Celebrating Imbolc: the promise of Spring
Imbolc: celebrating emergence, renewal and a return to the light. Reflections, journal prompts and practices to explore
When? 01st - 2nd February
Direction/Element: North and the element of Earth: the physical world, balance, regeneration into East and the element of air: vibration, communication and connection
Themes: emergence, the promise of Spring, fire, fertility
Very often, for me, January feels eternal and spring feels like it will never come so the arrival of this festival always feels like a beacon of light in the darkness. I have been reflecting that the energy of January and shifting from deepest winter into the promise of spring feels visceral in a way that other seasonal transitions don’t. I suppose it’s not surprising given that the first part of the year has a waxing or building energy.
Today I’m sharing some reflections about this celebration, and the promise of Spring’s emergence. If you’re new here I’m Laura, a counsellor, nature therapist, somatic therapist. I’m also an initiated Pagan Priestess, although I prefer to call myself a space holder. In this post you’ll find reflections on the energy of this season, journal prompts to explore and suggestions for other practices to support you.
Transitioning from Winter to Spring: nature is starting to emerge
Imbolc is one of the eight celebration days in Celtic spirituality and contemporary paganism. These celebrations include the solstices, equinoxes, and the four cross-quarter days that fall between them. This festival is a cross-quarter day that sits halfway between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. It is also known as Feile Brighde or “the quickening of the year”. It’s marks the beginning of lambing season and this is another signs of new life after the earth has laid fallow and barren through the winter.
This year the shift from the energy of winter into awareness of the promise of Spring feels less defined to me. It’s been a gloomy winter but we have had says where crisp blue skies and sunshine punctuate the grey. As we arrive at at this point on the Wheel of the Year, I haven’t seen any noticeable signs of the Earth awakening just yet, but I have felt something different in the energy over the last week. I’ve also noticed that there is a little more light at the end of the day.
We are starting to emerge but we are emerging slowly. It isn’t a time to rush into doing, it’s a time to reflect on the path we’ve moved through during the winter months and the seeds of intention we will be planting for the coming year. These are the overarching themes of this season; the promise of Spring, preparing for emergence, balancing this with what might still need to winter within us. We can also connect with the themes of fire, creativity and fertility through there connection to the goddess Brigid, who I talk about below.
The foundations of this celebration
As well as the turning seasons, The Wheel of the Year is shaped the four sacred directions and their elements. This celebration takes place during the winter and is associated with the direction of the North. North is the realm of the body, where we connect with our physical self and the solid, groundedness of the physical world around us.
At this point on the wheel we are transitioning from the element of Earth, which is associated with nurturing, sustaining and regeneration, to the element of Air, which is associated with rebirth, inspiration and new beginnings.
Archetypal energies that are associated with this time include Brigid, also known as Brigantia, Brid, Bride and Brigit. Brigid is a Celtic Triple Goddess, who later became a Christian saint. Brigit is the goddess of poetry and creativity, fire and the forge and healing and fertility. She represents a spark; of creativity, of fire and of renewed or new life. Brigid, as a goddess of fire, brings the warmth that begins to thaw the land after the darkness of winter. Brigid is still honoured through folk traditions, even as a Christian saint, in Ireland. It’s a tradition to leave a cloth out on St Brigid’s eve so that she can bless it as she moves through the land.
The Initiate and the Maiden archetypes are especially resonant at this time of year and are deeply linked to the goddess Brigid. As a goddess of new beginnings, light and inspiration, Brigid presides over thresholds; those moments of crossing from what has been into what is becoming. The Maiden reflects this energy as the youthful, free-spirited phase of the journey, a time of exploration, openness and self-discovery. As a non-gendered alternative, the Initiate carries the same Brigid-like spark: curiosity, awakening and the courage to step into the unknown. Whether you resonate more with the Maiden or the Initiate, this archetypal energy mirrors Brigid’s flame, signalling emergence, renewal and the gentle unfolding of potential.
For a full list of pagan holidays and pagan festivities check out my post about The Wheel of the Year.
A time for initiation and healing, for reclaiming what has been forgotten.
In Glennie Kindred’s Sacred Earth Celebrations book she shares the following:
The unconscious is emerging from the time of incubation and rest, revitalized, potent and fertile. This is the time for initiation and healing, for reclaiming what has been forgotten. It is a time for invocation of the life force and working with the dynamics of its potency. We are trying in our own way to live the dreams and visions of a new age, but we are still bound by our old conditioning and life patterns. We each carry the seeds of a new vision, of a new way of being. Each time these visions re-emerge after the incubation period of winter, they are stronger and we are surer. Now is the time to prepare inwardly for the changes that will come. Plant your ideas and leave them to germinate. Bring your visions and inner understandings out through poetry, song and art.
The slow awakening: a guided somatic meditation and nature connection practice
If you’re looking for an embodied and grounded way to explore the energies of Imbolc, my Slow Awakening Sacred Somatic Journey invites you to take a guided walk in nature, to notice what's shifting around and within you. Reflection is a beautiful and important part of any Earth based spirituality practice but so is connection with our own experiential understanding of the shifting seasons. This somatic meditation invites you to explore themes of emergence, awakening and curiosity, through felt sense and connection with the natural world and the elements. You can buy the individual practice below, you can check out other practices here, or join my Patreon for access to my library of practices. You’ll also find free sample practices on my Patreon.
A seasonal breathwork or ritual playlist and prompts
You can use this playlist for rituals, journalling, breath work or any other practice that supports you to connect with yourself and explore the themes I’ve talked about. I’ve shared some suggested Imbolc journal prompts below, along with a suggestion for a ritual practice. If you’d like to find out more about breath work, or pranayama, you can check out my post about how to practice breath work.
How do I feel about rebirth, transformation and change?
What do I need to cleanse or clear out at this time?
How can I bring fire into my life, to celebrate the return of the sun?
As I walk through the world, what emerging signs of Spring can I notice?
What do I need to nurture and what still needs to winter?
What seeds am I planting for the year ahead
Seasonal rituals to explore
Nature based observance like making an offering to the land, creating an art work using found objects in the landscape, or tending the land
Lighting a candle, setting intentions or offering prayers for yourself, the land and the collective
Intuitive movement to connect with your body in response to the landscape. We explore this in the Somatic Practice I’ve shared above.
I’ve shared some simple rituals for daily life in this post
If you’d like to explore this work in person, with me as your guide, I hold monthly Rooted Self nature and spirituality circles in Birmingham. You can find details here.
Thank you for being here. I hope you find these resources supportive and that you have a nourishing Imbolc.
