Imbolc ~ Beginning of Spring

Today, February 2, it is Imbolc and the active part of the year begins. Imbolc stands for “oimelc” and that means “ewe’s milk”. This refers to the lactation of the ewes that gave birth to lambs. Imbolc also refers to ‘in the belly’ or ‘in the womb’ and refers to the pregnancy of ewes that are pregnant this time of the year. In Nature, Mother Nature is pregnant and She is letting us know that She has awakened from her Winter’s Rest. You can see this in the buds on the trees and the first Spring flowers such as the Snowdrops, Crocuses and Daffodils. Everything around you is being prepared for the active part of the year.

Imbolc is originally a Celtic festival, dedicated to Brigid, the Goddess of Forge, Healing, Fertility and Art. This day is also known as Brigid’s Day. Imbolc is the celebration of the return of Spring and with it the return of the fertility of the earth. Just like the ewes, Mother Earth is pregnant this time of year with all the life deep in the ground that will soon come out in Spring. Imbolc is therefore the Celtic name for Spring.

The first signs of Spring, such as the Snowdrops rising above the ground and the Crocuses beginning to bloom, the first sign of life in Nature, were celebrated in ancient times. Winter had been conquered and they had survived again. Cheese, butter and cream could be made from the milk of the sheep. And that was a welcome addition to the scarce food from the storage cellar and barns. Imbolc is an exuberant and cheerful party.

In the past, the fields were ploughed and fertilized again and during Imbolc people asked Brigid to bless the cattle and the earth so that a bountiful harvest could be reaped in the autumn. Agricultural tools were inaugurated for the work to come, Brigid’s Crosses were made to protect home and hearth and to bring fertility. Corn dolls were made, dressed and carried from door to door by girls on the night before Imbolc. Everyone hung a small gift on it. Special cakes were baked and there was a dance party for everyone. The older women of the community made beds for the Corn dolls and staffs for them to hold. In this way, the Corn doll representing the Goddess Brigid could sleep peacefully and comfortably. If the next day marks could be found in the ashes of the hearth, made by the staffs, a good year was coming.

In many areas Imbolc meant the first day of ploughing. To celebrate this officially, a plough was decorated and towed from door to door. Costumed children demanded presents and treats from every house. When they got nothing, the front yard was ploughed. The plough is an important object at Imbolc celebrations. Whiskey, Water of Life, was poured over the plough, or pieces of bread and cheese were placed on it as an offering for the Nature Spirits. Drink and bread were also poured and crumbled over the new furrows and fields. In this way the people wanted to fsvour the Nature Spirits so that the harvest would be abundant in the Fall.

Imbolc is also a Fire and Fertility Festival with bonfires and lots of candles and anything creative in nature. The fires symbolize the increase of the Sun’s power in the coming months.

To give shape to this tradition in our modern times, you can light candles and decorate your altar or coffee table with Spring flowers, such as Hyacinths, Crocus, Grape Hyacinths or Snowdrops. If the temperature permits it, place Spring flowers on your garden table.

Imbolc is the first of 3 Spring celebrations. After Imbolc comes Ostara and then Beltane. During the Winter you have been thinking about last year, what went well and what could be improved. What you would like to realise in the new year; projects, plans, ideas, spiritual growth. During Yule you gave that your full attention and these seeds started to grow deep within you. They are still deep within you, you have given them attention and nurtured and prepared for the moment to bring them out into the open. Imbolc is the moment you are going to pay active attention to your plans. Still within you, but you go from thinking to preparing and acting on them.

We are all familiar with the Great Spring Cleaning and it is still a tradition for some to do this in February. All Midwinter decorations really need to be removed from the house now, as we say goodbye to Winter and welcome Spring into our home and our hearts. February is also the Latin word for purification. With Imbolc you can clean your house and furniture with Sage or Mugwort water or smudge your house with Sage or Mugwort. Don’t forget to wash your windows and curtains too. And let the fresh air blow away all the ‘spider webs’ by opening doors and windows for a completely refreshed home.

With Imbolc you not only clean your home, but also yourself physically and energetically from Winter’s Dust to make room for new intentions in a positive way and with a clear mind. From Imbolc you will actively pay attention to everything you want to achieve this year.

