And the wheel of the year turns.
May the Goddess walk with us as we begin this year of new beginnings.
We welcome your fire, wisdom, and light.
Below are some ideas for how you can simply incorporate the festival of Imbolc into day to day life:
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Spring clean your house and carry out a home purification( see my psychic protection pages) -
Look to your health and ways in which you may improve it. -
Try some candle meditation also meditate on your reflective and intuitive qualities and how you can use then and enhance your life.
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Light white candles and burn them throughout Imbolc eve, in your windows or the centre of your house.
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Pour a little milk on the ground as a tribute to Mother Earth (soya or rice milk serves the purpose brilliantly!) Ask for growth and fertility in any areas of your life you may feel need it. Drink the rest of the milk then or use in your cooking.
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Plant new plants in your garden or window box.
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Begin a moon diary. The moon puts us in touch with our emotional selves and balances our solar minds. It can be very insightful to keep a diary of how we feel physically and emotionally and how this may relate to the moon.
Imbolc, the day of midwinter.
The cold is fading away.
The earth is awakening,
the days are lengthening.
We give thanks to Brigid
for life and light
Oestara
Oestara is the joyful festival that heralds the return of spring. It is a festival of balance, when day and night are of equal length. It is also a time of fertilitly and new life, the egg symbolising the re-birth of nature and the fertility of the earth. Oestara, or Oestare, the Norse Goddess of light is celebrated at this time of year. This is the root of the word oestrus, and oestrogen. It is believed that at Oestara the Goddess becomes pregnant with the god to give birth at Yule. The myth surrounding Oestara says that she opened the gates of spring on equinox morning and her magical animal, the white hare, dashed across the snow, promising that spring was on its way.
Our ancestors seemed much more in touch with the earth energies that meander unseen beneath the ground that we walk on than we ourselves are today. From Spring Equinox to St George’s Day many dragon rituals and processions took place celebrating the dragon energy beneath our earth. The fertile earth energy is activated and runs strongly at this time of year so spring was seen as a good time to celebrate this.
We can take time to celebrate this wonderful heralding of the spring by going somewhere where the earth’s energy runs strong, on a ley line or dragon path. It is easy to find out where these are by researching on the internet.
Taking time to meditate with trees can be a very special feeling to share with mother nature, especially Alder, Ash or Birch if you know of any that grow nearby. Other fun things to do are of course decorating eggs and blessing and planting seeds.
Just as Imbolc heralds the very first stirrings of the earth, Oestara brings the beginning of spring, the joy of fertility and the balance of light and dark
The Wheel of The Year
The wheel of the year is the magical and spiritual division of the year originally formed by the Celts. The four solar festivals fall on the solstices and equinoxes and between each of these lie the four fire festivals of Imbolc, Beltane, Lammas and Samhain.
Whilst our ancestors may have had their lives intrinsically linked to those of the seasons, in modern day living it is sometimes not that obvious. Focusing on these eight divisions may help heighten our awareness of the changes that each passing season brings. Each season brings joys and benefits if we work with it rather than regretting its limitations.
Each festival brings with it particular things to concentrate on and give thanks for.
Imbolc is a cross quarter day midway between the winter solstice (Yule) and the spring equinox (Ostara) The word Imbolc is derived from the Gaelic ‘oimelc’ which means ewe’s milk. It would originally have celebrated when fresh milk would be once available, the first shoots of new growth through the frozen soil could be visible, and spring could be seen to be on its way.
Imbolc is celebrated with Brigid (Brigit, Brighid) a Celtic goddess, associated with healing, inspiration, poetry and the return of life to the frozen winter land. Brigid represents the Goddess in her maiden aspect, in preparation for growth and renewal.
The Christian church re-named the festival Candlemas, the festival of candles. It celebrates the day the Virgin Mary first took baby Jesus to the temple.
Women traditionally made corn dollies or Brighdie dolls at this time of year. These were given as presents or kept in the home to give thanks to Brigid and ask for her blessing over the household. Spring cleaning comes from the tradition at Imbolc of getting rid of unwanted clutter and preparing for the new season, both physically and mentally.
Imbolc heralds the return of spring, the days are lengthening, buds are forming on trees and bulbs are pushing up through the earth. It is a very special time, the time the earth is awakening. We can feel the presence of the God and Goddess within ourselves as we begin to open up to the light and stir from our own hibernation.
