How can we authentically celebrate land-based festivals when our own landscapes are so different from those where the holydays originated? That’s the question haunting me this Imbolc…
I love this deeper inquiry into how to live into, not simply copy or try to replicate, sacred ancient holy days. Each holy day / season holds its own wisdom and has its own soul. So much has been lost and yet, this listening and adapting to that you are speaking on is such a beautiful act of re-membering. Thank you.
Thank you, Amanda. I really appreciate this comment coming from you. It's something that has been mulching in my heart for a long time, and, facing this frozen Imbolc, I finally needed to express it. There's such a balance between reconnecting with ancient traditions and finding our own way forward.
I really resonate with this Allysha, partly because I always find it difficult to follow what other people do, even if it’s deeply imbedded in my ancestral threads. Also because whilst we follow the seasons, we also follow our own rhythm, which looks very different from someone else. For me it’s have that deep connection to Mother Earth, to watch for the signs of what you need to work with, watching your own shoots sprout, not just the ones you can see.
I really relate to this, Louise. While I appreciate ideas for ways to celebrate from modern practitioners and ancient traditions, I have a really hard time just following along and doing the forms I'm told. I have to connect with the energy and ideas of my practices. I remember last year, trying to follow the forms for Imbolc just rang hollow for me. I ended up getting sick and canceling my Sacred Circle... which actually felt perfect. Blessing to you this Imbolc, and best wishes for your own personal connection with the season.
Allysha, There’s something about what you wrote that brings to mind the trapeze artists who are suspended as they let go of the bar and before they grasp the next as it swings toward them. It’s the pause between an in-breath and an out-breath that we don’t always feel or consider. Perhaps it’s the seed dreaming first of awakening before it stirs.
We are buried beneath the noise of the world now but we weren’t always and our ancestors whisper to us “Shhh, quiet now. Do you hear that? Do you hear it?” And if we can let go of the bar before the next swings toward us, we will hear it. We will know it.
Blessings on Bridie’s Day to all. Cow and snake, iron and stone!
This takes my breath away, Susan. I love that image and the faith it takes to let go of that bar… the stillness of the space in between, holding nothing.
I love this idea that seeds dream. That the great oak was once the dream of a seed buried deep in the earth, waiting for exactly the right moment.
Like the trapeze artist, timing is key here. There is something in waiting until the precise moment…
Thank you for these beautiful insights and a blessèd Imbolc to you, Sister!
Loved, loved this Allysha! The "holydays" of old were married to the land. All you speak of here in this essay makes sense because it is reflected by the land you are on. Yes there will come a time when the egg becomes to small (loved that poem). But not yet. Where I live now it is the same temperate zone as Ireland. Growing up though, I lived in Connecticut. I did not even know of Imbolc back then, but the signs of Imbolc didn't show up there either till much later. I love the gift of dreaming. That is a powerful way to honor this time. And thanks for the share of the mandala!
Thank you, Julie! I really loved the way you spoke of Imbolc as the time in between winter and summer--a limnal season. It made me wonder whether there were signs I just wasn't seeing, hidden beneath the surface. But I realized that here... there just aren't. Not yet. I imagine that the old tradition here would have been to celebrate when the sap starts flowing. That is when we know for certain spring will return. In the meantime, my Celtic heart still longs to celebrate Imbolc on St. Brigid's Day. I love the idea of finding ways--wherever we are--to celebrate authentically. Imbolc blessings to you, Sister! 💜 ✨
This brings me the warmth of hope and promise. Blessed Imbolc to you💚 Thank you for sharing this beautiful tradition; as a fellow Celt it rings true (-:
This is gorgeous. A harkening back to a mystical time when possibilities had not yet been revealed, but were still wishes and dreams held captive inside wild hearts. Thank you. ❤️
Yes! I keep thinking that our ancestors discovered all of their sacred Wisdom somehow... We always look to re-membering the ancient ways, but what if there's another Path forward as well?
I love this! I learned to celebrate Imbolc in Vermont, and thought of it as a time to consider what seeds to plant. Even Spring Equinox did not yet feel like spring. It wasn’t until Beltane that spring felt possible.
Here in Portland Oregon, all of winter feels like spring to me. So interesting to reconcile this with trying to connect to what my ancestors may have experienced in the British Isles.
Beautiful, Elizabeth! It definitely has a different flavor depending on where we are. As it should! How lovely that you've gotten to experience it in different places and can recognize that difference consciously. Imbolc blessings to you, Sister!
