In the northern hemisphere, the festival of Imbolc marks the very first stirrings of new life. It is a time of bitter weather and biting winds. The days may have been growing longer since the Winter Solstice but it often seems like winter is now at its harshest. The long cold nights of January often weary the spirits and fierce storms are common in February. Yet look closely and glimmers of change can be found in the new buds on the trees and the green shoots of early spring flowers breaking through the frozen earth.
Key Themes
Cross quarter
pre-dawn new life
Celebrating and honouring
awakening
quickening
cleansing
return of the sun
hope
birth
fresh thoughts, dreams, actions
rising sap
the home
family bonds
The animals, too, know that winter’s hold will soon be broken, and the first of the year’s lambs are usually born on these long cold nights, greeting the dawn of the spring with their first breaths, and giving this festival its name – Imbolc means ‘in the belly’, referring to sheep who are pregnant at this time, as well as to the fertility of the earth. Another name for Imbolc is Oimelc, meaning ‘ewe’s milk’, which was a valuable supplement to our early ancestors’ diet, giving strength to those who were weakened through the winter, such as children and the infirm.
Imbolc honours the home and hearth, as well as blessing the fields for future fertility. Central to the festival is the Celtic goddess Brighid, known also Brigid, Brigit, Brigidh, Bride, meaning ‘exalted one’. Another interpretation of her name is that it comes from the Gaelic Breo-Saighead, meaning ‘fiery arrow’ and signifying her solar aspects. Brighid is the patron goddess of birth, pregnancy, the home and all domestic and dairy-related activities, as well as smith-craft, healing and poetry. In Ireland Brighid is the daughter of the Dagda, ‘the good god’, and she is said sometimes to have two sisters, also called Brighid, suggesting she is in fact one of many triple goddesses found in Celtic and other European traditions (see also page 163). In antiquity such goddesses are usually three women of similar age but with perhaps different aspects – usually one holding a baby, another a sheaf of grain and a third with some other relevant symbol, such as a scroll to represent knowledge or a bowl of food – rather than the modern triplicity of maiden, mother and crone.
Fed as a child on the milk of otherworldly or faery cows, and often portrayed as milking a cow, Brighid is deeply associated with fertility. She provides ample supplies of milk for the tribe or village that honours her, and her limitless larder means none go hungry. Honouring Imbolc and the goddess Brighid is about strengthening the bonds of home, family and community that are so important at this time. You might want to think of this period as providing sustenance for both your body and your soul after the challenges of a long winter.
Brighid was worshipped all across Britain and Ireland, and is often associated with holy wells and springs, such as Bride’s Well in Glastonbury. Brighid is likely to be the same goddess as Brigantia, honoured by the Brigantes tribe in northern England, and Britain itself is named after her – Britannia is the Romanized version of her name. As such she is also concerned with ideas about sovereignty, both of the nation and in the sense of personal empowerment.
During your Imbolc festivities, you may like to perform a simple welcoming ritual for Brighid, asking for her blessing upon the household for the following year. First make the home as tidy and pretty as possible, fit for an honoured guest, and as dusk approaches, open the front door wide and take a moment to feel or visualize her presence. Then use this traditional welcome or your own words, to welcome and invite her to your home:
‘The bride has come! The bride is welcome! Goddess Brighid, this is your day, I welcome you to our home, beloved guest. Blessed be!’
You may also then like to set her a place at your table, or put a glass of milk or wine in a special glass beside the fire for her.
Goddess transformed
With the coming of Christianity, Brighid became transformed, if somewhat demoted, into St Brigid/St Brigit. The church took on her names, sacred enclosures, legends, prayers and characteristics, her associations with fertility making her known as the midwife of Christ. Her holy day of Imbolc remained also, transformed into Candlemas, a remaining vestige of her fire worship. In Anglo-Saxon times, libations of bread and milk were given to the fields on this day, as Saxon practice merged with the earlier traditions. Some scholars now associate Brighid with numerous grain goddesses worshipped across Iron Age Europe, linked to similar practices and symbolism. Brighid’s crosses (see page 37), solar wheels made of straw, or sometimes of willow and wool, are still popular for protection and blessing in Ireland and across Celtic Britain.
Brighid, goddess of the home, healing and poetry
Brighid and later St Brigit had a sanctuary at Kildare, in Ireland, which was famous for its healers and was likely to once have been a pagan Druidic college. The word Kildare is a modernized version of cil dara, meaning ‘the church of the oak’, suggesting that a great oak tree once stood in the area – a last vestige of the pagan temple before the church claimed the site for their own. At Kildare a sacred perpetual fire, used for healing, blessing and inspiration, was maintained for centuries until it was extinguished in the Reformation in the 16th century. This fire has now been relit, and other Brighid’s flames have been kindled from this and are held in numerous sacred places around the world, including at Glastonbury in the UK.
