Imbolc

01/26/20 • 38 min

May the blessings of Imbolc be upon you! I am utterly thrilled to be sharing this beautiful celebration with you. Imbolc is the beautiful festival and celebration of awakening, fertility, birthing, and beginning. It is the promise of renewal, of hidden potential, of the earth slowly awakening and of life-force stirring.

As I explored the celebration of Imbolc, the one recurring theme that arose was that for many who have celebrated Imbolc over the years: it was either the beginning of their year or the ramp to the beginning of their year. To myself and others, it was almost as if we were living in the season of waiting and not knowing, the liminal space, the timeless time between last year and the future year and it was in fact at Imbolc that the year would really begin. So at this time of Imbolc, we welcome the growth of the returning light and witness life's rebirth.

The most prominent deity associated with Imbolc is the great fire goddess, Brighid. Myths regarding Brighid’s birth say she was born with a flame in her head and fed on the milk of a mystical or faery cow as a child. She is thought to provide ample supplies of milk to the community or village that honors her and is the patron goddess of fertility, pregnancy and midwifery, the home and all dairy and domestic-related activities.

I offer this episode as a way to explore the history and traditions of Imbolc and to connect with the fascinating, protective, loving, fierce, capable, and frankly incredible deity that is Brighid. We will end with ritual, prayer and gentle meditation to honor this magical time of year.

May Brighid offer us fierce protection, loving protection, and inspiration in this time of re-birth!

May Brighid offer us fierce protection, loving protection, and inspiration in this time of re-birth!

Previous Episode

Yule

Happy Solstice, Good Yule to you, and welcome to the first episode of Animisma - All Things In-Spirited!

During this first season, we will follow The Celtic Wheel of the Year. Eight episodes will be dedicated to the eight traditional festivals and each episode will be released on the day of each festival, offering an opportunity for you to connect with and celebrate the festival.

Season 1 of Animisma is also offered as a bridge towards reclaiming the indigenous wisdom of our Celtic ancestry. My hope for this first season of Animisma is to offer anyone who shares the bloodlines of my ancestors a pathway back to the old ways that welcomed us into the web of all existence and offered us connection to presence, each other, and to the magic of the world around us, wherever we may find ourselves. Perhaps by reclaiming our indigenous wisdom, we can heal our lines, truthfully acknowledge the past, and in doing so, claim a future of connection, respect, and reverence for the lands, waters, trees, animals, and all people. Perhaps today we can claim community as connection and no matter what our bloodline, rest into the deep knowing that we are all indigenous children of the Earth.

So, today we launch this podcast on Yule, which we will take as the 1st celebration of the year. For eons, celebrations of the returning light have taken place on the Hibernal or Winter Solstice. I offer this first episode as a way to reveal a little of its history and to connect with this beloved ancestral celebration of the returning light. We will end with a gentle meditation and a blessing to ring in the season.

May the blessings be plentiful and may grace guide you and hold you into the coming year!

Next Episode

Ostara

Blessings on this Spring Equinox, dear ones. For the Celtic wheel of the year, this celebration is sometimes referred to as Ostara. As the northern hemisphere tilts towards the sun, the days begin to lengthen, and the sun turns towards the North, we officially welcome the Spring and all that it represents - freshness, green shoots, birdsong, warmer days, and cleansing rains.

And in context for those that are listening from the future, we are currently experiencing a rather large tensing of the social fabric of our culture as a virus is spreading very quickly around the world. We are now, and always have been, part of a deeply connected world, and it is times like these that shine a light on how brilliantly interdependent we are.

Today, I invite you to gift yourself with some space to rest and relax during this time of challenge and change. On this day, the light and the dark, the day and the night are conceptually equal. There is a beautiful, balancing quality to the equinox and its gifts of day and night held in dynamic equality offer us an opportunity to reflect on our own sense of balance.

As part of my offering into the cauldron of change and transformation we are experiencing, and in service of this Spring Equinox where the balance of light and dark is upon us, I offer you some pathways to your own inner resiliency via some visualizations and meditations.

May the goddess of the dawn walk beside us and sit with us at our hearth, as we ground, breathe, and deepen into the understanding of what challenge truly is and the wisdom and freedom offered through change.