Celebrating Imbolc
“Here is hope. We welcome the growth of the returning light and witness life’s insatiable appetite for rebirth.”
Imbolc, on the 1st-2nd February, is the celebration of new life, the earth awakening, and a time to explore the ideas and wisdom garnered from a peaceful winter (and we’ve all had one of those, right?!).
Imbolc feels like a much more natural time to begin planning than the 1st of January, where we’re still reeling from Christmas. Winters are cold, dark and can feel long - the last few years have been no exception.
As with our inner winter, the more time we can carve out to sit with our thoughts, the more we shall reap the creative rewards come springtime. When is the last time you sat and wrote out your ideas, or drew them out of your head and on to a vision board? Light and energy is increasing. This is a great time to harness the natural growth and fertility in the air and create a new beginning of your own. A new product, a new project, a whole new business!
I know a lot of us are struggling with the Groundhog Day effect, and no, there might not be time to launch something right now but that is the beauty of this season. It’s not about throwing yourself full force at your work and ideas. It’s about drafting the plans, ruminating, planting the seeds so they can take root. Dreaming about what you can and will do in those warmer months that are coming. And they are coming.
Align Your Activism with the Seasons
Can you feel the stirrings of revolution through the earth?
How can you bring any increasing energy you are feeling to the movements around you?
What movements or injustices have you been learning about over the winter? How can you use this new knowledge?
Think about the year ahead. Is there a local community project or campaign you can get involved with longer term?
Or a way to lend your voice and skills to a global cause? Everybody is needed - from organisers, artists and designers, to admin and research.
Align Your Business with the Seasons
Are you on my mailing list yet? Join now to receive my mini video workshop, Imbolc to Equinox: Preparing to Emerge.
This is the perfect time to hold on to hope and look ahead.
What did you learn last year that you wish to bring into this year? How will you do this?
How will you release what has been holding you back?
What seeds do you want to plant for this year?
Maybe instead of releasing what’s holding us back, the question should be how are you releasing tension? How are you working through the negative and holding yourself in a positive space? And if you have the answer to this one, please let me know!
If you’d like support as you plant the seeds of new ideas this year, I’d love to hear from you. Find out how we can work together here.
Ways to Celebrate
Go for a walk or explore your own garden to gather buds, willow, winter jasmine, hellebores, and snow drops to create a wreath or Imbolc bouquet.
Write out your plans and intentions - what do you want to do for yourself or with your business this year? How will these plans help you grow in line with your values?
Connect with those around you, in your local, online or global community. What do others need? What are you good at that could be of help?
Have a spring clean! Declutter and reorganise your space to welcome in new opportunities. Clean the windows to welcome in the increasing light.
Make peace with what or who no longer serves you and let them go. It’s time for a fresh start.
Plant seeds in a pot or in the garden. As they grow let them remind you of your plans. Nurture them, remember them, keep them alive!
Pull cards for an Imbolc tarot spread. There are a number on Pinterest, but I particularly like the questions on this Mynas Moon blog.
The Wheel of the Year
Most people are familiar with the spring and autumn equinoxes, and summer and winter solstices which mark the four quarter points of the wheel of the year. These are the solar festivals, marking the high points of the seasons, but there are four lesser known fire festivals (or cross quarters) which mark each season's beginning - Imbolc, Beltane, Lammas, and Samhain. So instead of dividing the year into 12 months, it is divided into eight sections - quarters and cross quarters.
You can see my posts on all eight of the festivals here.
People of different nature-based faiths celebrate the Wheel of the Year, including Pagans and Wiccans, and the festivals are influenced by folklore and ancient beliefs. I am not a religious person but have found following these celebrations a wonderful way to ground myself and a healthy reminder to change the way I work throughout the year.
I'd love to hear how you're celebrating this season? Do come and let me know on Instagram!
