That is what my grandmother called what we now know as Imbolc. “You can feel it”, she would say. “Everything is trying to rush toward spring just waiting to bust out” Then she would tell me if we had 6 more weeks of winter on the way or not. Which was often accompanied by “Who needs a ground hog! I can tell the weather my damn self!” “This is when all the young ones are so darn annoying” she would go on. “They feel a potential birth in them and don’t know what to do with the energy. It’s best for them to go tend the garden and keep busy to keep out of trouble.” She was talking about heightened sexual energy in the young and it is true of the animals and plants too.
To me Imbolc has always represented the third trimester pregnancy. That pressure right before birth in the cycle of life. That is the feel of the world energy I get this time of year. Many things are about to be born. The Earth is warming, plants are quickening from that warmth and it is time to protect them and watch them carefully. There are still a few more cold storms coming before spring. It pays to be patient a bit longer with such things. So, tend the garden of your life and prepare for what you want to birth come Spring Equinox. For me the preparation for Imbolc begins with the Yule, the winter solstice and culminates on Imbolc with a birthing ritual for the new year. Following is some prose I wrote that describes that process…
To read more, pick up a copy of the current issue (Imbolc) from the Newsstand!
About The Author
