activities that honor our Celtic roots, and love learning about all the celebrations tied to nature’s calendar. Imbolc for us is “pre-spring-cleaning” time, and a noted shift of pulling closer to the equinox. Schooling with the seasonal shifts and nature’s cycles has been fantastic for us because it’s a great way to weave history, mythology, geography and studies of religions into our lesson planning. Here is our Imbolc study and some ways you can celebrate at home! You can print a blank round calendar to fill in with your kids HERE. Imbolc is February 1-2, 2023.
Imbolc (pronounced im-blk) is an ancient Celtic celebration in honor of the “first light of spring”, signaling the darkness of winter beginning to come to a close. It’s a great holiday to learn about with your kids because it really covers a lot- from one of the most prolific goddesses in history to the origins of Groundhog’s day!
The word translates to “in the belly”, the time of incubation, germination- readying for the new beginnings of Spring. This is also near the time of Lunar New Year. I love this time of year and intentionally having a more cozy, mindful January before diving into the year ahead in February. When we first started doing our lesson planning around nature’s calendar it definitely had a welcome ebb and flow to it that we’ve grown to love and rely on. I know the idea that this week is the “welcome of Springtime” is a bit confusing, especially if it’s covered in show where you are, but for thousands of years, this has been the tradition and here’s why:
Time-wise, it is the mid-way point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox- and though it’s a “tip toward spring” it’s not really meant to be snow melting and grass growing- because it’s definitely still winter in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s time a we start to take the restorative energy of winter and use as a time for nurturing, preparing and expecting the coming season. Imbolc is time for preparing, getting ready for the change of seasons, a time to welcome more light back into your life I’m reminded of this every year when I start talking about our garden in January when it’s just about as cold as zone 10 gets. Imbolc is the seed, in the ground, just starting to wake up- even though you can’t SEE it happening, it is! That’s what this celebration is all about.
This is a perfect time to make space and clear out anything not needed. It may feel early for “spring cleaning”, but, in fact- it’s the perfect time to clean in preparation for the next season!
I like ritually cleaning out your space at this time of year- enough time has passed to reset the energy from the holidays and everything is feeling fresh and new. This cleaning doesn’t have to be limited to your home/personal space- this is an excellent time to do a digital detox too. I know I spend a bit more time scrolling than I’d like to, so at this time of year I always do a good feed clean up. For the past 3 weeks, I’ve spent an hour each Sunday removing anything from social media newsfeeds that was not feeling good.
I 10/10 recommend taking some time in this first half of February to see what you can let go of- what are you giving your energy to that is not serving a positive purpose?
The history of Imbolc goes back thousands of years, to around the 10th century (and likely earlier) in what is now Ireland and Scotland.
The Goddess Brigid is the Celtic Goddess of Fire- she is known throughout practically every religion and region, which is very noteworthy. She is the patroness of fertility, poetry, blacksmithing and the dawn. St. Brigid is one of Ireland’s patron Saints. Learn more about Brigid HERE. Since Brigid is the Goddess of Fire, it’s very fitting to celebrate Imbolc with fire- light white or red candles, have a bonfire, gather around the fireplace and enjoy the warmth and light- symbolic of Spring on it’s way! Seeds are a symbol of this holiday, so eat muffins, granola or other food made with seeds. The kids and I also made Brigid’s Crosses this year to decorate our altar space, they are a symbol of protection for our house. I made a quick tutorial you can find here to make your own! Another great Imbolc craft is making a Brigid Corn Doll which we also did following this tutorial. Decorate with fiery colors and symbols of a fertile spring- seeds, pinecones, nests.
If you’re looking for a fun activity to do for Imbolc- making a Brigid’s Cross is a great one- we made them using straw and pipe cleaners but you can use many materials to make one- even paper!
Brigid is not the only Goddess ruling this time of year, the crone Cailleach ruled the cold and winds- the Queen of Winter. As tales are told- she would gather wood during the day to keep the fire burning so the cold of winter could continue, on Imbolc, if the day was sunny, she would emerge and collect firewood and winter would be longer that year, if the day was cloudy or stormy, she would stay in and the fire would go out sooner- bringing a quicker Spring! Sound familiar? Such a fun cool story to tell the kids as they wait to hear if the Groundhog sees it’s shadow!
Food and feast-wise, this is a time for seeds, breads, soups, and dried fruits.
We do quite a bit of the same celebrating we do for the first New Moon each year (which I wrote more about HERE).
