It’s that time to celebrate another pagan sabbat. Imbolc is known basically as the Pagan new year. It is a time to reset and is traditionally a festival that marks the beginning of spring and Mother Nature’s return. The word “Imbolc” means in the belly. The earth is slowly starting to wake up from her deep winter slumber. Halfway between the Winter and Spring equinoxes and was widely observed in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. the festival is also honouring the goddess Brigid. She is associated with spring, fertility, healing, poetry and smith craft. Brigid and eventually Imbolc like most things were pre-christian but were eventually Christianized into Saint Brigid and then the Feast Day of Saint Brigid which they still celebrate to this day. Imbolc promises longer days, life and vitality ahead of us. Another “holiday” that Imbolc is known as and one you may be more familiar with is Groundhog Day. I say holiday loosely because I would hardly classify Groundhog Day as a holiday but it does signify very similar things that I really think should be celebrated. The return of spring and Mother Nature. For us Winnipeggers we are always chasing good weather. Especially for those of us who suffer from SAD and seasonal depressions. This holiday is one that should bring hope and joy to us. Yes realistically spring will not be here for several more weeks, but the idea that winter is almost over definitely gives me hope and excites me for many different reasons.

How to celebrate:

1) Spring cleaning!! So simple but yes even something like spring cleaning can have intention and thought put into it. Time to purge all the things that are cluttering and weighing your space down. Clean the things you only do quarterly or even twice a year. Make your space light and feel good about a clean living area. Decorate your kitchen or living area with daffodils or fresh white and yellow flowers symbolizing spring and life.

2) Bake poppyseed muffins, sugar cookies or fresh loaves of bread. Alternately if you don’t feel like or have time for baking you can eat fresh bread and baked muffins. Who doesn’t love eating baked goods? Other things you can eat can be dairy products like milk, cream or cheeses.

3) Cleanse and purify your home. You can do this with sage or any other kind of burning incense, whatever you have on hand. Lavender and Jasmine would both work

4) Go for a walk near a river or stream and look for signs of spring.

5) Have a cleansing milk bath ritual. Add white candles, crystals associated with Imbolc such as carnelian, moonstone, amethyst or malachite, milk and honey and any white or yellow flowers or petals. Daffodils are one of the traditional flowers of Imbolc.

6) Decorate your Imbolc altar. Make a Brigid’s cross, decorate with flowers, white candles and plants.

7) Drink an herbal tea. Chamomile, bay leaves and rosemary are typically associated with Imbolc so sit down and enjoy a nice calming cup of tea. Look out the window and enjoy the light. Sit by a fire and enjoy the warmth going down your throat.

8) Try divination! If you have never tried this could be a good time to start either reading tarot or if you are an experienced tarot reader you could try something new like Scrying or Runes. Runes seem very appropriate and suitable.

Myself personally I will definitely be spring cleaning. With our upcoming move this is actually something I have been gradually working on for a few weeks now. I will definitely be cleansing my home before I take off for the day tomorrow. And also for when I return from spending the day away. We are showing our home tomorrow so cleansing will be very important. I definitely plan on having some sort of baked goods, for sure fresh bread, but I likely will not have time to bake. My altar is all packed away for the moment so no decorating unfortunately. But I may look at my runes as well and get more acquainted with them as that has actually been a goal of mine for a while. Today was the day a year ago that I discovered I lost our baby number 3 so you’d think this day would be really hard for me. I do feel a little sad but there is a lot going on in my life at the moment that I haven’t fully processed the fact that a year has gone by. There are so many good things happening for us, I can’t get into it all just quite yet but I will be updating very shortly when I can. All I can say is life is weird. But nevertheless find some way to celebrate the spring months that are ahead of us. I feel we have gotten through the worst of winter and good things are on the horizon. Happy Imbolc friends!