Imbolc, the Center of Winter
Just let me hibernate...
Ahhhh, Imbolc. Or maybe you call it Candlemas. Or Lady Day. Or even Midwinter (which is also the word some folks use for Yuletide, so, yeah, confusing). The cross quarter (exact midpoint between solstice and equinox) happens Saturday, February 4th, and tomorrow, February 2nd, is also Groundhog’s Day.
We’re mid-way through winter. Where I live, we’re about to experience our coldest weather yet this weekend, with wind chills reaching up to 40 degrees below zero! I put together a shelter for some stray cats in the neighborhood that I feed, and hope they’ll be warm enough. I plan to feed them each day, but other than that will be hunkering down at home!
This is from some Imbolc musings I wrote last year and they still hit powerfully this year:
Maybe you honor Brigid, goddess of poetry and healing; or perhaps your tradition honors Pan, in the lead up to the fiery festival of Lupercalia. However you celebrate, know that this is a powerful time when we look to beginning anew, to choosing a new path if that feels right, to looking within to see what our highest consciousness and truest heart wants.
I'm a big believer in canticumancy: which means divination with music. For me, music that comes along unexpectedly often holds a potent message, even more so if there are lyrics. Earlier tonight when I was in the grocery store the excellent Joe Jackson song came on, "You Can't Get What You Want ('Til You Know What You Want) and of course, this song is such a signpost of desire and reflection and can stop you dead in your tracks with its truth.
Winter holds us in its icy grip still: but the sun will melt the ice away, new growth will emerge, the sun will increase the length of our days, even as time moves irrevocably forward. What will you reflect on, in this fallow time of hoping and dreaming? What will be next on your path?
A poem for Imbolc:
(written for me, by my dear friend Wren Walker, at a time when I really needed it)
May winter give you the restful, quiet time you need to find your truest path forward.