Your Spring cleaning makes room for new things. Out with the old, in with the New. By cleaning, literally and figuratively, you make room for your new seeds to plant and grow. Give your seeds attention and love, listen to your bubbling inspiration and act accordingly. Enjoy growing your inspiration, your plans, projects, ideas, your “seeds” deep within you. Now the time has come when you can finally give your full attention to everything you want to achieve this year. You can show it to the outside world, like a snowdrop sticks its head above the snow.

This is also the moment when you decide for yourself which seeds you are going to plant. What do you want to grow this year? Where do you want to grow, develop and flourish? Are you ready for the active part of the year? Visualise that as clearly as possible or write it down for yourself. Think about your heart’s desire every day and act on it every day.

Imbolc Herbs and Incense

Imbolc herbs are:

  • Birch
  • Dandelion
  • Yarrow
  • Nettle
  • Narrowleaf Plantain
  • Laurel
  • Blackberry
  • Celandine
  • Coltsfoot
  • Heather
  • Tansy
  • Viola
  • Angelica
  • Clover
  • Willow

Imbolc Incense can be made from equal parts of:

  • Thyme
  • Mint
  • White Sage or Mugwort
  • Juniper berries
  • Sandalwood
  • Cedar wood

You can add:

  • Rosemary
  • Basil
  • Myrrh

With this incense you can clean your home energetically well with Imbolc.

Imbolc Colours and Crystals

Imbolc colours are the colours that you see in Nature:

  • Green
  • White
  • Brown
  • Silver
  • Gold
  • Yellow
  • Purple
  • Pink
  • Blue

Imbolc Crystals are:

  • Moss agate
  • Amethyst
  • Turquoise
  • Rock crystal
  • Citrine
  • Yellow and Green Tourmaline
  • Carnelian
  • Rose quartz
  • Chrysoprase
  • Moonstone

Celebrating Imbolc

What can you do with Imbolc? A lot, actually. I’ve gathered options I think suit Imbolc best. Hope you can get some great ideas on what you can do with Imbolc. Play with the examples and make it your own special Imbolc celebration ♥

Cleansing Bath

Imbolc is the time to energetically cleanse and purify yourself and prepare yourself for the active part of the year. You put yourself back into action mode. A great way to start this active part of the year is to take a Cleansing Bath the night before Imbolc. Make a nice warm bath with drops of Lavender oil and add some Sea Salt. Place a few candles around your bath and light them. You can play some soft and soothing music to come to terms with yourself. As you sit in your warm and calming bath, visualize the “Winter’s dust” moving away from your body, along with any negativity and stress from the past Winter Season. Then visualize yourself reborn from your Cleansing Bath, being the Virgin or the young deer or the young Goddess / God, full of strength, energy and ready to take on the challenges ahead.

Imbolc Altar

Honour the young woman or virgin and the young man deer, Brigid and the young God. Decorate your altar with yellow, pink and white candles or tea lights. Then decorate it with Spring flowers such as Hyacinths, Snowdrops, Crocus or Grape Hyacinth. Burn Imbolc incense and top it off with Imbolc crystals. To honour Brigid, you can place a white and a green candle on your altar.

Lamps or Candles Ceremony

It is a tradition to light all lamps and candles in the house after sunset with Imbolc. It is of course not necessary to let them all burn during the night. A short moment is enough. Another option is to light a candle and make a round in every room of your house and honour the return of Sun’s power. Make sure you never leave a candle unattended! And stop for a moment in each room, visualizing that the Sun power illuminates the room and all shadows melt away. With Yule you celebrate the return of the Sun and with Imbolc you celebrate the return of the power of Sun. When you are back in your living room, put your candle on the table and, while looking at the flame, think of your own internal flame or fire. How that fire warms you internally, makes your passion grow and feeds your creativity and imagination. Then thank Brigid for her blessings. End your ceremony with a nice mug of hot chocolate or Slemp.

Labyrinth walking

With Imbolc you get really active with your plans, ideas, wishes and dreams that you have thought about during the Winter’s Rest. You do not yet bring them in the open, but you start working with them internally. You just get pregnant with your own plans. But maybe you have a lot of plans and you may not know which plan to act on first. Or you are still in doubt or you don’t know your plans yet. To get some clarification, it is a good idea to walk a Labyrinth in the fresh air.