The Brat Bhride – Brighid's or Bridie's mantle – is traditionally a white cloak or piece of cloth used for blessings and healings. At dusk on 31 January, place the cloth outside, over the branch of a tree or bush, and in the night Brighid will pass by and bless it.
The blessed cloth can be used in a variety of ways, but is particularly good to cover those who are unwell or those receiving healing. Smaller cloths can be used dipped in water – especially water drawn from a sacred natural spring – to lave the forehead of those with fevers, or to hold over bruises, etc.
This is good magic to use, especially around children. While it’s not meant to compensate for modern medicine, a Bridie's mantle can be a source of great comfort, and bring ease and peace to those in distress, like a magical comfort blanket.
Sometimes negative energy naturally accumulates over time in an area. This energetic cleansing ceremony is an expanded version of the traditional house blessing performed at Imbolc. You may find it particularly useful if you have had a harsh winter, have just moved home or just want a new start.
You will need a fresh white candle in a good sturdy holder that you can move about easily, and a handheld mirror. First see to it that everywhere is clean and tidy – floors swept and any dust and, especially, any cobwebs, wiped away – so that you are ready to welcome the goddess Brighid into your home. Starting at the kitchen table, take your candle and light it with a new match. As you do so, ask Brighid to bless the flame, and that it may represent her power. Use the following or your own words:
‘Great goddess Brighid, keeper of the flame, I ask that you bless this candle. May it be a sign of your presence and power, clearing away all negative energies. Blessed be!’
Think of Brighid’s perpetual flame at Kildare and see this flame as one seed of that great fire. Then take the mirror and angle it so that the light of the flame is reflected in the mirror. Move the mirror about so that the light it reflects dances in turn upon each wall of the room, in every nook and cranny, on every shadow. In your mind’s eye, empower the flame by trusting in Brighid, and visualize it burning away and transforming all negative or stuck energy.
Take the candle to each room and repeat the process, so that the light of Brighid reaches every corner of the house, from top to bottom. The mirror takes the energy of the candle to another level, the reflection world seen within it being the spirit version of the room you are in. However, it is also possible to perform the same blessing by just moving the candle around.
When you have gone around the whole house, set the candle somewhere where it can safely burn all the way down. Don’t blow it out, as this releases all the negativity again. Let the candle take its time, and when you look at it, see in your inner eye how it is consuming the stagnant life force that the home has accumulated over the winter and transforming all stuck patterns of the household. Thank the fire spirit present in the candle, and thank Brighid especially, for her hard work and assistance. If there is a candle stub left when the wick has burned through, bury it in the earth when the magic is done.
In the Hebrides, folklore refers to Brighid doing battle with the Cailleach or hag of winter and bringing the thaw (see page 227). At Imbolc the life force of the earth is just beginning to awaken as the wheel of the year begins its ascent toward the Spring Equinox: the sap is rising in the trees; the seeds are starting to germinate. This is symbolic of what is happening in our lives, too, as we anticipate the year ahead and make plans and resolutions for the future. These are sacred to the goddess Brighid. Her link with fire and the resurgence of life force at springtime suggest a Celtic version of the Indian concept of kundalini, which can be understood as energy rising up through the earth as well as through our bodies. Kundalini is often symbolized by a serpent, which is one of Brighid's sacred animals, and signified vitality, health, sexual potency and the phallus to our ancestors.
We, too, can honour Brighid at this time to nurture our fertility or productivity for the year ahead, calling her to be a spiritual midwife to our own life, birthing our potential as we grow in tune with our heart and spirit. Brighid can be contacted in many ways. For example, you might want to meditate on her qualities of birthing, healing and domesticity, or light a white candle in her honour or call upon her as the women used to not so long ago, for protection. There are also traditional charms to use to ask her for assistance; the one below, the ‘Descent of Brighid’, is from The Carmina Gadelica, the collection of Gaelic texts compiled by Scottish folklorist Alexander Carmichael in 1900. Visualize Brighid before you (she is usually pictured with red hair and a green dress) as you raise your arms in invocation and say:
‘Each day and each night,
That I say the Descent of Brighid
No fire shall burn me,
Nor sun shall burn me,
Nor moon shall blanch me.
Nor water shall drown me,
Nor seed of faery host shall lift me,
Nor earthly being destroy me.
I am under the shielding
Of good Brighid each day
I am under the shielding
Of good Brighid each night
Each early and late
Every dark, every light.
Brighid is my comrade-woman
Brighid is my maker of song
Brighid is my helping-woman
My choicest of women, my guide.’
As part of the Imbolc celebrations, Brighid was represented by a corn dolly, which was prepared and dressed as a ‘bride’ by the women and paraded about the houses before being led to her marriage bed, where she was lain for the night next to a phallic acorn-tipped wand, representing her lover, the god of fertility. Together they would bring life back to the land, and to ‘bring in the bride’ was to bring her blessings and protection into the home, and to enlist her power to banish any ill will or misfortune that may have gathered through the winter.
