The first day of February we celebrate the feast of Imbolc. It can be said that it is actually the first day of the cycle of the year, a day all about the rebirth of nature, beginnings and life.
The buds begin to sprout from the ground, which is no longer hard and icy, and temperature begins to rise; it begins the awakening of nature.
The name Imbolc comes from the Gaelic word " oimelc" which means "milk", as this is the time of year when the animals give birth and their wombs are swollen with milk; in fact, one of the symbolic animals of this day it is the Cow.
It is said that children born in this period of the year are blessed by the Gods and they will live a long and happy life.
It's the perfect time to cleanse our homes, the altar, the tools we work with, the runes, tarot cards, candles, our familiars and especially ourselves. A real "Spring cleaning"!
In this period trades and the start of new activities are favoured.
It is essential to soak to positive charge of this day the most we can, in order to start the year at best.
This festival has been associated for centuries with Brighid, goddess of power, fertility, lady of the uUderworld, patroness of healing, fire and smithing. She is known by many names: Brighid (Irish), Breo Saighead, Brid, Brigindo, Brigan, Brigantia, Brigantis (Britannia), Bride.
I am She
that is the natural
mother of all things,
mistress and governess
of all the elements,
the initial progeny of worlds,
chief of the powers divine,
Queen of all that are in the otherworld,
the principal of them
that dwell above,
manifested alone
and under one form
of all the Gods and Goddesses.
Lucius Apuleius
Many of the sacred water springs in Britain are consecrated to Brighid and have powerful healing qualities: it customary to hang, on the branches of the trees growing in the nearby, coloured ribbons with written the disease we want to heal from. It is said that the very name "Britain" comes from the name of this Goddess.
Brighid is a triple goddess, she represents the young and warrior aspect of the Cailleach, the divine witch queen of winter. According to the tradition, the Goddess Cailleach decides how long the winter is going to last, whilst collecting wood for the fire on Imbolc. If the day will be sunny, the Goddess will take longer to collect more firewood therefore winter will last longer, but if the weather will be bad then the winter will be ending soon.
The symbolic awakening of nature is associated with the serpent, the sacred animal of Brighid, (already a great symbol of rebirth and new life), which awakens and comes out from its den during this day.
In Scotland, it was tradition to create effigies of snakes dedicated to this sabbat when allegedly, the snakes were coming out from their dens on the hills.
People used to run in the woods beating a stick on the ground, to make sure that the snakes woke from their slumber, as their awakening would shorten the waiting for the warm season.
An old Scottish hymn says:
Thig an nathair as an toll The serpent will come from the hole
There bride donn, On the brown Day of Bride,
Ged robh trì troighean dhen t-sneachd Though there Should be three feet of snow
Air leac an Lair. On the flat surface of the ground.
Carmichael, Alexander (1900) Carmina Gadelica: Hymns and Incantations.
The cult of the Serpent was abandoned with the advent of pre-Christian cults, because of what is written in the book of Genesis, in the Bible, which states that the snake would be the representation of evil persuading men to sin. The story of St. George slaying the dragon and St. Patrick banishing snakes from Ireland are nothing more than analogies that associate metaphorically the snake to the pagan gods, who were eliminated to allow Christianinty to prevail. The same happened to the Goddess Brighid, so important for the Irish people that it was not possible to eradicate her cult, therefore she was then turned into Saint Brigid of Kildare, patroness of the hearth and healing.
One can easily guess why the snake was worshiped as a divine being by our ancestors, as a spirit of the earth itself: It follows the rhythm of the seasons, retreating into the depths of the soil, the afterlife, during the winter, when the earth is asleep, and then it wakes up and comes out during the warm season, as it is dependent on the sun to live. It changes its skin when it grows, it is literally then reborn, with a new skin.
I believe that the best way to celebrate the new beginning of the year, during Imbolc, is celebrating the life of the snake, this animal so sacred, and awakening the Kundalini residing in each one of us, dormant at the base of our spine, through meditation and the synchronization of our natural rhythms with those of the ancient gods.
Make offerings to the gods of the underworld, create amulets shaped like a snake, draw spirals and jump with both feet on the ground to wake the roots of the trees!
A good way to celebrate the rebirth of the sun is lighting yellow or white candles, preferably realized by you, crafted with natural wax and essential oils, on each window of your house and let them burn all night.
I wish a Happy Imbolc to all of you, readers. Good Rebirth.
♄Unornya
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