Imbolc and Brigid

I thought I would talk about the holiday that is today. Now you might be asking you’re self what is there to be celebrating here on February 2nd. Good question actually. Like most holidays, take a look outside and see what’s going on and you’ll have a general idea of what would be honored on that day. Thanksgiving is the harvest, Halloween we honor our ancestors. Christmas… well that’s a whole book’s worth of topics. Like all winter holidays, this one honors the returning of the sun.

For those that don’t know, Imbolc was celebrated by the ancient Celts as the time between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Imbolc can be translated from the Old Irish I mbolg meaning “in the belly”. This refers to the time when ewes were pregnant. It can also be translated from oimelc meaning “ewe’s milk”.  The combination of the fertility/gestation, nourishment, and the returning of light makes Imbolc a very special time.

Okay, so I’m going to assume you’re thinking that an ancient pagan holiday has nothing to do with me? Ah but that’s where we can thank Christianity for not completely eradicating all traces of early earth-based traditions.  When the Roman Catholics invaded the British Isles and Ireland the celebration of Candlemas is celebrated on February 2nd and there for the two was merged. Candlemas is also called the Purification of the Blessed Virgin. Seeing how I’m not Catholic, nor have I been, I’m not exactly sure what this purpose of this holiday is but if I might take a stab in the dark I think it might have to with Mary, Mother of Jesus, and honoring her in some way.

Now back to the Celts. The Goddess Brigid (pronounced BREED) was honored on this day. She was the goddess of healing, poetry, and smithcraft (metallurgy). Her name translated means “exhaled one”. She is also said to protect cattle (and other livestock) and bring the spring. Remind you of anything; groundhogs day perhaps? Of course there will be six more weeks of winter. Brigid carries the sacred flame. This is both the heat from the hearth fire and the fire of inspiration. It is the fire of divinity, the fire of the holy spirit in Christianity. This fire brings us hope and light to our cold and winter-weary bones. Six more weeks till the Spring Equinox and the warming of the earth.

So here we have Imbolc and Candlemas, Brigid and the Virgin Mary. These things correlate so well do they not? Brigid the goddess was made a saint. She served the same purposes as a saint as she did a pagan goddess. St. Brigid of Kildare is very controversial for the documentation of her birth and her death appear in several places but do not match up.  It is also very striking that the Celts would have a goddess who just happened to match up perfectly with the associations of this saint.

Where does this leave us? Here in the Midwest we are experiencing the coldest weather we’ve had since… well, last winter I would suppose. Last winter was very warm and that makes these temperatures that hover just above zero during the day and that dive well into the negative thirty’s at night all the more intense. We can light candles on this day, or a fire in the hearth if we are so privileged to have such things, and feel the fires heavenly warmth. We can look at the rising sun and see how far we’ve progressed with the intentions and goals we set at solstice or at New Year’s. Have we tended those goals? Have you given up on them? In reflection do you find the soil has gone fallow? What do you need to nourish to bring life back to your goals? Are you tending that inner fire? What are you feeding that fire and is it proving to be good fuel or do you need to dig deeper, find the better wood, make the hard choices and sacrifice something in order for your goals to be nourished?

In honor of Brigid, I will be posting a short story on the blog next week relating to this fire festival. 

Check back in the middle of next week for that. What creative endeavor do you do? What do you create? What does that fire feel like?