Today, 'a bed for the bride’ could be a made-up guest bed or a basket by the fire, with a white blanket in which a cloth Bridie doll (see page 38), corn dolly (see page 205) or Brighid effigy could be placed. A bed made for the night on the sofa is also a good gesture of welcome.
The acorn-tipped wand, often made of birch, is known as the white wand. Frequently thought of in modern goddess circles as a symbol of Brighid's power, this is in fact the last sign of her forgotten husband, the god of fertility banished from Christian practice when she became a saint. In some stories he is Bres the Beautiful, who holds the secret knowledge of agriculture and so, like Brighid, is associated with the fertility of the land. In other tales, he is the Dagda, the good god. Either way, Brighid’s balancing partner is surely her lover and the father of her children, by whatever name. The phallic wand of Brighid holds the male, fertilizing magic which, when used together with her female magic, blesses the home and all within it, and brings the blessings of spring. For new life, of any kind, there must be both male and female, and so it is important to remember the white wand at Imbolc.
Today, skilled woodcarvers still create beautiful white wands, some decorated with a phallus on the tip, as well as with snakes, leaves, acorns and other symbols. All you need is a stick or small branch that is straight and sound. Oak, holly and hazel are all good woods to use. When gathering the wood, ask Dagda to bless the branch and request that it may bring the male fertile magic into the house with it.
You may also wish to sand down the wood before varnishing or painting it. Traditionally, the wand was wrapped with red and white ribbons. The colours red and white recur in British mythic imagery; for example, there are red and white roses, dragons and streams or rivers. Red and white rivers may represent breast milk, tears, semen and blood or menstrual blood, symbolizing the sacred polarities of male and female, positive and negative, and referring to the divine tension and cycle of creation and destruction that governs all things.
A white wand
Attach an acorn or a pinecone to the top of the wand by cutting a slot in the wood, before gluing it and/or binding it into place with cord or ribbon. Finish by charging your wand with the god’s energy by making any prayers to it you choose, allowing your words to express your feelings and intuition.
Seeing the Milky Way stretched out encircling the horizon, our ancestors would have understood that they were held in a divine cauldron, within which the very ingredients of life were stirred with the turn of the seasons.
At Imbolc the long nights are still with us and the winter stars can be especially bright. At these times the heavens seem to take on a dramatic quality, attracting our attention as the world below slumbers beneath the soil. Start by finding Orion’s Belt, to the south and west in the northern hemisphere, and then follow the line of the belt upward to find a bright red-orange star. This is Aldebaran in the constellation of Taurus the Bull. In the Celtic tradition, bulls (known as tarbh in Gaelic) are sacred to the goddess Brighid, associated with the earth, fertility, virility and wealth. Bulls feature widely in prehistoric rock art and their skulls were placed prominently in ancient burial chambers, perhaps as totems to bring the dead back to the living in due course, just as spring returns after winter.
During the winter nights our galaxy, the Milky Way, is also especially visible as a band of shimmering stars that 5,000 years ago would have appeared to encircle the horizon during winter. It has been suggested that the Neolithic stone circle and henge at Avebury in Wiltshire were built to align with the appearance of the Milky Way at a time when it held this position.
Known as Caer Gwydion in the Welsh tradition, the Milky Way has for millennia been associated with milk and whiteness, symbolizing fertility and blessedness all around the world. The Greeks believed it was formed by the spilled breast milk of the goddess Hera, and called it the Galaxias Kyklos, meaning ‘the milky circle’, while to the Romans it was known as the Via Lactea.
Milk is seen as a magical substance in traditions all around the world, and Brighid’s associations with milk as well as with fire reveal her connection to the very primal form of fertility, the energetic, alchemical streams that combine to make life itself, often associated with the colours red and white (see page 27). This is perhaps the key to her power; in combining these energies she is able to transform or overturn the magic of the Cailleach, the old woman of winter, to forge life anew and bring the spring.
In this meditation visualize the Milky Way as our ancestors perceived it – as the rim of a divine cauldron in which life itself was created with the turn of the seasons.
Sitting comfortably, close your eyes and take three deep breaths. Let your eyes gently relax behind your closed lids, and allow your imagination to sink into the darkness. Let your breathing deepen and slow naturally, then expand your awareness to imagine that you are walking across a field of white snow in the black of night. Above you the canopy of the stars shines dazzling bright, like a scattering of diamonds.
Tall, pale shapes loom out of the darkness and you see that you are walking between huge standing stones. The ground beneath you thrums to the beat of a great, slow drum, and ahead you catch the glimpse of a flickering fire, sending sparks high up into the night. Others tread the path ahead and behind you, men and women, all approaching the fire, walking to the beat of the drum that you can hear but cannot yet see.
