Happy February, blessed Imbolc. Welcome to the dawn of the year. I have been letting the liminal energies swaddle me.
The turning of the wheel stirs the deep remembrance within to center, examine, and realign with my values and continue to tend to the relationship to the land I am with right now. The land I am in relationship with right now, is very literally that of the liminal space. I am once again packing up and traveling.
This day weaves together the Pagan threads of Goddess / St. Brigid, ewe milk, dawn, thresholds, fertility, wolves, flames, protection, how the Celtic celebration of Imbolc mirrors the Slavic tradition of Gromnica (the thunder candle), protection, purification, life, death, and rebirth. On Imbolc, the old woman of winter - the Cailleach - becomes Brigid, goddess of the spring awakening.
Brigid is also the goddess of inspiration, she is the feeling that makes our heart beat faster and is our depths from which we create. She is the resolute life force that resurges no matter what. She is the keeper of the holy flame we use for transformation and the sacred well from which we heal. May your flames be renewed and bring the first stirrings of spring, of new beginnings, of abundance, and fresh bursts of creativity.
What feels most alive on this cross-quarter day is purification. How the flames of the thunder candle, or lightning itself can illuminate and draw our attention to something. Then whatever is out of balance can be brought into our awareness and addressed directly. Though a strike — of inspiration— we can see more clearly how we can realign our energies.
How after a long winter, can we shake off parts of ourselves that have remained hidden in the darkness, shake off our separation, and come back together— with ourselves, and with each other. I have found that I can’t get free by running away from myself (or others) even if it’s tempting and might for a fleeting moment provide a respite. True sovereignty is sought by meeting the edgy parts of myself (and others) over and over again until fully integrated.