Imbolc and the Coming of Spring
We have just passed another full moon as this week brings us the ancient Celtic festival of Imbolc. Always at the beginning of February (it is the 2nd of February in 2010 in the northern hemisphere) it is considered the midway point between the shortest day of the year, the Winter Solstice, and the beginning of Spring at the Vernal Equinox. It also happens to correspond with our Groundhog Day, which no doubt had similar origins due to it being the same date, where farmers and others are anxiously looking for signs of Spring on the way.
Now before I lead you to think I am knowledgeable about any Pagan or Celtic festivals, let me clarify that I am not at all. However, as someone who lives more and more closely connected to the land through the gardening and small scale farming we do (growing our own vegetables, raising chickens, attempting a small lavender farm and creating sacred spaces in the gardens), I do usually acknowledge and honour these significant seasonal dates as they help keep me connected to the cycles of nature and the rhythm of life in the bigger picture.
Nothing keeps me grounded quite like literally working in the ground. While ornamental gardens enrich our life by unleashing the creative impulse and making beautiful spaces, when one tries to grow half their year's supply of vegetables to feed themselves, or an herbal crop like lavender with a view to having enough of good quality to sell and from which to create products, there is an additional level of intensity and focus added that keeps one firmly rooted, both literally and figuratively, with mind, body & spirit being tied to the cycles of nature and the uncertainties of weather.
Imbolc in Celtic and Wiccan traditions recognizes the waning of winter, probably more so in the UK where winter is more temperate due to the Gulf Stream and Spring starts sooner. Part of the tradition apprently involves recognizing that there are still six months to go before the next harvest time, so attention is paid to dwindling food stores. There is also recognition that winter still has a fairly firm grip, and it is a festival that includes the lighting of fires to celebrate the sun's growing power over the coming months.
The same date honours the Irish goddess Brigid, and following Christianization became known as St. Brigit's's Day (various spellings for Brigid acknowledged). Also connected to fire, she was said to be a goddess of fire, fertility and healing. Imbolc is also tied to fertility in it's recognition of the coming of Spring and also due to it's alternate Gaelic name Oimelc, which some say means "ewe's milk", as lambing happens around this time, probably more so in the UK than in Canada due to the continuing cold.
So where does all this fit into my own view of the world and my spiritual practice? To be honest, it is a rather casual association I make as I do not profess to be particularly Pagan or Wiccan in my practices, although as I said at the outset, I do recognize and sometimes celebrate these seasonal markers since much of my life revolves around the land and it's fertility and productivity.
And when it is well-covered in snow and below freezing as it is now, I honour the wood fires that keep us warm. I appreciate the good snow cover for the protection it gives the plants. I notice the lengthening days and how the sunsets have started to shift ever so slightly towards the north. I grab my seed and plant catalogues and look forward to the creativity that will be expressed in the garden this year and what the fruits our labours will bring to our commitment to grow and eat as much locally-sourced and organic food as we can reasonably afford.
Consciously expressing gratitude for all these gifts is a daily part of our spiritual practice, keeping the focus on all that is good in our lives and acknowledging that none of it should be taken for granted. It is a practice done with sincere appreciation and I believe is a cornerstone of our relationship as a couple that brings great joy.
And I dream about the magic that will take place in the sacred gardens we started last year: the Medicine Wheel to honour the symbolism of the four directions from a North American native point of view; the Spirals, symbolizing the spirals of life and evolution; The Octagon and Pentagram, honouring universal balance as well as the sacred feminine within.
This assumes of course that the wet weather last November and whatever is yet to come doesn't damage the lavenders, sages and tulips that reside in some of these spaces. That's when part of my practice becomes prayerful, asking for the Universe's or Great Spirit's support for the realization of our dream to use these gardens as places for healing and self-discovery for ourselves and others. As I say sometimes, it is a "practical spirituality" and a practical kind of shamanism, rooted in the earth, the elements, the seasons, the weather and also reflecting the Great Mystery that inexplicably guides it all to become whatever it is meant to be.
If you are interested in reading more about daily life on our land at We Are One Farm you are invited to check out my other blog on my photography web site.
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