The path slowly rises over a wide hill and, as you reach its summit, you see ahead of you a great enclosure of shimmering stones, each far taller and wider than a man, carved of pale rock. Within the circle is a vast host of men and women, each carrying a flaming torch, and in the middle a huge bonfire, fed by logs the size of tree trunks.
Taking your turn, you enter the circle and are led to the centre. A man stands by the fire drumming upon a stone cauldron covered with a tight skin. Another holds a tall staff with a mace head upon its end, carved into the form of a howling face with wide-open eyes. The man with the staff places his hand upon your shoulder, and turns you to look at the sky. The tall stones that shimmer in the darkness are met in the sky with a wash of white and glimmering stars in a vast belt, like a pale dragon coiled around the horizon, the rim of the cauldron of life. So perfectly does the line of the stones fit with the peaks and dips of the horizon and the wide wash of stars that the earth and heavens seem to merge one into another, without separation, as if one could step out of the circle and out across space.
Take a moment to look around you and see the circling stars as a whole wheel of infinite size and take in their wonder for a while. They may speak to you in their own way if you are open to their messages.
When it is time, the man with the staff hands you a flaming torch, and you join the procession walking around the circle. Your steps fall easily into the slow beating rhythm of the drum and your heart is light within you. You are met by others, men and women, each taking a place as near as they dare to each other, raising their torches high overhead. As you tread the wheel of the circle, a strange thing begins to happen. Your feet at first crunch upon snow, but as you progress around the circle the snow melts, and the grass peeps through just as the sun rises in the east. You continue in your procession, and to your amazement the grass grows tall and flowers spring underfoot as the sun trails overhead, spinning across the sky, before disappearing into fading light in the west. There is sudden darkness before it appears again – rising and falling again, and again. Light flickers and is followed by darkness at great speed, impossible to follow. The grass slows its growth and the flowers fade and wither, and the soft meadow turns crackly with autumn leaves, before once again you feel snow beneath your feet. Over and over as you tread the wheel the seasons turn, and the great wheel of the stars all around turns with you. You feel the pull of their slow spinning, as if they are the spindle and you are the thread, your steps the churning brew in the cauldron of life itself.
In time the snow melts once more and you see the dawn glimmer on the horizon. Your steps take you from the dead of winter to the first tentative signs of spring to come, and you know it is time to step out of the circle. The man with the staff guides you to its edge, takes your torch and bids you farewell. Thank him for this night’s wisdom, before returning the way you came, between the stones over the hill, and back to your everyday world. The wheel has turned and your steps now take you ever nearer to the new day and the spring waiting just over the horizon.
Hold for a moment the memory of what you have seen and felt, and know it is yours, always, before wriggling your fingers and toes, and opening your eyes as you return to the everyday world. You may need to ground yourself carefully after this exercise by eating and drinking and taking your time to feel yourself back in your body.
Late winter is a time for allowing your imagination and creativity to envision new ways of working with or relating to the great outdoors. Give back to nature a little and put seed and fresh water out for birds and any other wild animals in your area, and leave piles of leaves or logs outside as places for creatures to shelter.
Fat balls and seed cakes are an essential supplement to support wild birds at this time of the year when finding food can be hard, especially in urban areas. Helping wildlife wherever we live is an important part of any nature-based spiritual path, reminding us that we are all interconnected and that we have a responsibility to care for the earth and all living things. Taking time to consider how we can help life flourish is both humbling and empowering, especially at this cold dark time of the year when nature may feel hard to contact but often needs us the most. The following recipe will make about 10 seed balls.
You will need
• 250g/9oz/1¼ cups lard or suet
• 500g/18oz/2½ cups of any of the following, in any combination: sultanas (golden raisins), currants, cake crumbs or breadcrumbs, oats, seeds, peanuts (never salted), grated cheese
• 10 yogurt pots or plastic cups
• 1 ball of twine or string
• Scissors
Start by placing the lard or suet in a large saucepan on a medium low heat, and heat until thoroughly melted. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined.
Pierce a hole in the bottom of the yogurt pots, and thread through a length of string or twine about 15cm (6in) in length, so that it extends out of both ends by at least 7.5cm (3in).
Divide the mixture between the yogurt pots, pressing it down firmly into each one, before placing in the fridge overnight. Be sure to leave the string extending out of the mix.
When the mix is set, remove from the fridge and gently cut away the pots. The string can then be used to hang the fat ball from a tree, hedge, birdfeeder or other suitable place.
The tradition of making offerings goes back to pagan times and folklore is full of little charms and rhymes showing how this practice changed and developed over the years. At Imbolc, offerings are usually made of milk and cream, as these are sacred to Brighid, and help to connect us more fully with the land and the season, as well as encouraging us to give back to nature.
