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Imbolc Fire Sabbat
February 2
Imbolc is also known as Imbolg, Oimelic, Bride's Day, Brigantia, Feast of Brighid and Candlemas or St Brighid’s Feast. The two later names were created by the Catholic conversion of pagans to the new religion. Celebrated on February 2nd, the word Imbolg is an ancient Celtic word that means "in the belly". Imbolc is the Sabbat that honors the first stirrings of life inside Mother Earth. The actual word Imbolc or Imbolg really was not referring to Mother Earth at all, but the ewes being pregnant. Oimelc means ewe’s milk, and it is another name this fire Sabbat can go by. The most ancient of names for Imbolc would be Bride’s Day or Brighid’s Day. The name was changed to Candlemas or St. Brighid’s Feast by the Catholic Church. The church’s strategy was to covert the pagans and to make their transition more desirable. The Celts would not give up their beloved Brighid easily, and the church knew that, so converting Brighid into a saint worked to convert pagans to Christians quite well. The Celt’s love for Bride was very great, and if they had to leave her behind they would have never converted to the new religion. So the Catholic Church canonized Brighid and the rest is history.
Brighid is the ancient Celtic Goddess of smithcraft, midwives, healing and poets. She is also known as the Goddess of the triple flame. She is unusual because most Goddesses are not attributed to the fire element as it is considered a masculine and Godly element. She is a very ancient form of the triple Goddess and quite omnipotent.
Imbolc is also a festival that honors the Goddess as the maiden bride. Bride (pronounced breed) is where we get the word bride from. Other names derived from the name Bride that are given to the Imbolc Sabbat and Bride herself: Brighid, Brigit and Brìd.
The maiden is ready with youthful dew. The Goddess who gave birth to the Sun King at Yule is now the maiden, once again ready and waiting for her love, the God of the forest, to take her. This is what the Bride’s bed, which is a traditional part of the Imbolc Sabbat, is all about. For an Imbolc ritual a Bride’s bed is made up of either a corn dolly, or Brighid’s cross, that is all dressed in white like a virginal bride. This is symbolic of the Earth which is not growing yet. A priapric wand is then plunged into the bed representing the God fertilizing the new Bride. This bed would be placed in front of the house or on the doorstep to bring good fortune of growth in the coming year. Brighid’s crosses were woven and hung on the door for the same reason. A Brighid cross consists of either barley or wheat which is woven into a Sun Wheel cross.
Imbolc is also a time of purification. All the greens left over from Yule were burned. All things that were not useful anymore discarded. This was making way for the new growing season, and the hopes of the growth of spring. It was considered unlucky to not burn all of the greenery left over from Yule for fear there would be no spring and an eternal winter was ahead. Ancient people relied on the seasons and the weather with utmost importance. Without spring there would be no planting and no food for their family.
Today we, the modern pagan folk, celebrate Imbolg by discarding what we do not want and shed things from our minds and body that are no longer find useful to us. We do this during the Imbolc ritual by writing down on paper what we don’t like in our personal lives and then burning that paper in ritual circle. Also if we can, we burn some greenery left from Yule. This is a great time to get rid of items in our home that are no longer useful.
Activities of Imbolg: make corn dollies, weave a Brighid’s cross, write poetry, or make incense or oils with some herbs. Get rid of what is not needed by cleaning out closets etc. Spin the wheel of the year. Our coven spins a wooden wheel that lays flat on a spindle. Tealights are placed on the wheel by each member. The tealights represent a thought seed or wish for fulfilling in the coming year. The wheel is then gently spun to represent the turning of the wheel and the fulfillment of our wishes.
Foods of Imbolc: dairy products, root vegetables especially onion and garlic.
Colors of Imbolc: white, yellow and red for Brighid.
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