Imbolc
Beltane
Beltane is primarily a festival celebrating the union of the god and goddess, often symbolised as the Greenman and the May Queen. These two figures are often crowned as part of the Beltane celebrations. Beltane stands for the sacredness and spirituality of love and sexual pleasure, and deep connections of the heart. Traditionally at Beltane there was the custom of young couples going into the woods to make love and stay up all night. They would then bring back the first May or Hawthorn blossoms to decorate homes, and bathe in the morning dew which is said to increase radiance and health.
All of nature is growing and nurturing at this time of year, it is a time for celebrating unions and fertility either in conceiving a child or for improvements in career and other areas of life. It is a time of creative inspiration and for improved health and increased energy.
Celebrations for Beltane include: dancing around the maypole- this symbolises the interweaving of female and male energies; jumping of the Beltane fire for luck and fertility; crowning of the May Queen and her King.
Celebrating Beltane is a great way to welcome the spring and the return of long warm nights. There are lots of maypole dancing around the country so try seeing if there is one near you. If you can't get to a Beltane or May Day celebration you can celebrate by decorating a tree nearby, attaching your wishes to it as you do so. You could also make a garland of flowers or make a vase filled with 9 different flowers and bring flowers and greenery into your home. Hawthorn is particularly symbolic but should only be brought into the home on 1st May. Another idea is to decorate a tree or branch with flowers, ribbons and May-time symbols, and then spiral around it allowing your feet to trace and amplify the energies of Mother Earth, as if you were maypole dancing.
Summer Solstice
The summer solstice is perhaps the most well known of all the Pagan festivals. It is our celebration of the longest day of the year, a time for celebration and merriment before the more inward looking half of the year.
On midsummer’s eve people traditionally stayed up all night to watch the sunset and celebrate the longest day. Candlelit processions took place on this day which is the origin of our modern and traditional carnival processions. Giant effigies of the Corn Mother, the Green Man and dragons were carried through the town and later burnt on the Midsummer fires. Godesses Ceridwen and Demeter were significantly worshipped at this time of the summer solstice.
This is the time that the God reaches his full power and maturity but knows that after the festival he will begin to loose some of that strength. As the Goddess loved him so much the fires were lit on beacons and wheels thrown down the hillsides to delay the moment when his power will start to wane.
This is a time to celebrate the power of the sun, we are at the peak of our expressive selves and this is a time to celebrate all that you have achieved. Use the power of the sun to focus and charge with healing and positive intent all that you wish to be. The summer solstice is also a dual celebration, it marks the return to the dark side of the year, looking inwards, concentrating on inner wisdom and development.
Mark the festival by watching the dawn of this special longest day and say goodbye to the sun as it sets.
Dancing fire is burning burning,
Dancing fire is lighting my soul.
Dancing fire is burning, burning,
Dancing fire is lighting my soul.
I see the light,
I feel the light,
I know the light,
I am the light.
Lammas
Lammas, or Lughnasadh has been traditionally celebrated on 2nd August. This is a time for the corn mother or grain mother to be honoured.
It has traditionally signified the celebration after the hard task of bringing in the crops. The name comes from the Saxon name Loaf-mas. Many customs and rituals were derived to honour the first and last sheaf of grain to be cut. Often the last sheaf was cut by the youngest girl. This sheaf would then be fashioned into a corn maiden. This was then transported back to the village, often decked with ribbons.
On Lammas eve fires were lit on Lammas mounds to honour the corn mother. Lugh was a Celtic sun god who, according to the myth, dies down now. He is John Barleycorn whose energy, now gone into the grain, is cut down and given back to the land from whence he came. As he was dying the earth goddess symbolically accepted his power and ensured that the sun would continue shining after his death.
After all the charged energy of the summer, Lammas marks a time to start to look inward and reflect, it is a time to renew and regenerate our spirit.
Lammas is a great time to celebrate, having a feast with friends. Lammas bread may be baked representing the grain mother and shared out amongst friends.
Lammas is a perfect time to finish off projects began in the summer, particularly outdoor projects, for example clearing the weeds in your garden.
Lammas time of the setting sun.
Lammas the summer wanes.
Lammas we reflect on the summer gone.
We worship you mother of the grain.