The photo shows the Labyrinth in the Museum Forest of my hometown Almere in The Netherlands. I walked this one in 2020 with a dear friend. It was cold, it was raining and I felt anything but good. Yet I started to walk it stubbornly and it has brought me a lot. On the way in, I started thinking about what kept me busy, what I no longer wanted, what patterns and habits hindered me from being who I wanted to be. And gradually I was able to let go of all that, creating room for new things, thinking about the future, what do I want for myself and my family. Ultimately that put me on track to take steps and if I now look at where I am now today and how I feel compared to the start of this year, all I can say is: wow!

I definitely recommend that you take a Labyrinth walk if that is an option for you of course. If you don’t have a Labyrinth nearby, you can always draw one yourself on the sand of a beach, or put one of stones or leaves or Chestnuts-Acorns-Hazelnuts on a field or in the forest. And otherwise you can always lay out one of stones or beads on your table or desk.

Write down what your goals are for this year or what you want to “sow”

To connect with your goals or plans, you can write a poem or text in which you clearly state what your goals are that you want to achieve this year. After you wrote them down, visualize these goals into reality and what you have sown you visualize to full bloom. After this, roll up the paper and tie it with a pink, yellow, or white ribbon or all three. Give it a quiet place on your altar or desk or where you can see it every day (just like seeds in the earth) and then when you see it again honour and cherish it, just as you would water and nourish seeds in the earth and the Sun would shine on the soil in which the seeds were planted.

To visualize this nicely for yourself, you can make a Vision Board and hang it somewhere where you walk by it every day. In that way you are always reminded of where you want to go this year and you can make adjustments if the issues of the day or circumstances lead you in a different direction.

The Four Seasons Exercise

To validate your Vision Board, it is a good idea to do the Four Seasons Exercise:

Write at every Season in the following order:

  • Winter: 3 plans, wishes, ideas or goals you want to work on
  • Autumn: 3x what you want to have realized and harvest in Autumn
  • Spring: 3x what you will do, so that you can receive your harvest in the Fall
  • Summer: 3x what will ensure that you keep the focus on your goals and what you want to harvest

The Labyrinth in combination with the Vision Board and the Four Seasons Exercise is a powerful combination.

First you walk the Labyrinth, you let go of what no longer serves you or what bothers you, what you no longer want or what makes you unhappy. On the way out, think about who you are by nature, what you want, how you want it and what you can do to get there. That way you automatically start to think in terms of opportunities and possibilities.

When you get home, make the Vision Board. You still have a clear vision in your head of what you want and if you connect images to it by photos or pictures, your plans in your head will be made visible on the Vision Board in front of you.

Finally, do the Four Seasons Exercise, where you will convert your plans into a focused action plan with the help of your Vision Board. And then commit yourself to do 1 action (or more J) every day that brings you closer to your goal.

I wish you a successful active part of the year ♥

Aniseed cookies

Aniseed is one of the spices that belongs to Imbolc. Aniseed promotes fertility, stimulates breast milk and is therefore given to women in childbirth.

This is what you need:

  • 75 grams of spelt flour
  • 75 grams of oatmeal
  • 75 grams of white caster sugar or cane sugar
  • 5 tablespoons of liquid butter
  • 3 tablespoons of oat milk
  • 3 teaspoons of aniseed
  • baking paper

This is how you make it:

  • Preheat the oven to 170 ° C.
  • Knead the ingredients into a firm dough. Shape it into balls the size of a ping pong ball.
  • Place the dough balls on a baking tray covered with baking paper and flatten them a bit.
  • Bake the cookies in the hot oven for approx. 16-18 minutes until done and lightly browned.

Drink a delicious herbal tea of Blackberry or Cinnamon or a mix of Blackberry, Clover and Willow with your Anise cookies.

Elvenwine (One of my favorites)

A nice moment for yourself or with a meal. This drink actually always works well.

This is what you need:

  • Milk (I use Oat milk)
  • Honey
  • Vanilla extract
  • Cinnamon

This is how you make it:

Heat the milk until it boils. Add honey and vanilla. Stir well. Divide the milk between glasses and sprinkle cinnamon on top.

If you like Aniseed, you can add some of that as well.

Pancakes

It is a tradition to eat pancakes on February 2. Many people no longer know why. Well, it is part of the Imbolc celebration. By baking the pancakes, the surplus flour was used and thus made room for the new harvest. The round shape of pancakes and the golden colour refer to the coming Spring and in particular to the return of the sun.

