Celebration of Imbolc

By Raymond Buckland

Fire, water, steam, and spark,
Brigid's fire push back the dark,
Forge, anvil, well, and spear,
Brigid's flame burn
True and clear.

Imbolc, also known as Imbolg, Oimelc, and Candlemas, is celebrated by
most Wiccan traditions on February 2, though some groups celebrate on
February Eve. In fact, of the two, February Eve would seem to be the
more correct. The Christian celebration of Candlemas takes place
forty days after Christmas, and was so established by Pope Justinian
I. Pagans celebrate the slightly earlier Yule (December 21) rather
than the Christian Christmas, so the earlier February Eve would seem
to be more in accord with Pagan thinking. Whichever date is used,
along with Beltane, Lughnasadh, and Samhain, Imbolc is one of the
Greater Sabbats and , as such, is one of the oldest in the Wiccan
calendar. This is the time for banishing winter and preparing for the
coming spring.

At one time the Christmas/Yule celebrations lasted all the way from
Christmas to Candlemas. At Candlemas the Christmas ornaments--the
tree and boughs and decorations--were burnt on a fire lit from a
piece of Yule log kept for the occasion. With the decorations
discarded, it was then time to purify and prepare for spring. Later,
the season was shortened to terminate on the twelfth day after
Christmas, January 6.

"The Corn Dolly"
At Lammas, the Corn Mother is made from the harvest as a
representation of the Goddess and, at Samhain, lain in rest for the
worst of the winter months. At Imbolc this corn (or corn husk) figure
is taken from her winter resting place to become the Maiden again.
Straws may even be plucked from the Lammas Corn Mother to fashion an
Imbolc Corn Dolly, representing the Maiden aspect of the Goddess. The
Corn Dolly is dressed in women's clothes and lain in a miniature bed,
alongside a club (probably representing the god, or fertility). The
bed is made of hay and corn, and has candles burning all around it.
In the Highlands of Scotland, on February Eve (the day of Bride, or
St. Brigit), a small bed of this type was placed near the door to the
house, with a candle beside it, and Brigit was invited into the house
to prepare for the coming spring. McLean, in "Four Fire Festivals,"
says, "In the Highlands of Scotland an effigy of Bride, made from the
last year's corn sheaf, was carried around the community, and gifts
collected for the Bride Feast. The festival here was strictly
matriarchal, the door of the feasting place was barred to the men of
the community who had to plead humbly to honour Bride."

"The Breedhoge"
In Ireland, the "breedhoge" was carried around from house to house by
the young folk of the village. In it they collected food and
money "in honor of Miss Biddy." The breedhoge was a butter churn
decorated with hay and straw and done up to represent a human figure.
A bal of hay, as the head, was covered with a white muslin cap and
the figure was in a woman's dress, with a shawl.

"Imbolc Becomes Candlemas"
In the sixth century, the Bride festival was adopted by the Church as
the purification of the Virgin Mary. People should "offer up a candle
at the worship," suggested Pope Sergius. Mary became Mother of God,
the Light Bearer. At the festival, candles are blessed, sprinkled
with salted water, and carried in procession.

"Imbolc Fires"
"By torch and taper, bonfire bright; we woo the Sun on Imbolc night."
So go the words to the old Wiccan song. This is one of the times of
year when, in times past, great fires were built on hilltops across
Britain and much of Europe. Their ligh was to fortify the Sun God and
help him regain his strength in the final months of winter. The ashes
of these balefires were kept, to be scattered over the fields at the
time of sowing the seeds later in the year.

One tradition, found in many areas, is for the Priestess to wear a
wreath or crown of burning candles at Imbolc. In some Scandinavian
countries this wearing of the "crown of lights" has now become part
of the Yule celebrations, but in Latin countries the same image is
still found at Imbolc, with the wearer named "Santa Lucia." Lucia is
here a feminine form of Lucifer, the Light Bearer (consort of Diana,
the Moon Goddess).

Several myths speak of the Goddess sleping while her consort, the
Horned One, presides. Other myths tell of her descent into the
Underworld. The Winter Lord of Death and All That Comes After, came
to the fore at Samhain and will remain principle deity until Beltane,
when it will be his time to sleep for six months. Even though the
Lady will soon arise anew, the Lord still reigns at Imbolc.
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Hold a torch-lit procession around the property or the
neighborhood.

Perform a symbolic cleansing in which participants
toss notes onto the floor representing what they wish
to remove from their lives (crumple first).  Sweep
away with Besom and burn in cauldron.

Banish the winter season by bringing out the Yule
greenery and burning it.  Obviously if this is done
indoors, it must be done with great care, in a
fireplace.  If you have only a cauldron to burn things
in, you can burn a few symbolic twigs and take the
rest to a nearby woods to leave as natural compost.

Crown Brigit with her crown of candles.  (usually,
this is a representation of the maiden aspect.  A
young girl.  The crown can be a grapevine with,
decorated, and with 13 red candles in it.)

Have a candle-making workshop during the afternoon
before the ritual, and then have participants bring
their new candles to be anointed, consecrated,
blessed, or decorated during the ritual.  This works
best with ice candles -- others may not have set in so
few hours.

Hand our seeds or seedlings that can be nurtured
during the last weeks of winter, then transplanted
outdoors as soon as the weather is good.