Imbolc Introspection
Imbolc: Celebration of Returning Light
February 2 Imbolc/Mid-Winter: celebration, prophecy, purification, initiation—Candlemas (Christian), New Year (Tibetan, Chinese, Iroquois), Tu Bi-Shevat (Jewish). Goddess Festivals: Brigit, Brighid, Brigid (Celtic).
The seasonal cycle of the year is created by Earth’s annual orbit around the sun. Solstices are the extreme points as Earth’s axis tilts toward or away from the sun—when days and nights are longest or shortest. On equinoxes, days and nights are equal in all parts of the world. Four cross-quarter days roughly mark the midpoints in between solstices and equinoxes. We commemorate these natural turning points in the Earth’s cycle. Seasonal celebrations of most cultures cluster around these same natural turning points.
Celebration of hearth fire, and time to plant the future we want to see. Spirit wants your attention. A restlessness is growing to break the constraints of winter, and with it comes the fire of inspiration. The light is waxing, and what was born in darkness begins to manifest.
Cabin fever. We gather our strength and vision, begin to wake up with nature to the creative work of fundamental change. For all its power, the patriarchy never dreamt of us. Imagine kicking in the rotten door of its powerhouse, igniting the fuse of revolution together!
Opening © Jenny Hahn 2004
All we have to lose are our illusions! Being disillusioned is a great start; naked in the light of reality, we can visualize a personal/global politics of Satisfaction, of enough-ness. This system can cope with most anything: protests, violence, voting, terrorism. But it can't cope with the radical act of people's refusal to participate in an economy of excess.
As we become conscientious objectors in the battle for more, we find that experimentation is a great way to live. Join evolution in its holy work of making guesses.
-Oak Chezar © Mother Tongue Ink 2019
Also in Pagan Holiday Rituals and Traditions
Samhain Blessings
The witches' new year. Time when the fields lie empty and the year lies down. The gates of life swing open, the dead lean in. Our world's veil is at its thinnest; we peer through the lace to find that growing edge. We meet in Deep Time, everywhere and nowhere, to greet the triple goddess who is the circle of rebirth.
Summer Solstice Rituals and Traditions
The triumph of light peaks, slides slowly to dissolve. This is the tipping point for everything: democracy, misogyny, racism, climate, freedom. All are on a cliff edge. We've reached the neon-bright entrance to The Great Turning. Change is the only thing that doesn't change. Are we ready?
Lammas Rituals and Traditions
Feel the passing of summer; as light lessens, we deepen the rhythms of rebirth. This is the first harvest—a time of abundance, our opportunity to assume conscious collective responsibility for creating the future.