Starweaver's Online Book Of Shadows: Imbolg information

Something i found for you all....the firt 2 give general ritual practices, the third gives some lore on imbolc and the last is a meditation for imbolc Whether or not you try frithing, Imbolc is good for psychic work: still the dark time of the year, but looking toward spring. It's also a good time to make your space hospitable for such work, banishing old energy to clear the way for new.

Traditionally, witches purify themselves and their space at Imbolc. Any kind of cleansing or banishing will do, but consider ones that include fire and water, sacred to Brighid. Once purified, you're ready to go further; at Imbolc, covens initiate new witches. The spark of summer dances in the future now; Imbolc is a good time to seek inspiration, especially for healers and smiths of words or metal. To do so, try the following spell.

Bring to your ritual space a cauldron or chalice filled with earth or sand;
a white, silver, green, purple or rainbow-colored candle;
a candleholder;
oil to anoint the candle;
paper;
and a pen you like or with appropriately colored ink.
Ground and center, cast a circle and ask for Brighid's presence. Then anoint your candle in Brighid's name, and lighting it write on the paper the aspects of your work in which you want inspiration. When you're done, raise energy and put it into the paper, then light the paper with the candle flame. Drop the burning paper into the cauldron, making sure the entire paper is blackened. Then thank Brighid and bid her farewell, and take down your circle.

The next day, relight the candle and by its light rub some significant tools of your work with the ashes. Then either sprinkle the remaining ashes onto your garden or houseplants or drop them in a park in a place that feels inspiring or pleasant. Imbolc is a white time, burning with inspiration and protection, cool with healing and purification. Prophesy flares, painting luster on the dark. Light your candle, call on Brighid, and know that under the snow the seeds of spring stir.

Imbolc (February 1st or 2nd)

also known as: Candlemas, Imbolg, Imbolgc brigantia, Lupercus,

Disting Imbolc, which literally means "in milk", traditionally has marked the lactation period of ewes and cows. Ewes are unable to produce milk until after they bear their young, which occurs at this time. Since milk was very important to the basic survival of the tribes, this was a time of great joy. For the end of a long winter was in sight, and green hills and pastures were only a few months away.

During the Imbolc ritual it is customary for Witches to pour milk (or cream) onto the earth. This is done in thanksgiving, as an offering of nurturing, and assisting in the return of fertility and generosity of the earth to its people (the return of Spring). Imbolc is the holiday in which we honor Brid (pronounced breed), also known as Brigid, Brigit, or Bride, in her maiden aspect. Brid is the daughter of Dagda (the good God). Brid is the Protector and Preserver of All Memory and Knowledge, who empowers us with the wisdom and knowledge to protect, nurture, and encourage fruitfulness of the land. For the land is the source and foundation of all life. Imbolc is also a fire festival, with significance placed upon the Light of fire. We celebrate the ever increasing light at this time, as the earth works Her way back to Spring. Brid is crowned with a wreath of candles.

At Imbolc, Brid is pregnant with the seed of the Sun. She is ripe with the promise of new life, as the seeds of the earth deep within its soil begin to awaken at this time, ripe with the promise of Spring, new life for the planet. Although the days of February are filled with winter's bitter cold, the seeds deep within the womb of the earth are safely nurtured as they begin to awaken with life. It is this knowledge and understanding we celebrate at this time, adding our magic to that of the earth's, and assisting the Wheel's turning once again. It is traditional for Witches to prepare grains, saved from the previous harvests, to be Blessed by the Light of Brid for Beltane planting. This is the season for celebrating the growing Light, as the seed grows within Brid, to be delivered at Beltane. It is a time for introspection of our own fallow seasons and seeking the glimmer of personal growth. For as it is with the earth, we each have our own Spiritual winters, only to be followed by the glorious return of Spring. With the return of new life, we retain great lessons and wisdom we would not have the gift of, unless we acknolwedged the winters harsh months.

IMBLOC LORE

By Mab

Imbolc (Oimelc), the fire festival between Yule and the vernal equinox and also known as Candlemas, is celebrated on February 1. Imbolc marks the quickening of the year, the end of winter and the beginning of spring. In the wheel of the year, Imbolc is positioned opposite the festival of Lammas. Along with Samhain, Beltaine, and Lammas, Imbolc is one of the four most important sabbats of the year. According to some traditions, Imbolc/Candlemas is celebrated on February 2 and is called the Feast of the Waxing Light. Imbolc represents the first stirring of life in the seeds buried in the earth. It is a time of renewal, cleansing and rebirth. The word Imbolc in Irish Gaelic means "the surrounding of the belly" or "around the belly" and referred to the Earth as the Mother Goddess' womb.

