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Spring is Coming! IMBOLC

Spring is Coming!

IMBOLC

 

Or

 

Candlemas

February 1st/2nd

Imbolc is a time of optimism and for making new plans for the sunny days ahead. Plant the seeds of your plans now and tend them so they mature into your hopes and dreams. Now is the time to renew your New Year resolutions.

 

Myth, Magic and Ritual

Brigid

 

The Celtic festival of Imbolc or Imbolg - pronounced without the 'b' sound - is sometimes known as Oimelc, means 'ewe's milk' - named due to the birth of the first lambs at this time, and celebrates the return of fresh milk.

Imbolc is traditionally regarded as the first day of Spring when nature is awakening from her winter rest - the long winter darkness begins to break as the daylight hours begin to get longer.

Lamb

 

The cycle of new life returns to the earth - spring bulbs are beginningsnowdrop to shoot threw the dark earth and new lambs are born. Imbolc is the celebration of the gradual dawning of increasing light that brings nature to life again. Christians celebrate this festival as Candlemas.

 

Imbolc focuses on the Goddess, both as Mother - as she gave birth to the Sun God at the Winter solstice, and as the Maiden. Brigid was originally considered a form of the Triple Goddess.


04Sekhmet, Diana & BrigidImbolc is a feast dedicated to the Goddess in her maiden aspect, in her guise as Brigid, Bridget, Bride, Brighid, Brigit or Brig - goddess of learning, poetry, prophesying, craftsmanship, agriculture and healing. Imbolc is considered to be a traditional healing time and it is a good time to consider ways to improve your health.

Brigid is the virgin goddess who brings new life to the earth. She is known as Bride in Scotland - pronounced Breed - which is the origin of the word 'bride'. Imbolc is also known as Bride's Day. She was Christianised as St. Bridget of Kildare, the patroness of sheep and fertility, and she was also known as the 'Mother of Ireland'.
Bridget's Cross i
corndollys woven from corn and consists of four arms that meet to form a square centre - a fire wheel.


Traditionally, on t
his day candlelit processions were led to St. Bridget's holy shrines - wells. Imbolc is a 'fire festival'. Particular attention was paid to the hearth fire and keeping it alight.

 

choir

 

Imbolc Traditions


Bridie dolls are made out of a sheaf of oats and corndolliesdressed in women's clothing, and then ritually buried in the earth as a fertility rite. Another custom was to place the doll in a 'Bride’s bed' of woven wheat, like a basket, which was placed near the front door, or sometimes near the hearth. A white candle was burnt nearby all night.

The Romans Celebrate:

To the Romans, this time of year, halfway between the Winter RomulusSolstice and the Spring Equinox was known as Lupercalia. To them, it was a purification ritual in which a goat was sacrificed and a scourge made of its hide. Thong-clad men ran through the city, whacking people with pieces of hide. Those who were struck considered themselves fortunate indeed. This is one of the few Roman celebrations that is not associated with a particular temple or deity. Instead, it focuses on the founding of the city of Rome, by twins Romulus and Remus, who were suckled by a she-wolf -- in a cave known as the ‘Lupercale’

 

The Feast of Nut:

The ancient Egyptians celebrated this time of year as the Feast of 010Nut, whose birthday falls on February 2 (Gregorian calendar). According to the Book of the Dead, Nut was seen as a mother-figure to the sun god Ra, who at sunrise was known as Khepera and took the form of a scarab beetle.

 

 

Christian Conversion of a Pagan Celebration:

When Ireland converted to Christianity, it was hard to convince Saint-Brigidpeople to get rid of their old gods, so the church allowed them to worship the Goddess Brigid as a saint -- thus the creation of St. Brigid's Day. Today, there are many churches around the world that bear her name.

Purification and Light:

crownedFor Christians, February 2nd continues to be celebrated as Candelmas, the feast of purification of the Virgin. By Jewish law, it took forty days after a birth for a woman to be cleansed following the birth of a son. Forty days after Christmas – the birth of Jesus – is MArycandlesFebruary 2nd. Candles were blessed, there was much feasting to be had, and the drab days of February suddenly seemed a little brighter.

A Celtic Connection:

Serpents in the Spring

Although Imbolc isn't even mentioned in non-Gaelic Celtic traditions, it's still a time rich in folklore and history. According to the Carmina Gadelica, the Celts celebrated an early version of Groundhog Day on Imbolc too – only with a serpent, singing this poem:  

snake


The serpent will come from the hole

on the brown day of Bride (Brighid
though there may be three feet of snow
On the surface of the ground.

