Imbolc – Welcoming in Hope
Imbolc is one of the Celtic seasonal festivals marking the half way point between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. It is also known as St Brigid’s Day – a Christianisation of the festival and transformation of a Pagan Goddess into a Christian Saint. The way it is celebrated in different traditions has more connecting them than dividing; always celebrated with feasting, time spent in the home and introspection. It is a time of optimism and hope represented by snowdrops growing through the cold dew and white candles extinguishing any lingering shadows.
The figure of Brigid has many faces – a Christian saint, an ancient Goddess. She holds a number of associations with Glastonbury. She is depicted at Glastonbury Abbey charmingly in a small carving of a woman milking a cow on the solitary tower at the top of Glastonbury Tor. Brigid represents the beginning of new life and is sometimes associated with milk as well as flames and the hearth. The very name Imbloc is believed to derive from the Irish ‘i mbolg’ meaning in the belly. This time of year is vital to lambing and livestock management, hence its pastoral associations of milk and sheep. This image of Brigid may be an indicator of a lost purification ritual.
Like Brigid and the distant saints, Imbolc is to me an unobtrusive festival. Especially compared to other Celtic festivals like Beltane and Samhain, Imbolc usually creeps upon me. I feel winter is well and truly with us and then… perhaps it is not. We are supposed to make up a bed for Brigid, leave her some food for when she comes and make her feel welcome. At the same time, it is a date for preparing to sow seeds and it is an important time in the lambing cycle. We stop, we celebrate, we take a few breaths and then the work begins. This is alright though because it is spring and it’s not so cripplingly cold. The days are getting blissfully longer. We have a bit more energy to push through into the easier, sunnier times that are to come.
This is what festivals are for. When we are distracted by our busy lives, we can feel the prompts of these ancient festivals whispered through time that serve to direct us to tune in differently. We might visit the shrines or the wells, participate in a ritual and bask in the joy that awakening nature brings. Today, I urge you to stop and listen to the birds sing, search for the shoots of flowers in the grass, look up into the open sky and breathe in the air of hope for the new season.
This blog was written by Adam Gordon, Cygnus Magazine Editor, Watkins Commissioning Editor and Watkins Media Office Manager.
