The Meaning and Magic of Imbolc

Imbolc is a holiday that was born in Ireland and Scotland, assimilated by the Catholic Church as Candlemas and St. Brigid’s Day (a pre-Christian Irish goddess before she was sainted), and codified into the modern Pagan Wheel of the Year by Gerald Gardner and Ross Nichols, both of whom were busy founding modern Pagan traditions — Wicca in Gardner’s case, and The Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids in Nichols. Imbolc, Candlemas, and St. Brigid’s Day are all celebrated on February 1^st or 2^nd.

You may know of, or even celebrate, one of these holidays, but have you ever wondered what it is about the first couple of days in February that makes them holiday-worthy? I mean, it’s a pretty dreary time of year in much of the northern hemisphere. Cold, too!

But it’s a notable moment in the astronomical relationship between Earth and Sun — it marks the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll have noted that Sun is rising higher in the sky each day since the Winter Solstice as it travels on its northward journey. The Earth has undoubtedly been paying attention, and the trained eye will see the first small signs of spring emerging right around this date.

Even if you haven’t been paying attention to the Sun’s seasonal journey, your body, mind, and soul are aware of the changing balance of light and dark and are responding on levels that are not always accessible to the conscious mind unless you’ve trained yourself to be aware of subtle energies.

There’s also an astrological component to this time since the Zodiac measures the Sun’s yearly journey on the ecliptic. Sun reaches 15° of Aquarius right around this date. Aquarius is one of four Fixed signs and 15° of all four are midpoints, considered to be powerful points in the Zodiac.

There is a certain cosmic resonance to this time that can aid us in shifting reality through magick. To find some of the most effective magick for this time, we can look to folklore, particularly the folklore of the goddess/saint Brigid.

Brigid is a goddess of blacksmithing, a creative and practical use of the Element of Fire, an element which can be used to purify as well as create. She is also associated with poetry, wisdom, and the healing arts.

To polytheists like myself, the gods are real beings who exist in the larger reality of Consciousness within which our time-and-space reality is created. With some attention and effort, they can be consciously communicated with.

But you don’t need to believe in a goddess to work effective seasonal magick.

Because we are dealing with resonance and subtle energies, we first need to adjust our bodies and minds so we are in tune with the changes we want to see in the world around us.

We can start with personal purification, shaking off any stagnant or inharmonious energy that may have accumulated in our aura over the winter. Then move on to connect with the awakening Earth, and work some Fire magick to strengthen our will — personal and collective — as we move forward in this year of rapid change and transformation.

Here are some ways to accomplish that. They are certainly not the only ways, and I’m a big believer in tailoring rituals and magical workings to personal strengths and beliefs, so feel free to use these as inspirations to design your own, especially if you already have some training in magick and ritual design.

Let’s start with purification.

“A life truly lived burns away what is no longer relevant, gradually reveals our essence until, at last, we are strong enough to stand in our naked truth” ~ Marion Woodman