I love this deeper inquiry into how to live into, not simply copy or try to replicate, sacred ancient holy days. Each holy day / season holds its own wisdom and has its own soul. So much has been lost and yet, this listening and adapting to that you are speaking on is such a beautiful act of re-membering. Thank you.
Thank you, Amanda. I really appreciate this comment coming from you. It's something that has been mulching in my heart for a long time, and, facing this frozen Imbolc, I finally needed to express it. There's such a balance between reconnecting with ancient traditions and finding our own way forward.
I really resonate with this Allysha, partly because I always find it difficult to follow what other people do, even if it’s deeply imbedded in my ancestral threads. Also because whilst we follow the seasons, we also follow our own rhythm, which looks very different from someone else. For me it’s have that deep connection to Mother Earth, to watch for the signs of what you need to work with, watching your own shoots sprout, not just the ones you can see.
I really relate to this, Louise. While I appreciate ideas for ways to celebrate from modern practitioners and ancient traditions, I have a really hard time just following along and doing the forms I'm told. I have to connect with the energy and ideas of my practices. I remember last year, trying to follow the forms for Imbolc just rang hollow for me. I ended up getting sick and canceling my Sacred Circle... which actually felt perfect. Blessing to you this Imbolc, and best wishes for your own personal connection with the season.
Allysha, There’s something about what you wrote that brings to mind the trapeze artists who are suspended as they let go of the bar and before they grasp the next as it swings toward them. It’s the pause between an in-breath and an out-breath that we don’t always feel or consider. Perhaps it’s the seed dreaming first of awakening before it stirs.
We are buried beneath the noise of the world now but we weren’t always and our ancestors whisper to us “Shhh, quiet now. Do you hear that? Do you hear it?” And if we can let go of the bar before the next swings toward us, we will hear it. We will know it.
Blessings on Bridie’s Day to all. Cow and snake, iron and stone!
This takes my breath away, Susan. I love that image and the faith it takes to let go of that bar… the stillness of the space in between, holding nothing.
I love this idea that seeds dream. That the great oak was once the dream of a seed buried deep in the earth, waiting for exactly the right moment.
Like the trapeze artist, timing is key here. There is something in waiting until the precise moment…
Thank you for these beautiful insights and a blessèd Imbolc to you, Sister!
Loved, loved this Allysha! The "holydays" of old were married to the land. All you speak of here in this essay makes sense because it is reflected by the land you are on. Yes there will come a time when the egg becomes to small (loved that poem). But not yet. Where I live now it is the same temperate zone as Ireland. Growing up though, I lived in Connecticut. I did not even know of Imbolc back then, but the signs of Imbolc didn't show up there either till much later. I love the gift of dreaming. That is a powerful way to honor this time. And thanks for the share of the mandala!
Thank you, Julie! I really loved the way you spoke of Imbolc as the time in between winter and summer--a limnal season. It made me wonder whether there were signs I just wasn't seeing, hidden beneath the surface. But I realized that here... there just aren't. Not yet. I imagine that the old tradition here would have been to celebrate when the sap starts flowing. That is when we know for certain spring will return. In the meantime, my Celtic heart still longs to celebrate Imbolc on St. Brigid's Day. I love the idea of finding ways--wherever we are--to celebrate authentically. Imbolc blessings to you, Sister! 💜 ✨
YES, right back to you Sister - Blessed Imoblc! ❤
This brings me the warmth of hope and promise. Blessed Imbolc to you💚 Thank you for sharing this beautiful tradition; as a fellow Celt it rings true (-:
Amazing, Peter! So glad to hear it. Blessèd Imbolc, Brother. 💜✨
This is gorgeous. A harkening back to a mystical time when possibilities had not yet been revealed, but were still wishes and dreams held captive inside wild hearts. Thank you. ❤️
Yes! I keep thinking that our ancestors discovered all of their sacred Wisdom somehow... We always look to re-membering the ancient ways, but what if there's another Path forward as well?
I love this! I learned to celebrate Imbolc in Vermont, and thought of it as a time to consider what seeds to plant. Even Spring Equinox did not yet feel like spring. It wasn’t until Beltane that spring felt possible.
Here in Portland Oregon, all of winter feels like spring to me. So interesting to reconcile this with trying to connect to what my ancestors may have experienced in the British Isles.
Thanks for your lovely reflections!
Beautiful, Elizabeth! It definitely has a different flavor depending on where we are. As it should! How lovely that you've gotten to experience it in different places and can recognize that difference consciously. Imbolc blessings to you, Sister!
Blessed Imbolc! 🌛🌚🌜