THEMES OF IMBOLC

• Increasing light
• Hearth fire
• Creative fire
• Healing fire
• Women and the Goddess
• Purification
• Renewal of maidenhood
• Renewal of the land and wakening the earth
• Returning to work on the land after the winter lull
• Renewal of fertility with the birth of lambs and growth in plants
• How do you use the three fires of Brighid?

IMBOLC RITUAL

All the women prepare ‘Brighid’s Bed’ to which the Goddess is invited to witness the proceedings. A soft pallet is prepared from straw, heather, rushes and rich blankets and set about with candles and lamps.

Everyone prepares two garlands- one representing winter (made from old Yule decorations, dead winter twigs etc. and one representing spring made from green shoots, spring flowers etc. The winter garland is worn and the spring garland kept by.

The circle is cast by the women.

Priestess 1: "Queen and Lady, Goddess of the Night. Secret Goddess, thy servants call upon thee, for this is the time of thy festival. Come now and enter our circle. Enter Lady, come now to thy bed and bless thy servants.”

Priestess 2: We are gathered here tonight to celebrate Imbolc, the festival of the Goddess and womankind. We ask the Goddess to rekindle life in the earth and bless us with her inspiration.

Priestess 3: (Lighting the fire)"Let this fire in the centre of the circle represent the perpetual fire of the spirit of the Goddess. Let it be a beacon to call the Old Gods to us. The Lady’s fire gives life to the strengthening sun, and to each of us.

Priestess 1: (Throwing the winter garlands on the fire) "The dead time is past, the wheel turns towards new life and spring."

Priestess 2: "The rains of spring wash winter from the earth. They nurture the growing shoots of life as the ewe feeds the young lamb. They transform the Hag of Winter into the Maiden of Spring."

Priestess 1: "The Goddess is every woman and every woman is the Goddess- let each of you wash in the cauldron, be purified in mind, body and spirit. Let the water transform you into a new Self, like the Maiden of Spring, ready to grow and flower with the year."

She washes in the cauldron and puts on her spring garland. Everyone washes in the cauldron, helped by the others, then puts on the spring garland.

Priestess 3 then washes the crystal in the water to symbolise the spring rains cleansing the earth and explains the symbolism as she does so.

Priestess 1: (picks up the wand) "This is the white wand of the Goddess, the feminine power of fertility and inspiration. With this I breathe the life of spring into the mouth of the dead winter." She points the wand towards the earth, the sky and the four quarters.

Priestess 3: Brighid’s fire is the warmth and comfort of the hearth; it is the creative fire of the smith’s forge; it is the inspirational fire in the head.

After this each person states to the others what they have to offer to the Goddess in terms of their talents and strengths, what they have to offer the world and themselves.

After this scry in the crystal, mirror or fire.

When all is finished:

Priestess 1: (takes up the cup of wine) "The cup is the womb of the Goddess from which we are all born. It is the cauldron of transformation from which we are nurtured and fed. As we drink of this cup we share in these gifts of the Goddess." (All drink.)

Priestess 2: "These cakes are from the body of the Mother Earth, who sustains our lives with her gifts. As we eat of them may we know of the love of the Goddess."

Priestess 3: The Goddess has witnessed our rites and seen the truth of our hearts. Let this rite be ended in perfect love and perfect trust. Blessed Be.

The circle is broken.