It’s in the waiting - the liminal space - where true beginnings start.
Another turn in the Wheel of the Year greets us as we move into the cross-fire festival celebration of Imbolc - the traditional first day of spring. We enter the Imbolc portal at sunset tonight taking us into the bright energy of the Full Moon in Leo on February 1st with astrological Imbolc arriving on February 3rd.
This is a very special union of lunar and solar, a time for us to embrace the increasing light that is beginning to shine. Even though in the Northern Hemisphere most of us are in the grips of wintery white, below the surface, new life is taking form. Imbolc means “in the belly”. In the sacred dark of the soil, seeds are stirring. They innately know that soon it will be time to make their way through the earthly birth canal. It's in the waiting - this liminal space - where true beginnings start.
Imbolc is strongly connected with Brigid - the Irish solar Goddess of hearth, home, healing, midwifery, creativity and metalsmith. She is a Goddess who is near and dear to my heart, and my priestess path. For it was Brigid who midwifed me a decade ago to reclaim and reawaken what had been buried but not forgotten. She spoke to me in so many ways, some subtle and some more direct.
Brigid's energy dominates this time of year as she guides us to becoming aware of the new life that is gestating and appearing all around us and inside of us. Snowdrops, some of the first blooms to make an entrance after the thaw, herald that warmer and abundant days are ahead.
In honour of Brigid and Imbolc, light a candle or a fire (safely) to represent her sacred flame. Take a few breath cycles, exhaling fully and when ready tune into your heart. See a spark of light beginning to grow into a beautiful flame of knowing, and ask Brigid to guide you to answer the following:
What is gestating “in the belly/womb” for me?
What am I readying to give life to?
What and where on my path am I moving towards? From stillness to emerging, what is asking to be born?
Imbolc encourages us to take our ideas to full term, to not rush the beautiful creations that will arrive in due time. Brigid asks us to be patient. To know that she walks with us as we enter the “labour” process. We don't know how long birthing will take or if it will be easy or challenging. All we know, is that on the other side of what has been growing is something new and ready to bloom, it's in own time.
Wishing you a blessed Imbolc!