If you wish to make an offering, place a small bowl of milk, cream or butter, or a few oatcakes, either just outside your door or in a pleasant spot in your garden. Calling upon Brighid and ‘all good spirits’ offer them this food, asking for their blessing and kinship for the growing year.
We all need inspiration and a chance to heed the voice within. Imbolc, when the year quickens into new life, is a traditional time to try fire divination to seek wisdom and inner vision to guide your steps for the months ahead. Divination can be understood as guidance from spirit, but what we sometimes underestimate is how much our own inner promptings guide and interpret what we glean from the experience. We are always in control of our destiny and divination simply helps us to navigate with clearer insights.
To try fire divination, simply light a fire or a plain white candle, using a fresh match, in a draught-free place. As you light it, give thanks to the newborn spirit of the fire or flame before you, and ask for its assistance, that you may have a glimpse of what will be. Perhaps try speaking these words:
‘Spirit of the fire and the flame, I thank you for your guidance and blessings. Please show me your wisdom, and illuminate the path before me. Blessed be!’
Then get comfortable and settled, and allow yourself to rest your eyes upon the flame, in a peaceful state of calm presence.
Let your eyes rest without focusing too hard, and share your thoughts, feelings and secrets with the spirits of the fire. In time you may see shapes, images and symbols in the fire or among the embers. Watch for the body language of the flames, its mood and responses to you. You may find words come into your mind, perhaps suggested by the sound of the flames, but look for meaning beyond words and allow yourself to extend your feelings and notice the subtle nuances of the fire’s communication, the expression in its dance or its stillness. Take your time. Divination cannot be rushed or taught, but only experienced by befriending the spirits of flame and fire, of hearth and heart.
Never blow out a magical fire or candle flame; either snuff it out or wait till it has burned down safely.
As we have seen, Brighid’s name is likely to come from the Gaelic Breo-Saighead meaning ‘fiery arrow’, and this can be understood as relating to the divine rays of the Awen, a symbol that stands for many sacred triplicities in the Celtic tradition, such as mother, father, child, but in relation to Brighid can be seen as representing her three sacred aspects: inspiration, healing and the hearth or forge. Calling upon these three aspects brings a special, alchemical balance to our lives that can have profound effects on our spiritual paths and wellbeing.
To call in inspiration is to begin to see our life infused with spirit, to discover a new or renewed vision for greater creativity on all levels. To call in healing is to resolve the things that hold us back or limit our potential. We all have parts of our lives and bodies that need healing, and to give this aspect of ourselves a boost at this time of the year sets us up for a more empowered and happier future. To call in the blessings of the hearth or the forge at this time summons greater positive energy for our families, friends and communities, with all our relationships strengthened and blessed.
Try this simple candle spell to call in Brighid’s blessings. Taken as a whole the three ‘rays’ described above, each represented by a candle, create a wave of positive energy that can touch every aspect of our lives and those around us, to create a true fresh start.
Take three new white candles of equal length, and using a knife inscribe upon them,
• Inspiration
• Healing
• Hearth (or forge, if you prefer)
Anoint them with a few drops of perfumed oil, and light them each in turn, calling upon the goddess Brighid as you do so. You may like to say these words or your own:
‘Great Brighid, she who is three, I call upon you to bless these candles, and bless me. By the light that they bring, may the sacred gifts of inspiration, healing, and hearth come to me. So mote it be.’
As the candles die down, so these qualities will be drawn into your life. You may choose to snuff them after a while, and relight them the next day, and so on until they have burned down. If so, reaffirm your intention each time you light them.
Imbolc is the festival of birthing and preparation for the year ahead, so a good time for purification rituals of all kinds. At this time we are embarking on the new life that we have dreamed of over the winter. All fresh starts should begin with purification, with literally making things clean once again, just as the snow may blanket the earth at this season, making the land as white as a new page. A lustral bath cleans away the energetic accumulations of winter and renews us in body and spirit.
First, gather some spring water, preferably from a natural well or spring (but bottled will also do), and add this to your bathwater, along with a handful of dried milk powder (milk is an excellent moisturizer and sacred to Brighid) and/or some dried herbs or leaves tied in a muslin bag, pouch or handkerchief. Vervain and sage are traditional cleansing and purifying herbs in the Celtic tradition, as is juniper, mugwort, lavender, chamomile and fresh birch leaves.
Taking three deep breaths to calm and centre yourself, stir the bathwater in a deiseil (clockwise) direction, and visualize warm, golden sunlight infusing the water. When you are in the water, you may like to use the following traditional incantation:
‘I am bathing my face
In the mild rays of the sun,
Sweetness be in my mouth
Wisdom be in my speech.
The hand of Brighid about my neck
The hand of Brighid about my breast
The hand of Brighid laving me
The hand of Brighid blessing and protecting me.’
