After the stillness of Yule and the deepness of winter, the light begins to return. The eternal cycle of life moves around the Wheel of the Year, and Imbolc is here. In cold, northern climates, snow may continue for several weeks, and some days feel as if it will never end. Yet underneath the snow, in response to the growing sunlight, the earth is beginning to awaken from the season of Deep Rest, and new life is stirring. In agrarian northern climates, sheep begin having their lambs. Snowdrops, crocuses and other early spring bulbs begin to appear. Seeds planted in the fall begin their germination, and send out shoots, as nature begins to awake.
From time immemorial, in Celtic areas of Britain, Imbolc has been welcomed as the first day of early spring, ushering in a season of introspection, cleansing and preparation. From winter’s Deep Rest, we move into the time on the Wheel of the Year when we begin preparing for the planting season of later spring. Between now and the Vernal Equinox in March, these 6 – 7 weeks are the seasonal time to get really clear about what we really, really want to create this year. It is a time for deep reflection, planning, and assessing. It’s a time of winnowing out what is no longer wanted or needed or what is holding us back, from our lives and relationships, and our work in the world, first and foremost within ourselves, so that we can prepare the alchemical “soil” within ourselves, for this year’s Heart’s Desires to develop and come to fruition.
Imbolc and Brigid
The Celtic goddess Brigid is deeply and powerfully associated with Imbolc. She was so profoundly a part of the lives and world of the Celts, that when the Catholic church colonized Ireland, they were not able to erase her. Instead, she was subsumed into their St. Brigid, and many elements and symbols of her story, her influence and her work were rewritten and “catholicized”. Brigid is a goddess of “fire and flame, change, poetry and inspiration, transformation, wisdom, healing, creativity, water, prophesy, education and learning.”1 A Mother Goddess, she was a champion, advocate and protector of women and children.
Called the Goddess of the Eternal Flame, her flame was tended and kept alive at her shrine in Kildare from the 5th century BCE until the 16th century, when Henry VIII had all the old shrines destroyed.2 She is also called the Goddess of the Sacred Well, and in this capacity she is a protector of healing waters, especially of her Sacred Well at Liscannor. There are still wells throughout Ireland dedicated to her.
Even today, her influence and inspiration for women in Ireland is profound. February 1 is St. Brigid’s Day, a national holiday in Ireland, and Irish embassies around the world lift up her influence, sharing stories about her, and the contributions of Irish women inspired by her.
Brigid is so enduringly and powerfully associated with Imbolc because she is a powerful goddess of transformation and new beginnings. This goddess is strong, wise, powerful, resourceful and clever. She represents the potential for women to be independent, self-sovereign and nurturing, independent from the limitations of patriarchy and the Patriarchy Core Wound. She is a powerful archetype, advocate and source of inspiration for women healing their Mother Wound. With her combination of nurturing and inner strength, her archetypal story inspires women in healing injuries they experienced from lost nurturance, protection and guidance from their mothers, and in developing compassion and inner strength, in claiming our inner authority, and embodying our full Self-expression.
Wisdom Teachings for Imbolc
No matter where we live, or the climate we live in, we can attune to the wisdom, power and wholeness of the Sacred Feminine path by following the Wheel of the Year, and mark Imbolc as the opening of one of several seasons of new beginnings, throughout the year. During Imbolc, we are powerfully supported by the Earth and the Heavens when we do so, since this season of new beginnings is also expressed in the Heavens, bringing together the union of male and female, necessary for all creation, and expressive of the Hermetic principle “As above, so below.”
Living in sync with the Wheel of the Year brings power and potency and easeful grace into our lives because we are working with natural rhythms, not against them, and brings our Heart’s Desires to fullness more easily with greater success.
The gift and the power of Imbolc is this time of preparation. In Celtic lands, this season was known as the Cleansing Tide.3 During these weeks of early spring, homes and properties and all things were washed clean or swept away. Tools or equipment were repaired. It was also a season of personal preparation and purification, of thinking and planning, a time of considering the people, objects and philosophies in our lives, and lovingly releasing what was timely to be released. This time of pondering and self-reflection includes considering our family relationships, and how fulfilling and close they are. It is also a season to consider if we carry wounds in our hearts from unmet childhood needs, including the Mother Wound.
This season of cleansing and preparation is often overlooked or rushed through in modern life. Yet nature gives us 6 – 7 weeks for this preparation so that we can be ready and prepared in a grounded way, for the spring planting season that opens with the Vernal Equinox.
Embracing Imbolc in Your Life
We can embrace the gift and power of Imbolc by consciously staying present to this season and not rushing through it, giving ourselves the time and space to do the Inner Work of self-reflection, questioning, considering and assessing. This begins the process of winnowing out what is no longer needed.
It also begins another process – the process of individuation. As the plant begins to grow from the seed, and become an individual plant, so we begin to grow into our full Selves in this process of winnowing out. Individuation is the process of claiming who you are, what you believe, what you stand for, and your Heart’s Desires, independent of others’ opinions, or what others think you should be or what you should value or Desire. Individuation partners with self-responsibility for healing the injuries from the past, including childhood traumas and the Mother Wound, which limit our full thriving, and Self-expression, as the adult women we are now. When we take this time for reflection, questioning and self-assessment, with self-responsibility for our own healing and growth – which is the process of individuation – we use the season of Imbolc well.
Begin by taking some quiet time to journal about some or all of the following questions and others that will bubble up:
Who am I, underneath my outward appearances and roles?
