How to mark Imbolc: emerging from winter

The Wheel of the Year is a calendar based on nature and the changing of the seasons. It includes four main celebrations, Winter and Summer Solstice, and Spring and Autumn Equinox, plus four cross-quarter celebrations, splitting the Gregorian calendar up into six week periods. Imbolc is the first festival of the Wheel of the Year in the modern calendar year.

What is Imbolc?

In the Northern Hemisphere, Imbolc falls on 1 February and marks the half way point between the Winter Solstice (Yule) and Spring Equinox (Ostara). It is a time to mark the passing of the winter, and to celebrate nature starting to re-awaken. The days start to get longer life begins to emerge from the dark and cold winter, we start to look ahead to Spring.

Imbolc is a time for new beginnings and new ideas, a time to plant seeds to grow in the Spring and Summer months. It’s a time of cleansing, to help us gain clarity on what it is we want to nurture into the light half of the year.

The Goddess Brigid at Imbolc

Imbolc is closely associated with the Goddess Brigid, who represents creativity, learning, healing and fertility.

Often Imbolc was celebrated by making Brigid corn dolls or a Brigid cross. People would lay out white or winter flowers such as snowdrops and by lighting candles. Offerings of milk are also given to present fertility and growth. A bonfire was built.

How to celebrate Imbolc

Imbolc is a time to reflect on creative endeavours or new projects that we want to nurture to fruition. So perhaps you can take some time out for stillness to reflect on what seeds you wish to plant. Some ideas to help mark this event are:

• You could have an evening of self-care: take a cleansing bath, perhaps bringing in some of the items listed above (milk, white flowers, a Brigid doll or Brigid cross and candles) to help you connect to the time of year.
• Spend some time in nature noticing the first signs of life beginning to stir.
• Journaling, some prompts below:
  • While you’ve been cooped up over the winter, what has been growing & stirring within you?
  • What new beginning are you experiencing?
  • What seeds of ideas or plans do you want to nourish and bring to life over the next few months?
  • How can you best nurture yourself and others right now?
• Connect to manipura chakra. Translating literally to ‘city of jewels’ this chakra is about our sense of self, confidence and clarity. It’s our energy centre linked with transformation and moves us out of inertia into action. It’s the chakra associated with the element of fire.

Want to know more?

Join myself and Rose as we celebrate the period around Imbolc with a yoga + sacred sound meditation on Wednesday 8 February. At this two hour workshop, we’ll be journaling and working with the element of fire to sow our seeds for the year ahead, and then nurture them with a relaxing south meditation.

Questions, contact me on @yogi_lyd or @Rose_and_the_gong. Book here, via Fire + Alchemy.