Take some time in the bath to feel yourself really washing away past negative habits and mental and emotional patterns, as well as any stuck energy or emotions that may have accumulated around you over the winter. When you are ready, visualize yourself as being fully cleansed and blessed.
There are many traditional crafts associated with Imbolc and the goddess Brighid, which make use of materials found at home or in the garden to weave simple cottage magic. Brighid’s crosses and Bridie dolls are excellent charms to honour the goddess and bring protection and blessing to the family and the home, as well as being great fun to make on rainy days or long dark evenings.
Brighid’s fiery nature can be seen in her ancient symbol, the Brighid cross, which is a traditional charm for good luck and protection. Easy and fun to make, a Brighid’s cross invokes the blessings of the goddess and brings the energy of the sun into the house for health and happiness. It is simply made using reeds, straws, raffia or even pipe cleaners or strips of bright stiff card. Whatever your raw material, you’ll need about 28 straws or strips of about the same length – about 30cm (12in) generally works well.
If necessary, soak the straws for an hour or two so they’re bendy. Pat them dry with a towel.
Take two straws and cross one over the other in the middle to form a plus sign.
Then fold one straw over the other, to form a capital T.
Turn the straws 90 degrees clockwise, and fold down the other straw, to make an upside-down capital L shape.
Turn the straws 90 degrees clockwise again, and add a third straw by placing it to the left of the vertical folded straw, under the horizontal. Fold that to make another T.
Turn the straws 90 degrees clockwise again, and add another straw to make a plus sign again and repeat steps 2–5 above.
Continue adding and folding straws in the same way, going around in a circle, keeping them flat next to each other and building the weave outward. When all the straws are added, tie off each arm with thread, trim and tidy.
Charge and consecrate your Brighid’s cross in your circle or sacred space by wafting it with incense and presenting it to the four directions (see pages 14–15). Visualize the goddess Brighid before you, dressed in green and with red hair, and ask her to bless, charge and empower it for your use.
Traditionally, Brighid was often honoured with a corn dolly and there was a time when almost every British house had one of these wonderful craft objects in it somewhere. Making a Bridie doll from cloth, however, is an even simpler way to honour the goddess.
Simply cut two identical ‘doll’ shapes out of cloth and sew them together, filling the doll with wool, scraps of material, oats or lavender flowers when it is just over three-quarters stitched, before sewing up the remainder. Buttons, beads or even crystals can be sewn on to make eyes, if you like, and another piece of cloth tied around the neck to make a cloak.
One important thing to remember when making and using a Bridie doll, is that this is an effigy of the goddess, and as such, a sacred object.
It doesn’t have to be perfectly made, or expensively bought, but it does need to be loved and treated with care and respect.
Brighid dolls can also be used as ‘worry dolls’ at other times of the year, to tell your troubles to as a form of simple magic – ask for her assistance and she will hear you. When not in use, a Brighid doll should either be put somewhere in a place of honour, such as high shelf overlooking the room, or carefully wrapped in cloth and stored away carefully until the next Imbolc.
Try placing a fresh white cloth on a table and decorating it with pots of the earliest spring flowers, such as narcissi and snowdrops. You could also add white or green candles, as well as Brighid crosses and perhaps a Bridie doll. A pretty glass of milk or a bowl of cream would also be suitable as an offering to place out on the land every day or so, reminding us of Brighid’s generosity. Be sure to replace the milk and flowers often so your altar stays fresh.
Imbolc is a time of sacred domesticity, and cooking and sharing delicious food is an excellent way to bring cheer into a long wintry day. Enjoy some homemade butter on a slice or two of bannock (see page 41) by the fire, with a small glass of Celtic cream, to honour Brighid and offer some warmth to friends and family.
Butter and other dairy produce are sacred to Brighid and so traditional fare during Imbolc celebration. Dairy foods are very comforting during the cold season due to their high fat content, and were a crucial part of winter diet in the past. Making your own butter as part of your Imbolc preparations, or as a sacred task dedicated to Brighid, is surprisingly simple – all you need is some fresh cream and a blender. If you don’t have a blender, you can whip it by hand, or shake it in an airtight jar, although this will take much longer. A pint of cream will give about 225g/8oz/1 cup of butter.
You will need
• 480ml/16fl oz/2 cups cream
• Pinch of salt (to taste, optional)
• Pinch of sage or thyme (to taste, optional)
• 2–3 edible flowers to decorate, e.g. violets or calendula (optional)
Place the cream in a blender and whiz for 3–4 minutes, until the cream thickens and forms stiff peaks. Blend again for another 3–4 minutes, or until the cream takes on the consistency of cottage cheese, as the buttermilk separates from the fat.
Continue blending until the cream has solidified into fat then pour off the buttermilk. You will get about half the amount of butter to the amount of cream you use, and the remainder will be buttermilk that can be drunk or used in baking and cooking. Buttermilk, like butter, is an excellent offering to Brighid at this time.