A pleasant meal with family and friends, consisting of:

  • Milk (the kind that you prefer)
  • Cheese
  • Cheese fondue
  • Pancakes
  • Aniseed bread and cookies
  • Bread with many seeds such as poppy seeds and anise.
  • Cake
  • Raisins
  • Pretzels
  • Herbal Tea: Red Clover, Rosemary, Black Currant, Jasmine, Apricot

On your table you place Spring flowers such as the Hyacinths and Snowdrops, pink, yellow, green and white candles or tea lights. And so you all welcome the Spring and the Sun back into your home. That’s how I celebrate Imbolc with my husband and son and I enjoy it every year ♥

Slemp

Slemp is an Old Dutch Drink that goes very well with Imbolc. It is made from milk and symbolizes fertility. The herbs used have empowering and protective properties. And it tastes very good 😉

This is what you need:

  • 1 ½ litres of (oat) milk
  • 3 teaspoons of tea leaves
  • Cinnamon stick
  • Lemon peel
  • 3 Cloves (or less to taste)
  • Some foil
  • 3 Saffron threads or Turmeric
  • 60 grams of Sugar or Honey
  • Tea bag or cotton bag

This is how you make it:

  • Heat the milk until it boils.
  • Place all the herbs and the tea in a cotton bag and hang it in the milk.
  • Place the lid on the pan.
  • Let it steep for an hour.
  • Then add sugar or honey to taste.
  • Serve it when it is hot.

You can bind Slemp with some egg yolk or cornflour.

Be careful, if you serve the Slemp hot, there may be a skin on the milk.

Brigid’s Cross

A really nice thing to do with Imbolc is making a Brigid’s Cross. It is traditionally made from the last grain. But now you can also make it from raffia or Willow branches or straw and it is even possible with pipe cleaners. The cross is symbolic, so use whatever suits you and you what you like. The cross should hang in your house all year round. It protects your home, hearth and livestock. In modern times that means your home, family and your plans. Before you hang this year’s cross, thank the old one and dispose of that in an environmentally friendly way or burn it in a ritual fire. Then bless the new cross in your own way, for example with the blessing of the 4 Elements. If you have any questions about that, I will be happy to help you. This way you can turn your Brigid’s Cross into a real power object that will help you remember what you want to achieve this year.

This is how you make a Brigid’s Cross

Fertility doll

In one of her many capacities, Brigid is known as the bride. It is a symbol of fertility and happiness and is seen as a step in the cycle of life, death and rebirth. Traditionally, the Brigid doll has been made from woven grain such as Oats or Wheat. You can also make her from Corn leaves, straw grass, or wool / cotton. They are so much fun to make! And a nice gift to give to friends during Imbolc. Have lots of fun making them!

Waking up Mother Earth

Do you celebrate Imbolc with children? Then collect some branches. Let the children decorate it nicely and attach small bells to it.

Or follow this tutorial: http://honderdprocentheppie.blogspot.com/2011/08/toverstaf-tutorial-voor-kekmama.html The tutorial is in Dutch, but the pictures are so detailed that you can easily make one J

Then all go outside and let the children with the decorated Bell Staffs tap carefully the trees, bushes and the earth to gently wake up Mother Earth.

Afterwards enjoy a delicious feast ♥

What else can be done with Imbolc:

  • Watch the Sunrise and the Sunset
  • Make music or listen to music that makes you happy and cheerful
  • Make music with the drum to welcome the Sun back
  • Prepare your garden, tidy up, see what you want to plant later, organise
  • Bless your garden by sprinkling dried herbs, flour and salt
  • Make Rain Sticks: https://plantingideas.blogspot.com/2011/12/native-american-rain-sticks-by-johnna.html?m=1
  • Make candles from old candles
  • Collect stones, paint symbols on them that are important to you and give them a nice place
  • Divine with Tarot or Oracle Cards, the Pendulum, Ogham, Runes, Scrying, I Ching, Auto Writing

Have a cosy, warm and beautiful Imbolc ♥

With love,
Elke )O( The Alder Scrolls /|\  © 2020

Sources:

#Nature #Attention #Inspiration #ElkeTheAlderScrolls #Druid #Witch #InTheFootstepsOfTheDruid #TheAlderScrolls #SelfCoaching #Imbolc #WheelOfTheYear #WheelOfTheYearCelebration #Divination #BrigidsCross #FertilityDoll #VisionBoard

)O( SelfCoaching /|\