πππBlessed Imbolcπππ
Imbolc (Oimelc, St. Brigid’s day) is the festival that marks the end of winter and brings us the hope of warmth and light, we’re getting closer to spring time. Normally around this time of the year the ground is covered with snow and it’s so cold and freezing, everything happens underground, but if you look closely enough you might see a little Snowdrop peekaboo above the cold ground. As if it were saying: “Keep hope, it won’t be long now till the cold is over.” And that’s what Imbolc stands for, with this festival we celebrate the hidden forces of nature and ourselves. Of course, we’re still living in the cold and darker season but it’s time to get ready for the period of growth. The first lambs will be born and we start to reflect on our plans for this year. What will we achieve and what do we need.
Imbolc also stands for cleansing, purification. We’re putting away the midwinter decorations that we might still have around and clean our houses and ourselves, getting ourselves ready for this new growth. Clean your house with some Florida water added to your mopping water and clean the floors with it. You can also add it to your bucket of cleaning water and clean everything while thinking about cleansing out all negativity and feel how it surrounds you with new and clear energy. Take a walk outside through nature and focus and fantasize on what you will achieve. Which seeds you will plant and how they will turn out. What is it that you really want to achieve. But stay silent, look around you and observe, when you’re home you can write it all down in your magical diary. Try to take walks as much as possible even when the weather is not that likable. With those daily walks (even it’s only for a short while) you are showing yourself that you’re ready to leave the winter season behind and starting your new path. You will get so much energy from it!π
Of course there are many more rituals for celebrating Imbolc. Letting go of what we don’t need anymore and leaving it behind. Visualise what will sprout from the seeds that you’ve planted.
This is my altar for Imbolc (see picture below). You can decorate it as you like, of course. This year I chose to make it look like this. Also this is the first Imbolc for this antique secretaire that I bought at a thrift-store when we moved into our new house, and yes, i knew it when I saw this secretaire that this would be my main altar.
I crocheted little snowflakes and spread them around, cause it’s still winter and for me snowflakes are a sign that belongs to this year-festival.Β Also there is a cute and oh so pretty little spirit doll that is especially made for this festival, created by the talented The Needle Witch (on fb) she’s surrounded by sea salt and herbs that stands for protection and make it look like shes dancing in the snow. I won this cutey in a give-away along with some items for a spell, and that spell is what you can see on this picture.
Before I started my ritual I purified myself, our house and my altar. I lighted up some candles as you can see, with my intentions and plans for the upcoming year in mind. The things I really want to accomplish, like that my shop will become a succes and that I can make my living off of it. That’s such a big wish of me and it’s something I wanted for such a long, long time and I finally took the step. With Yule I made decisions about how I want my life to become and what I need to let go of and do for that. And now with Imbolc I see it even more clearer, the decisions that I made are the right ones, I feel that trough my whole body and soul and I just have to stay focused and have faith and trust in myself that I can accomplish that.
You can also see on top of my altar that there are several plants, I love plants like many people know already, but I keep plant seedlings on my altar to see them grow. For Imbolc I just thought that this is pretty cool and it fits great with this festival, cause you can also see those little baby plants grow and getting stronger, just as your plans and intentions for this year will grow and become what you want them to be. Just thought about that, and wanted to share that too with you. I’m a plantmom, can you tell? π
Later today I will do another Imbolc ritual and make a Brigit Cross, also Jeffrey will be joining the ritual tonight. He’s new in the art of witchcraft and doesn’t calls himself a witch (yet), but he really enjoys how pure rituals are and how its all about being thankful for what we have and what we receive, how green traditional witchcraft is about old traditions and nature. It’s such a blessing if you ask me, if your partner is totally okay with you as the person that you are π
In this case his life is like one of a fairy tale, every time he comes home, that witch is on the couch (or somewhere else in our house, cooking, or whatever) hahaha.
Okay, time to close my screen and hop on to the kitchen and make some Imbolc nommies, a cake! (Will post a picture of that later on our Instagram page)
I wish you all a happy and Blessed Imbolcπ
Love,
Brenπ
It’s such a wonderful thing to be part of this with you. I would love to write something about these festivals from my point of view in the future as well. π Thank you for sharing all of this with us!
I totally love the spirit of this celebration. I think it’s really beautiful β₯οΈ
The power of nature is so magnificent and beautiful to see (or actually not see) that life continues to grow even without actually seeing it. Really looking forward to seeing all those spring flowers sprouting out of the soil/ground.
I wish you very nice and blessed imbolc rituals. I wish that your dreams may come true.
Thank you for taking us on this beautiful journey! π₯°πβ₯οΈ
Your welcome π Hope to take you all in many more journey’s π Nature is the most powerfull and prettiest power there isπ I’m so looking forward to spring too, love that season so much. But it’s coming closer π
Your altar looks gorgeous, and your plants seem lovely.
Have a blessed Imbolc! π
Thank you so much, Blessed Imbolc for you alsoπ
Thank you for sharing your expirience and life Bren. Blessed Imbolc.
Your welcome, happy to share it. Will do that way more often, I will also be sharing recipes for food and all natural diy cleaning supplies and all π
Blessed Imbolcπ