The butter now needs ‘washing’ by placing into a fresh bowl and pouring iced water over it. Use a spatula or a large spoon to press down on the butter and keep it together, then pour off the water and repeat the process until the water runs clear.
Finally, you may choose to add salt, or herbs such as sage or thyme. Using a spatula pat it into shape. You may choose to decorate your butter with herbs or edible flowers, such as violets or calendula. When it’s done, wrap the butter in baking parchment or place it in an airtight container.
Bannock or pan bread is an ancient type of flatbread made by the earliest civilizations, originally using barley or oatmeal dough, cooked upon a ‘bannock stane’ or stone. Later, a griddle or pan was used. At Imbolc a St Bride’s bannock or bonnach bride was baked and given to the young girls as a blessing. One was also left outside as a gift for St Bride/St Brighid when she passed in the night to bless all the homes (see page 23). Bannocks make excellent offerings to leave out on the land to the goddess at this sacred time. This recipe serves four.
You will need
• 450g/1lb/3¼ cups plain (all-purpose) flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 85g/3oz/⅓ cup butter, melted, plus extra for cooking
• 360ml/12fl oz/1½ cups water
Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and combine with a fork to make a ball of dough.
Turn the dough out on a floured surface and knead for about 15 minutes. This is a good point to charge your bannock with positive energy, perhaps by saying a prayer over it honouring the goddess Brighid, or chanting a simple goddess rhyme while you knead, to imbue it with blessings.
Gently roll the dough into a ball and flatten with the heel of your hand into a circle, until it is about 2.5cm (1in) thick.
Place a drizzle of melted butter into a large frying pan on a medium high heat. When hot, place the bread in the pan and cook for about 15 minutes each side. Alternatively, the bread can be placed on a greased baking sheet and baked in an oven preheated to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 for 20–30 minutes or until pale golden.
Celtic cream, St Bride’s bannock and decorated butter
Milk and cream are both sacred to Brighid, and this warming tipple is both delicious and perfect for an Imbolc celebration – or to have on any cold evening.
To make 1 litre (35fl oz), you will need
• 1 tsp almond essence
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tsp coffee powder, dissolved in a little hot water
• 250ml/9fl oz/1 cup fresh cream, warmed
• 400ml/13½fl oz/1½ cups condensed milk
• 350ml/12½fl oz/1½ cups whisky (or to taste)
Place the almond and vanilla essences, dissolved coffee powder and hot cream into a large bowl and combine well, before leaving to cool completely.
To the cooled mixture, add the condensed milk and whisky. Blend or stir vigorously with a wooden spoon, in a deiseil (clockwise) direction.
Before serving you might like to ask Brighid to bless the potion. Hold the bowl aloft and try these words:
‘Goddess Brighid, mistress of the milk and cream, bless this drink, in your name. May it bring us warmth and cheer. Blessed be!’
At this time of year it sometimes feels as though winter still grips the land, and the weather may be fierce. But if we seek them out, there are signs of new life stirring all around, even beneath deep snow. New shoots will be beginning to show in many plants, and for those of us out early, the dawn chorus of birdsong will be growing noticeably louder and last for longer as the days visibly lengthen. Catkins, the flowers of the hazel, appear by mid February, and are followed by those of the willow. These pale green tassels blossom before the leaves sprout and provide an early sign of the spring. If you cut a few whippy branches now and place them in a vase inside your home, they will come into leaf early, providing some extra spring cheer.
Try to take some time out in nature during Imbolc and you’ll be amazed at what you find, even in a city park. Breathing slow and easy, try to be as present as you can to the simple act of walking, one foot after another, the earth beneath your feet and the sky above you. If the winter has felt long and tiresome, or if you feel seasonally affected by the lack of sunlight, take these moments as a gentle meditative exercise to encourage you, day by day. We all have times when winter reflects darkness or depression within our lives, and these first stirrings are nature’s gentle medicine for easing our recovery, as well as adding some extra magic to our understanding of the seasonal wheel.
Even for those of us in a positive state of mind, there is something so beautiful about the quality of light on these early days of the year, and the quiet way life returns to even the bleakest landscape, that can nurture and support us, coaxing us gently into alignment with nature’s rhythm to find a more relaxed, present and reflective state.
Try this guided journey to meet with the goddess Brighid in her sacred enclosure, and connect with the transformational energies of the season.
See before you an oak door. Ask that any allies or guides you may have accompany you this festival of Imbolc, as you explore the sacred precinct of Kildare and encounter Brighid’s flame.