What really, really matters to me? What are my greatest passions?
What are the values I hold at my core?
What do I see as my greatest gifts and talents? How are they being expressed in my life?
What brings me the greatest joy and fulfillment in life?
How is my relationship with myself? How are I nurturing and supporting myself?
How are my relationships with others, including my family members? How am I fulfilling my highest callings in my relationships?
How is my relationship with my mother? Did I receive the nurturance, protection and guidance I needed growing up? How has that impacted my life?
What are my spiritual beliefs, regardless of the beliefs of others or the way I grew up?
What am I spiritually dedicated to?
What is stirring within me that seeks to grow? How will I nurture this growth?
What do I really, really want to create and bring to harvest this year? What is my Heart’s Desire this year?
Brigid and Healing Your Mother Wound … and Beyond.
Imbolc is a wonderful season to connect with Brigid and her story, and to draw upon her energy and archetypal resonance. Regardless of where you are in your life, or on your Heroine’s Journey, she can be a source of inspiration and strength to you.
As the Goddess of the Forge, she is keeper of the forge of transformation. She is a powerful ally on your Heroine’s Journey, from healing your Mother Wound, other childhood traumas, or relationship with your spouse or others, to fully embodying your highest Evolved Self, and fulfilling your highest work for this lifetime. She is an archetypal expression of the Divine Mother’s fully balanced inner strength, compassion, wisdom, independence, and protection. She is a fierce champion and protector of women and girls. If your own mother was not present for you with the nurturance, protection, or guidance that you needed as a child, you can connect with this motherly presence and energy now through connecting with Brigid.
Her story itself is a beautiful expression of Imbolc. She was a goddess known for her effective use of disguise. Beginning as a Celtic goddess, she took the guise of a Catholic saint out of necessity. This was not her true expression, but rather a quieted, subdued Brigid. In recent decades, she has been returned to her goddess form.
Imbolc is that time of transformation in her story. If honored consciously, Imbolc can be that moment of transformation, and a turning point in your Heroine’s Journey story as well.
The Turning Point: Declaring Your Commitment
Once we have gone through a conscious season of self-reflection, consideration, meditation and winnowing out to lovingly release what is no longer needed, it is time to formally declare who we are, what we value, what we are committed to, and what our Heart’s Desires are.
Rising from the Deep Rest of winter, close to the heartbeat of the Sacred Feminine, we own our Self-responsibility, and define ourselves. We name and claim our Heart’s Desires, and our Self-responsibility for engaging our Heroine’s Journeys well.
A Ritual for Healing Your Heart of Your Mother Wound
Light a candle, create your sacred space, call in the presence of Brigid, and speak aloud, or silently in your own words:
Brigid, Keeper of the Flame, Tender of the Well
I ask for your support and help for the healing of my heart.
Please look deep within me, and find the injuries that lie beneath the surface, and bring them to my awareness so they may be healed.
I ask that you assist to ease the pain within my heart.
Just as this candle shines, I ask that you shine a light on my path of healing.
Shine a light so bright and clear that the path to healing is unmistakable.
Please support me to make my heart whole again.5
Sit in this quiet space for a few minutes. When this feels complete, invite Brigid’s presence to walk with you if you desire, close the circle, and snuff out the candle.
An Invitation
We can yearn for new beginnings any time of year; the spiritual principles and energies so potent and activated during Imbolc and the season of the Cleansing Tide are also activated other times of year, including at each New Moon. No matter what season this is, if you yearn for a New Beginning in your life or relationships, particularly if you hunger for healing of your Mother Wound, I lovingly invite you to learn about Healing Your Mother Wound, Healing Your Heart. This is my specialty Heroine’s Journey Healing Program™ for women who did not receive the nurturance, protection or guidance they needed from their mothers growing up.
Healing your Mother Wound is the healing that will deeply heal and transform your life, and set you free to create and experience the fullness of joy in your life and relationships, and the embodied Self-expression your Soul hungers for. If this speaks to your heart, I warmly invite you to learn more.
References:
1. Imbolc: Rituals, Recipes and Lore for Brigid’s Day, pg. 24. Llewellen Publications.
2. Ibid.
3. Women’s Rites, Women’s Mysteries: Intuitive Ritual Creation. Ruth Barrett. Llewellen Publications
4. Ibid.
5. Adapted from Imbolc: Rituals, Recipes and Lore for Brigid’s Day. Pg. 127
© February 1, 2024. Imbolc. Last Quarter Moon in Scorpio.
Debra Brown Gordy, MS MRET. All Rights Reserved.
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Debra Brown Gordy, MS MRET is a former Relationship Therapist, now women’s trauma healing Energy Therapist and pioneer in healing the Mother Wound, as central to healing the Patriarchy Core Wound™. A mentor and teacher, her work sits at the interface of depth healing, women’s spirituality, and timeless Western wisdom traditions.
Beginning in her late 30’s, Debra had a series of spiritual experiences that deeply healed and transformed her own life from childhood and relationship trauma. After 2 divorces, she has been happily married to her Beloved for over 29 years.
Now Debra bridges the worlds to help accomplished, ambitious women in their prime to heal their inner child of their Mother Wound so they can have peace with their childhoods, feel deeper inner security and happiness, and create greater harmony, connection, and soul-satisfying love and partnership in their marriages, without reliving all the pain.
Debra is the founder of The Sophia Women’s Institute and works with clients worldwide.
