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Man, this is a day for posting! :-)
But. I went to a wonderful Imbolg ritual on Wednesday night (I may have mentioned this already). There was dancing, crowning with hearts and ribbons, wish-making, seed-planting (and sharing), and wonderful food.
And, since then, I've been having some thoughts.
What I've been thinking about is this.:
Ottawa does not have the same climat as southern England does. Thus the "lambing-season and beginning of spring" theme of Imbolg doesn't do much for me in terms of identification.
So, I've been thinking about what happens in Ottawa during early February, and this is what I've come up with. :-) (Note: I've lifted it out of my file on Ottawa-Climat High Feasts, so forgive me for some repetitions). :-)
*****
Imbolg:
I do not live on a livestock farm. I am not staying up at night with a new-born lamb or calf when Imbolg rolls around.
However, the days are getting noticeably longer and n Ottawa, there is almost always a bout of above-freezing weather during Winterlude (aka: Early February).
So, while I know that I won't be "dancing around my crocuses" come mid-March, Imbolg does offer a handy reminder that Spring is on the way.
At this time of year, I find that I get an inexplicable urge to clean my house. I also find that I want to bake like crazy.
(Brigid's day and all — it's the hearth-fires calling to be tended).
So there is usually a lot of baking going on, plus some "Spring Cleaning", even though Spring isn't really awake yet.
Gods-wise, I tend to think of Imbolg as being a combination of Sun/Fire and Earth for what is being celebrated.
Ritually speaking, this is a time for clearing out old stuff that you don't need anymore, repairing stuff that needs fixing, and deciding what you want to plant in order to harvest them six months from now (at that other Sun/Fire and Earth feast, Lughnasadh).
This is figurative as well as literal.
Certainly, clean house, throw out garbage that you no-longer need, do house-hold repairs, order seeds from your seed catalogues, and make cookies or bread or whatever you're inclined to bake.
But you can also decide what you want to develop in yourself over the next year. Make wishes, plant seeds of change in your own mind. Heal yourself. Use this time to ritually shake off the winter blahs, so to speak, by pampering oneself and indulging one's senses which have been heavily under wraps (litterally) since the cold set in. Eat good food, smell good smells (Nile Valley incense smells like honey and flowers! Mmm!), dance, sing, surround yourself with colour and beauty.
Just as the land experiences a reprieve from winter's cold at this time, so too can we give ourselves a much-needed opportunity to rejuvenate ourselves.
*****
What do you all think about this? :-)
Off to make dinner now. :-)
- Nam'ara,
- Amazon. :-)
But. I went to a wonderful Imbolg ritual on Wednesday night (I may have mentioned this already). There was dancing, crowning with hearts and ribbons, wish-making, seed-planting (and sharing), and wonderful food.
And, since then, I've been having some thoughts.
What I've been thinking about is this.:
Ottawa does not have the same climat as southern England does. Thus the "lambing-season and beginning of spring" theme of Imbolg doesn't do much for me in terms of identification.
So, I've been thinking about what happens in Ottawa during early February, and this is what I've come up with. :-) (Note: I've lifted it out of my file on Ottawa-Climat High Feasts, so forgive me for some repetitions). :-)
*****
Imbolg:
I do not live on a livestock farm. I am not staying up at night with a new-born lamb or calf when Imbolg rolls around.
However, the days are getting noticeably longer and n Ottawa, there is almost always a bout of above-freezing weather during Winterlude (aka: Early February).
So, while I know that I won't be "dancing around my crocuses" come mid-March, Imbolg does offer a handy reminder that Spring is on the way.
At this time of year, I find that I get an inexplicable urge to clean my house. I also find that I want to bake like crazy.
(Brigid's day and all — it's the hearth-fires calling to be tended).
So there is usually a lot of baking going on, plus some "Spring Cleaning", even though Spring isn't really awake yet.
Gods-wise, I tend to think of Imbolg as being a combination of Sun/Fire and Earth for what is being celebrated.
Ritually speaking, this is a time for clearing out old stuff that you don't need anymore, repairing stuff that needs fixing, and deciding what you want to plant in order to harvest them six months from now (at that other Sun/Fire and Earth feast, Lughnasadh).
This is figurative as well as literal.
Certainly, clean house, throw out garbage that you no-longer need, do house-hold repairs, order seeds from your seed catalogues, and make cookies or bread or whatever you're inclined to bake.
But you can also decide what you want to develop in yourself over the next year. Make wishes, plant seeds of change in your own mind. Heal yourself. Use this time to ritually shake off the winter blahs, so to speak, by pampering oneself and indulging one's senses which have been heavily under wraps (litterally) since the cold set in. Eat good food, smell good smells (Nile Valley incense smells like honey and flowers! Mmm!), dance, sing, surround yourself with colour and beauty.
Just as the land experiences a reprieve from winter's cold at this time, so too can we give ourselves a much-needed opportunity to rejuvenate ourselves.
*****
What do you all think about this? :-)
Off to make dinner now. :-)
- Nam'ara,
- Amazon. :-)