As you cross through the doorway, your guide meets you. They may take any form, and they will accompany you throughout, even though they may sometimes go unseen. It is a clear, starry night and the air is crisp and cold. The path ahead of you is lined with oak trees – their tall, broad forms reaching into the sky, their deep roots holding the earth fast; they are like a wall of guardians, each lending you their support as you pass. It is late winter, and the ground beneath them is covered with white snowdrops like tiny stars, glimmering in the darkness. You follow the path feeling cool air and gentle rain upon your face, cleansing and refreshing.
Ahead, through the trees, you see the flickering of a large fire, and your heart beats in your chest. You feel the great power of this place tingling upon your skin.
In time the path opens out into a sacred clearing, a temple of the oak. There, 19 priestesses stand in a circle of firelight in the centre of the clearing, hiding the fire itself, their faces bright in the flames and their shadows stretching long and dark behind them. On one side of the clearing is the largest oak tree you have ever seen, a mighty giant. It is decorated with offerings, ribbons of many colours and chimes of thin bronze rods sway in the branches, the dancing flames making them shine and glint in the darkness. As you approach your guide leads you first to the tree, and then to the circle of firelight. Take your time here and explore, feeling deep respect and wonder at this most sacred place.
Eventually the circle of priestesses opens up, and you are allowed a glimpse of the fire itself. The mighty blaze reaches up to the sky, and at once you are struck by a great sense of awe and sanctity. In the flames, but never burning, with arms raised exultant, is the goddess Brighid herself. Serpents snake through the flames and up her arms, and the life force of every living thing around is stirred just by being touched by the light she casts. For a moment she looks into your eyes … and you are blessed. You feel the life force rising up from the ground through your body, and in a quick and bright wave it rises up your spine, and through the top of your head. You feel your whole being alight with her power, with the blessing of spring to come. Hold this feeling within you for as long as you can.
You may also choose to seek guidance here or ask a question, which may be answered by Brighid or by one of her priestesses. After a time you are guided to leave, returning the way you came, crossing back through the oak door. Take time to feel yourself back in your body, wriggling your toes and fingers before moving around.
Remember to ground yourself well afterwards by eating and drinking and perhaps recording your experiences in a journal.
Imbolc is a traditional time to make a pilgrimage to holy wells or springs, so see if you can find any in your area, and leave it an offering of the first green shoots and flowers.
Celebrating with friends, family and/or the wider community
Choose a special site for your celebrations and add atmosphere by decorating it with fresh spring flowers, such as snowdrops and narcissi in pots, evergreen boughs and candles, perhaps also collecting wood for a fire.
Gather together on the day of Imbolc, or the nearest possible date to the new moon, for songs and hot drinks around a fire. When everyone is assembled, give each person a tea light or a single candle to hold, and light a large central candle asking Brighid for her blessing. Take it in turns to light a tea light or a candle from the central flame, making a wish or a prayer for the spring to come. Children can be helped with this so they handle the flame safely. Place the candles around the central candle until they burn down. Alternatively, they can be snuffed out at the end of the celebration and taken home to relight, reaffirming your prayer as you do so.
When your ceremony is complete, finish with a delicious feast of creamy soups, stews with homemade bread and butter, and some Celtic cream.
Celebrating alone
Begin by having a cleansing lustral bath (see page 36) and creating a sacred space and calling in the four directions (see pages 14–15), before invoking the goddess Brighid using the shield of Brighid (see page 24). In addition, you may wish to call upon your ancestors to bless and support your life and path, or to help with anything that concerns you. Use your own heartfelt words to call upon them, as this is always more authentic and powerful, or you might say:
‘Ancestors and blessed spirits, guides and allies, please join us and bless us at this sacred time.’
You may now want to light an Imbolc fire or candle. When it is lit, gaze into the flames and remember Brighid bringing on the thaw after the winter with her great fire, and silently give thanks for this time of transformation. Feel the fire reflect your own life force, stirring within you and renewing you for the spring ahead.
Now would also be a good time to try some fire divination (see page 33) and the house-blessing ritual (see page 23) to clear the house of negative energies. Or, with fresh candles, you might like to try the Brighid’s fiery arrow candle spell (see page 35), as well as the stellar meditation (see page 29) or the Imbolc visualization (see page 44).
A holy well at Imbolc
Whether you are celebrating with friends and family or alone, finally, take a moment to give thanks and gratitude to each direction and element, as well as to any gods or ancestors for their help in your ceremony and their presence in your life. Give thanks for all the blessings of every kind that have come to you over the last year. This makes us conscious of the bond we have with all creation, and the interconnectedness of all things, helping us grow into greater harmony with life.
In celebrating Imbolc we seek clarity and purity to wipe away the energetic detritus of winter, and to support and care for ourselves and others at a challenging time of the year. We look for encouragement, wisdom and inspiration in the first green shoots as they break through the soil, reflecting a rebirth within us with every new day. The first glimmerings of dawn are on the horizon, giving us hope and confidence as spring finally stirs, with all the promise and wonder of its beauty still to come.
Blessed be!
