Imbolc Tidings, Tending the Hearth, & Aquarian Times

Tidings of Imbolc, the liminal time that marks the midway point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox! This Celtic holiday has become one of my favourites over the years, perhaps because while snow might still be thick on the ground where I am, the days are growing obviously longer and the feeling of life's re-emergence is at the fore. Perhaps, too, it's because of my growing knowledge of and appreciation for the goddess and saint Brigid of Kildare. Brigid is known as the tender of the hearth-fire in Celtic tradition, a healer who showed up for all those who sought her help, a bringer of hospitality, so important in many of our ancestors' traditions, as well as a mystical being who could, and often did, turn small amounts of food into very large ones so that whole villages could be fed, and no one would go hungry in times when they often did.

Tending the hearth:: a concept that was perhaps more important back in the day than it seems now in our modern world. Yet when the home's main source of heat is literally the fire burning in the stove, this symbolism becomes both real and sacredly potent! Some days I greet my own wood-burning stove with a sense of paying homage, totally connecting with the sacredness of the act of creating and maintaining fire. Other days I haphazardly put something together, and maybe it resembles the beginnings of a fire, but it's as though the would-be creation can feel my lack of enthusiasm, and nothing really happens. Then I am forced to attempt this once more, heartily now, and it actually catches and stays. Sometimes I even have to take apart what I initially put together to make it more worthwhile since my initial attempts were a bit messy. Either way, the intention within this effort is felt by reality, which coalesces around it, and the purpose of creating warmth, light, and transformation, when in tune, makes the entire house cozy and sweet. Literally the whole house is warmed by this one stove! And it's at times like these that I really remember my ancestors, and all of our ancestors, whose only way to have light and warmth were with some form of fire. Tending the fire is what allows the rest of life to go on smoothly; it's what allows for the cooking of food, the warmth needed to move through the long winter days, and the flames perfect for introspection at the end of those days.

Here we are, invited to tend our own hearth fires while simultaneously opening to the longer days, the Spring that isn't so far away anymore. Here we are, invited to re-emerge from the depths of our inward-turning, bringing with us wisdom sometimes hard-won and forevermore in this quiver of gifts we now carry. What does it feel like to begin to resurface after a deep dive into the dark? What will you continue to tend even as the days lengthen and the air becomes warm?

Imbolc always takes place within the sign of Aquarius, a place where many planets are congregating at the moment:: Mercury in retrograde (until February 20th), Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and of course, the Sun! That's a lot of ingenuity, originality, and authenticity! Mercury might ask us to get curious about how we can bring more of what really resonates with our truth fully into our lives, and Venus might ask us to connect more authentically with ourselves and others rather than carrying on in the way we always have, even when we and those with whom we're relating have changed. Jupiter might ask us to believe in what is sincerely genuine to our inner natures, and expand into that, while Saturn may invite us to put boundaries in place that keep us from doing things that may have once worked but really don't behoove the people we've become. And the Sun shines its brilliance on all of these different facets of our inner and outer realities with a force of gravitas that holds it all together, keeping the independent energies working within the same solar system and ecosystem that represents each of us.

I'll leave you with a poem (see below) that I was inspired to write for Imbolc. If it's too long, no matter. Have a lovely season, and remember, the Force is always with you!

From where does the spark of creativity arise?
Cultures ‘round the world have sought to surmise.
Though a true mystery from the depths this topic might be,
We all have access to its presence, when we only choose to see.
Time and space must be created to tap into this gift,
Making our hearts and minds open is necessary for the shift
In perception and awareness so a bigger reality can be known.
It’s a bit like meditation or suspending one’s disbelief,
Being available to the Universe so what pours forth, an inspiring motif.
Some times might be more easeful for this practice to bear fruit,
Like the Celtic holidays of Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, and the day of Lugh.
We are in the doorway of the first, when the goddess Brigid is celebrated,
The midway point of Winter and Spring, the signs of cold are slowly abated.
And we begin to re-emerge from the hibernation and inward-turning,
Aligning with Life and its outward expression; for this, many hearts have been yearning.
But the journey deep within is important to our topic at hand,
For if we’re only externally-focused, the creative force may not have space to land
In your own being and experience, which is sincerely your birthright;
For you are inherently creative, and in this you’re meant to delight.
Especially on this Imbolc, a beautiful time of ceremony,
May your honour the presence of life around you and within you, basking in the harmony
That is truly always present when you make yourself available in every way
To the magic of the life force, and with you, it just might stay!