 

 

Wicca

JudithimbolcIn Wicca, Candlemas, or more frequently Imbolc, is often described as a festival marking the Goddess' cyclical change from Crone to Maiden. Much attention is given to the supposed appearance of the first signs of spring; certainly it may in Western Europe coincide with the blossoming of early flowering plant species.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christianization

The conception of the Virgin Mary is represented on the same day (the 2nd of February) as that of the miraculous Jesusbabyconception of Juno by the ancient Romans. This, says the author of the Perennial Calendar, is a remarkable coincidence. It is also a remarkable coincidence that the Romans should have had their Prosipernalia, or Feast of Candles or Candlemass in February. Thus we see that the Roman Catholics have been in the habit of celebrating Christian festivals upon days which were held sacred by the heathens.

On the second day of February, the Romans processed around their city with torches and candles burning in honour of Februa; and the Greeks at this same period held their feast of lights in honour of Ceres. Pope Innocent explains the origin of this feast of Candlemass. He states that "The heathens dedicated this month to the infernal gods. At its beginning Pluto stole away Proserpine, and her mother Ceres sought for her in the night with lighted torches. In the beginning of this month the idolaters walked about the city with lighted candles, and as some of the holy fathers could not extirpate such a custom, they ordained that Christians should carry about candles in honour of the Virgin Mary." This method of keeping the feast of Candlemas does not now prevail in this country; so far as the laity are concerned, the festival may be said to have died out, but according to Dr. Brewer, the festival is kept by the Roman Catholic Church as the time for consecrating the candles used in the Church service.
Folklore

St Bride's Day

In the Highlands of Scotland the revival of vegetation in spring used to be graphically represented on St. Bride’s Day, the first of February. Thus in the Hebrides “the mistress and servants of each family take a sheaf of oats, and dress it up in women’s apparel, put it in a large basket and lay a wooden club by it, and this they call Brigid’s bed; and then the mistress and servants cry three times, ‘Brigid is come, Brigid is welcome.’ This they do just before going to bed, and when they rise in the morning they look among the ashes, expecting to see the impression of Brigid’s club there; which if they do, they reckon it a true presage of a good crop and prosperous year, and the contrary they take as an ill omen.” The same custom is described by another witness thus: “Upon the night before Candlemas it is usual to make a bed with corn and hay, over which some blankets are laid, in a part of the house, near the door. When it is ready, a person goes out and repeats three times, … ‘Bridget, Bridget, come in; thy bed is ready.’ One or more candles are left burning near it all night.”
Witchcraft

From the Confession of Isobel Gowdiecauldron

'We would go to several houses in the night time. We were at Candlemas last in Grangehill, where we got meat and drink enough. The Devil sat at the head of the table, and all the Coven about. That night he desired Alexander Elder in Earlseat to say the grace before meat, which he did; and is this: "We eat this meat in the Devil's name " [etc.]. And then we began to eat. And when we had ended eating, we looked steadfastly to the Devil, and bowing ourselves to him, we said to the Devil, We thank thee, our Lord, for this.--We killed an ox, in Burgie, about the dawing of the day, and we brought the ox with us home to Aulderne, and did eat all amongst us in an house in Aulderne, and feasted on it.'
Quoted in Margaret Alice Murray, The Witch-Cult in Western Europe, 1921, Verse.5.

Candles

01

At first sight it would seem that the candles were naturally used only to illuminate the midnight festivities, but the evidence points to the burning lights being part of the ritual. This is also suggested by the importance, in the cult, of the early-spring festival of Candlemas; a festival which has long been recognized as of pre-Christian origin.
The light is particularly mentioned in many instances as being carried by the Devil, usually on his head; the witches often lit their torches and candles at this flame, though sometimes it seems that the Devil lit the torch and then presented it to the witch. To call the chief of the cult Lucifer was therefore peculiarly appropriate, especially at the Candlemas Sabbath.
The February Eve Ritual

After usual opening, all are doubly purified [that is, with eighty winecheesestrokes].
Dance round outside circle, High Priestess with sword girded on and drawn, and Phallic wand in left hand.
Enter circle.
Magus assumes God position.
High Priestess gives Fivefold Kiss, invokes: "Dread Lord of death and Resurrection, life and the giver of life, Lord within ourselves, whose name is Mystery of Mysteries, encourage our hearts. Let the light crystalize in our blood, fulfilling us of resurrection, for there is no part of us that is not of the gods. Descend, we pray thee, upon this thy servant and Priest (name)."
All should be purified in sacrifice before him. He then purifies the High Priestess with his own hands, and others if he will.
 
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