Imbolc, seeds and grief
I can’t seem to tear myself away from staring at pictures of Glastonbury, England. Perhaps it’s because today is Imbolc, and though I am culturally Jewish, I feel especially at home in relationship with pre-patriarchal earth based traditions. Imbolc marks the middle of winter and holds the promise of spring. In surfing (procrastinating!) I found a website that offers some questions to consider today:
What seeds that have been planted in you, that have been laying asleep through the winter, have just moved on their own in your life? Can you sense an impending something in your life? Is there something that is yet to manifest above ground into physical reality, yet it lies there just sprouting under the dark covering blanket of Earth inside you? How can you nurture this seedling in the coming days and months?
But I can’t forget that everywhere I turn (including inward), I am encountering grief.
What is the relationship between grief and seeds?
Tags: earth based traditions, grief, Imbolc, Insight, life, meaning, pagan, seeds
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February 1, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Being in the Southern Hemisphere, we don’t celebrate Imbolc until the 2nd of August.
Imbolc or Candlemas involves celebrations of banishing the winter and welcoming the spring. Light a candle in every room of the house or turn on all the lights for a moment or two to welcome back the sun. At the time of Candlemas, the newborn sun god is seen as a small child nursing from his mother. At this phase of the cycle, winter is swept away and new beginnings are nurtured. The goddess becomes the Maiden again as the wheel turns towards spring. It a celebration of Spring and the new life it represents.
Imbolc is a celebration of the coming spring, and has been celebrated in many ways, in many cultures. Many early cultures saw and gave honor to the early signs that Winter was almost over and Spring was coming soon. The sap in the trees would begin to flow, the cattle would begin to lactate, the return of certain species of birds, even a little creature called a groundhog, looking for it’s shadow, have all been signs or portents of the release of Winter’s icy hold on the land. The church honors St. Brigid, who is really just a Christianized version of the Celtic Goddess of Fire, Brighid.
Another name for Imbolc is Ashgrove Esbat. The Ash is one of the most magical of trees in Britain, and in the Norse mythology the Ash was Yggdrasil, or World Tree, where the God Odin hung for nine days and nights to claim the knowledge of the Runes and was then reborn.
Imbolic Spells and Chants
Imbolc is a time of awakening and rejoicing at the imminent return of Spring, and spells of blessing are especially potent this time of year.
An Imbolc Blessing:
Cold Winter is gone,
the snow will soon thaw,
life stirs deep in the Earth.
We sing the Great Goddess
back with us once more,
To bless the land in it’s rebirth.
The snowmelt soon comes,
the trees will draw breath,
the robin will lend us her voice.
Come Pure Maiden,
Bless now your Earth,
In Goddess and Love we rejoice.
An Imbolc Carol
We dance the Ring of Imbolc,
We dance the round of Spring,
We dance this night to Invoke
The hope that it will bring.
February 1, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Thanks for all the information, Michelle! And it’s perfect as I am dancing tonight! Blessings to you.
February 3, 2008 at 5:49 pm
This From “WeMoon ‘06″ (I believe the excerpt is from Starhawk):
Imbolc symbolizes the season when Mother Earth cleanses the debris that is cluttering Her delicate topsoil. Glaciers begin to melt, rivers swell and rains wash away that which is no longer useful. She prepares herself to embrace this year’s new growth through elemental cleansing. Imbolc teaches us how to ready ourselves for our own new growth through symbolic cleansing.”
February 3, 2008 at 6:44 pm
I love you Staci…..All is as it should be…..SEE the LIGHT.
February 3, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Thank you Jill for adding so much to the conversation with this quote. That’s what I’m getting: grief is a potential awakener, an opportunity to transform, bringing potential new growth (seeds!).
Thank you Linda for your faith, I love you too!
February 5, 2008 at 9:15 pm
For me what comes is that it depends how present we can be with our grief. If we can stay open and follow that thread, then what is breaking down will also break open. In that broken-openness, the seed fulfills its nourishing impulse to spill forth the design within.
Ok, just made that up…..feels right, though.
Yes, grief.
February 6, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Yes, staying open to the grief and following the thread. I don’t know if you have read Martin Prechtel but he says that if as a culture we could learn how to be with grief–clothes shredding keening scab opening grief–we would have less war. Yes, grief.
February 8, 2008 at 11:14 am
Staci, You might enjoy this article in The Sun about grief: http://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/385/through_a_glass_darkly
February 8, 2008 at 11:34 am
Thanks, Sage! I have read it and LOVED it. It was quite validating to connect with a psychology that resonates. Thanks for stopping by!