For the Celts, this day was the beginning of spring. This was the time of the year they dedicated to the virgin Goddess Bride (also called among other forms of her name Brigantia, Brigit, or Bridhe) by featuring circumambulatory rituals for the benefit of the crops and by lighting fires. It is at this time that Bride expresses the arts of healing, smithing, and poetry, her threefold attributes. At Imbolc the Asatru tradition that worships the Saxon and Norse divinities sees Bride transformed as a part of her triune nature from her winter aspect of the aged hag into the virgin bride -- a transformation of death into life. Christianity reformed this festival first into the purification of the Virgin and called it "Candlemas".

The name Candlemas came from the lighting of candles at midnight by the faithful as symbols of the purification of Mary. (Under Jewish law, it was necessary for a woman to be "purified" after the birth of a child, the number of days passing between the birth and this rite depended on the gender of the infant.) Candlemas was first celebrated as a Christian holiday in Jerusalem early in the fourth century. By the mid-5th century this feast was celebrated in rome on February 2 with the addition of a candlelight procession which was a substitute for a Pagan torch procession of expiation around the city walls. (Remember here that the Celts performed circumambulatory rituals at this time of year as well.)

This Pagan festival was a celebration honouring Juno Februata. Juno, in this aspect, was the virgin mother of Mars. Candlemas is now called the Presentation of the Lord. It might be of some interest to note here that while Mary, Bride, and Juno Februata were all considered virgins, only the Christian Church considered their female deity to be polluted (which makes her purity as a virgin something of a paradox) and to be in need of cleansing. Those among us of a more banal spirit celebrate the day as Groundhog Day. This day celebrates the old rite of taking omens on Candlemas Day to ascertain the weather for the coming growing season.

Imbolc Ritual Meditation

Settle yourself. Close your eyes. Feel your body relax. Feel as the tensions drain away from your face, your neck, your shoulders, your arms, your torso, your legs. Sense the whole of your body, calm, heavy in its relaxation. Center yourself. Feel for that calm, comfortable center in which you are whole. Ground yourself. Extend yourself into the Earth, your mother. Feel as your roots grow into the ground, as you find your connectedness with her again. This time is the time of Imbolc, the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. The sun has begun his journey back to full strength. He was born at Yule, and progresses through his transformation from infant to young man. He is potential, waiting to be realized. The days are lengthening as the nights shorten. Each day the sun brings a little more warmth, foretelling the thaw to come. For now, however, the Earth remains in slumber, Spring still only a faint whisper. Extend your senses beyond the walls, to the world outside. Smell in the crisp air the hard frosts that grip the land. The cold grabs the inside of your nose, and every breath is a gasp. See the dark grey skies. Sharp ice crystals bite into your cheeks as the wind whips the tops off the snow drifts. A branch breaks with a loud snap as cracks caused by summer storms finally lose their battle with the weight of heavy snows. Foxes sleep, snug in their dens, as sparrows fight for a chance at the feeder, not always refilled. The bright flash of a cardinal contrasts starkly with the sullen white snow, a bloody gash across a barren landscape. Ice coats the twigs and chimes in the breezes. Rebirth seems remote - even the call of the goose is a distant memory. But look into the barns and the fields and watch the teats of the cows and the ewes begin to swell. The milk is beginning to flow. Old loin-fires of bulls and rams are soon to burst forth as the first new calves and lambs. They will struggle up on unsteady limbs, symbols of the green waiting impatiently to explode from the as yet quiescent soil. This is the time of metamorphosis, of the promise of fruition of seeds sown in seasons past. Brigid stokes these fires, inspiring the bard, the smith, the healer. Fertility and creativity begin to flow in this dormant season, as small things born at the solstice begin to manifest, heralding the full flowering to arrive when the sun reconquors his throne. Fire. The fires in our hearths. Feel the warmth, smell the food cooking. The fires in our smithies. The clang of hammer striking anvil, shaping raw metal into tools. The fire of desire. The climax which joins cell with cell in the creation of life. The fires of creativity. Music rings and voices flow as living beauty is sculpted from idle words and actions. The fire of transformation. The season of transformation from the depths of Winter into the rebirth of Spring. Now, slowly, gradually, come back inside. Come back to us. Begin to sense the world inside. Prepare yourself to celebrate this season of Brigid, this season of fire, this season of changes. Rouse yourself. Be ready to grab the spoke and turn the wheel past the numbing cold of winter to the seductive promise of Spring, as we join together in the celebration of Imbolc!

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