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Imbolc

Imbolc

Nature’s Time to Celebrate

By joseph martin

 

Imbolc FestivalImbolc Festival photo WikipediaOn 2nd February 2007, I had the most amazing spiritual encounter: I met a multitude of nature spirits right outside my bedroom window. They were clearly having some sort of party or celebration.

 

From ‘The Party’; Encounters with Heaven and the Spirit World:

“I was drawn once more to the window and felt a strong urge to peer down into the garden below. When I looked, I became slightly startled at what I now beheld there.

I observed trails of movement through the (by now) very cold, frosty mist sitting over the garden. They reminded me of trails left in the wake of an aircraft high up in the cold atmosphere on a clear day. These trails were zipping about the garden in all directions and followed no set pattern.

I could sense hundreds of playful voices coming from the garden. These voices seemed to be those of children and grown-ups alike, with the children’s voices providing the most animated cheers and shouts of joy.

Suddenly, as my senses grew stronger, I recognized and understood just exactly what was going on outside. I strongly perceived a multitude of spirit entities in the garden below. These entities appeared to be from the far corners of the world of Nature itself.

The voices I heard included those of small fairies, who were sliding down the beams of moonlight onto the frozen blades of grass and plants in the garden beneath. They were playing everywhere in the garden - running, dancing, skipping and sliding. It reminded me of a group of children having great fun in an adventure playground. I could sense that these little fairies moved quite quickly from place to place, leaving small distinct trails behind them. It was as though they were celebrating or having a party. These fairies, or spirits, reminded me of the tiny entities which had emerged from within the Moon Fairy’s Orb some months previously.

            The fairies weren’t the only entities in the garden that night, however, nor were they the most senior in importance or status.

Overlooking the various types of little fairy were older and larger ones. I sensed for some reason that they were called The Elders, and they stood much taller and straighter than any other entity in the garden. They appeared to have a supervisory role as though they were overseeing children in a playground situation. I sensed they were standing at strategic points in the garden, and were making sure that while everyone was having fun, they were also safe and accounted for.

            The Elders were tall and slender in appearance and were approximately four feet in height. They wore long robes which were milk-chocolate brown in colour and went all the way down to their feet. They had long faces and dark hair which was tightly slicked back off their foreheads. I would say that their faces were more animal-like than they were human, albeit that they appeared to be very smooth in appearance. Their skin was very taut and their faces were elongated, as though they had been stretched during some sort of cosmetic procedure. The Elders also had eyes, a nose, a mouth and ears. Their features were not, however, as pointed or curved as those of the elves during my encounter with Grandpa Joe.

As the little ones played on, the Elders stood there with their arms folded, as if in some sort of parental role. They stood smiling as the little ones danced, skipped and had their fun.

            I then sensed other fairy-like entities I hadn’t noticed before. For some reason, however, I did not feel inclined to search these particular entities out in my mind’s eye, sensing, as I did, that I would not be ready for or comfortable with what I would see if I did. Wisdom took over, and I stepped back slightly from the window and stood behind one of the curtains. From this position, I could still clearly see the two leaves of the plant in the windowsill vibrating up and down. I now knew that the little fairies who were sliding down the moonlight beams from outside in the garden, were the cause of this vibration.

            I glanced out of the window one more time, but withdrew again quite quickly because I somehow instinctively felt that I should not disturb the Elders, whom I strongly sensed were having some sort of private or ritualistic celebration in the garden below. I did not feel it was my place to intrude on this occasion any further...”

 

This was the first occasion I had the privilege of meeting the wonderful entities of Nature directly in their own habitat, and I questioned why they had come to visit me at this particular time.

When I discovered a day or so after the encounter that the timing of their visit had exactly coincided with the zenith of the full moon, I automatically assumed that this must have been the reason for their celebrations, and I felt very honoured that they had chosen to reveal an aspect of their magical, mysterious life to me.

It was only as I began to research the world of Nature and nature spirits in more detail, however, that I realised that the date on which they had appeared was much more symbolic and significant than I had initially supposed.

February 2nd is of course when Imbolc is celebrated.

In pre-Christian times, this was a festival of light and fire, which marked the mid-point of winter, half way between the winter solstice (21st December) and spring equinox (20th March).

Imbolc has a number of symbolic meanings and translations. The word itself is derived from the Gaelic, “oimelc”, which means “ewe’s milk”: this is the time of year when herd animals have either given birth or are heavily pregnant with their first offspring – thus their wombs and udders are swollen with new life and sustenance.

Imbolc represents rebirth, renewal, growth and new beginnings, and it is considered to be an excellent time for spring cleaning, making resolutions and looking to the future with a new sense of purpose.

It is also closely linked to fertility and the female aspect, coinciding as it does with the feast of the Celtic goddess Brigid. She is a goddess of Fire, the Sun and the Hearth (and Home), and is closely connected to midwives and new-born babies.

In Celtic mythology, Brigid was also linked to an awakening hibernating serpent, thus calling to mind the image of the kundalini rising.

Imbolc’s fire symbolism (representing as it does the awakening light of spring) was adopted by the Christian tradition, when ‘Candlemas’ was created to remember the purification of the Virgin Mary: candles were blessed and lit on this date, just as purifying fires had been burned in pre-Christian times to welcome the onset of spring.

Likewise, when Ireland converted to Christianity, it was so difficult to convince people to reject their old gods, that the church permitted them to worship the goddess Brigid as a saint – thus the creation of St. Brigid’s Day.

                                                           

The nature spirits I encountered in my garden evidently knew much more about this special date than I did at the time! Their partying clearly marked, not just the zenith of the full moon, but also the earth’s celebration of the dawning of spring: the spirits of Nature were honouring Gaia’s very own cycle of renewal and growth.

                                                           

 

We too can celebrate Imbolc’s magical symbolism by following some of its traditional practices:

 

  • Light candles for protection and in honour of the earth’s many nature spirits: this ritual also honours the rebirth of the Sun.

 

  • Spring clean your home; clear from your mind the clutter of the past; make new resolutions and dedications for your life.

 

 

  • Plant seeds to represent your hopes, dreams and aspirations, or make seed cakes (using sunflower, pumpkin or poppy seeds) to share with others.

 

  • Wear or use items (e.g. a candle, cake decorations etc.) made from traditional Imbolc colours – especially green (for fresh shoots of life) and white (for purity and newness).

 

 

  • Make a ‘Brigid’s Cross’ (from wheat stalks or reeds) as a symbol of protection and prosperity in the following year: hang it in your home.

 

  • Simply get into Nature and look for signs that spring is here. Make a suitable offering to the spirits of Nature and the spirits of spring.

 

 

  • Make a recipe that uses the herb ginger: This is said to awaken one’s inner fire, thus stimulating the rise of kundalini serpent energy at this time of year.

 

  • The Rowan tree is usually assigned to this time of year in the Celtic (Ogham) Tree Alphabet, and is traditionally said to protect and ward off evil: a sprig of the tree can be placed close to the door of your home – or alternatively, plant a whole tree!

 

And finally, CELEBRATE! Your Imbolc rituals may just mean that you encounter nature spirits of your very own...

 

You can buy Joseph's book Encounters with Heaven and the Spirit World:

on Amazon.com

or Amazon UK

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