I attended an Imbolc ritual this weekend and would like to share a bit of it with you. My life has taken some very different turns over the last couple of years and this spoke to me quite loudly.
Now is Imbolc, halfway between winter solstice and spring equinox. We can tell the days are longer. Winter isn't over, storms still roll in, but the promise of spring is seen as green grass springs up, waterlilies and irises are poking up green spears and the ferns uncurl. Rosemary, the rose of the sea, is beginning to bloom. It is traditional to light candles to celebrate the
strengthening sunlight. We see the days grow longer as the infant sun increases his strength.
This is the crossroads of the year. No one knows what twists and turns lie ahead in the year that has just begun to unfold. The time of growing light belongs to the triple Goddess, whose maiden name is Brigdhe.
Brigdhe's cross unites the four directions with the other worlds. The triple Goddess of the crossroads can see where someone has come from as well as where each road may take them. Because of this, Imbolc is a time for divination, a time to decern and perhaps choose our path for the year ahead. As we make Brigdhe's cross in this ritual, we ask the Goddess to inspire us as to which path we need to follow in the months ahead.
We stand at the crossroads of the year where Brigdhe (or for some Hecate) will meet us. If we ask, she will guide us.
Credit to:
Rose of the Sea Circle - Anja
