bright IMBOLC blessings~

Imbolc falls at the beginning of February. Some sources state the official day as February 1st, while others prefer the 2nd. According to Cassandra Eason in her book The Modern Day Druidess (Piatkus, 2003), “Imbolc is celebrated from sunset on 31st January to sunset on 2nd February”, while others shy away from calendar constraints altogether and mark the festival when the first snowdrops and crocuses start to blossom, as they signify the first emergence of spring. In the Southern hemisphere, Imbolc falls on July 31st.

The celebration signals the middle of the season of long nights and anticipates the upcoming season of light. Celebrants make Corn Maidens from corn and wheat. The Maidens are dressed up and placed in a cradle known as a "Bride's Bed". A wand, usually tipped with an acorn or other large seed, is placed in the bed with the Maiden. The Maidens are generally kept year round as a symbol of fertility.

Other interrelated interpretations of the festival center around the Irish Goddess Brighid, known for her healing, smithcraft, and poetry gifts. Additional interpretations revolve around the birth of lambs and the lactation of the ewes. Still others celebrate Imbolc as the recovery of the Earth Goddess after giving birth to the Sun God.

http://www.goddess-pages.co.uk/spring09/Brighid_Walks_the_Land.jpg

Honouring Brighid at Imbolc

Many pagans work with Brighid to focus intent on their resolutions for the coming year, as well as welcoming in changes. Burning a white candle and crafting Brighid’s crosses are some of the rituals associated with this goddess. It is customary to leave a piece of cloth outside the front door on the eve of February 1st; if it has been marked in the morning, then Brighid has passed by and blessed it.

Cleansing the home, preparing for the coming year, hands-on healing and enjoying a seasonal Imbolc feast are some of the ways in which this festival is celebrated. Traditional Imbolc foods such as bread, milk and apples will be included in special meals, and

(recipe from yesterdays post on imbolc cakes)

 practitioners of magic may cast spells for change or meditate within a circle of candles to absorb the light of the new season.

The weather may still be wintry, but with the promise of spring around the corner, inspiration, creativity and fresh energy will once again begin to flourish.

Foods sacred to Brighid include bread, clover, milk and corn. Traditional Imbolc fare encompasses food that honours hearth and home; bread, grains, and vegetables stored from winter, such as potatoes and onions. Dairy is also important, as Imbolc marks the start of ewes lactating milk. This provided valuable foodstuffs to the pagans of old, and often meant the difference between life and death for the very young and old in the community. A common ritual is to pour milk into the earth, as a tribute to Mother Earth in return for fertility for the coming growing season, and to represent spiritual nourishment.

Another perfect way to honour Brighid and Imbolc is to bake the sacred loaf, by making Irish soda bread or traditional braided bread.

Imbolc is a festival of fire, change, purification and feasting, so what better place to celebrate than in the sacred space of the kitchen witch's kitchen?

The kitchen witch will already be familiar with Brighid, for she is one of the many goddesses of hearth and home. Her sacred flame of purification is represented in the roaring log fire or merry stove. Those not already working with Brighid can benefit from her healing and wisdom at Imbolc, the pagan sabbat that marks the receding of the Crone’s winter to welcome in the coming of the Maiden’s spring

The season of change is the perfect time to freshen up the kitchen altar with a shrine to Brighid. Place upon it a Brighid’s cross or doll, spring flowers such as daffodils, snowdrops or crocuses, red and white ribbons, and candles, particularly in white or orange-red to invoke Brighid’s presence. It is tradition to light candles on the eve of February 1st to welcome Brighid into the home, and also to leave a piece of cloth or ribbon outside the front door for Brighid to bless when she passes.

Spring Cleaning the House with Imbolc Blessings

Imbolc is the key time for a good spring clean, and with the kitchen being the sacred heart of the home; this is the perfect place to start. If nothing else, the kitchen altar should be cleaned, and the oven should be gleaming, as this is Brighid’s sacred place in the kitchen

Performing a House Blessing at Imbolc

As well as physical cleaning, bless the home, cleansing it of unwanted spirits and energies that have lingered and stuck during the cold of winter.

http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/3299958/2/istockphoto_3299958-fairy-with-wand-silhouette.jpg

Faeries relish a clean and uncluttered home, so ask them for blessings and assistance with the housekeeping. Leave offerings of wool, milk, or a rhyming verse to repay their kindness.

Faeries are busy coaxing out the first buds of spring, so it makes sense to make use of Brighid’s wellspring of inspiration and get creative with fresh ideas, through the act of knitting, painting, writing or other crafts. Craft poem for Brighid, a hearth goddess sculpted from salt dough, or make a Brighid’s Cross from reeds, straw or ribbon.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3513/3272000626_c9da4ac83d.jpg

With around six weeks of wintry weather still to endure, it is important to keep the promise of spring alive. Create rituals that represent the thawing of Mother Earth, such as bringing some snow or ice inside and watching it thaw in a bowl on the stove. Or awaken a personal spring, by melting ice cubes in a heat-proof bowl of milk, and focusing on what energies need shifting in the coming year as the mixture is stirred.

Imbolc is a perfect festival for kitchen witches, bringing fire, hearth, home and food together as a powerful, transformative force for positive change.

 http://pagan-wiccan-practice.suite101.com/article.cfm/what_is_imbolc#ixzz0cdbIi5Ks