What should you do on Imbolc?
Imbolc is a time for bringing new ideas and projects into the burgeoning light, for growing what we have been reflecting on over the winter months.
- The Celtic Goddess Brigid.
- Make a Brigid straw doll (Brideog)
- Make a Brigid cross.
- Feasts and fire.
- Spring clean your home.
- Visit a stream, river or well.
What are the traditions of Imbolc?
Imbolc
| Imbolc / St Brigid’s Day | |
|---|---|
| Type | Cultural, Christian, Pagan (Celtic polytheism, Celtic neopaganism, Wicca) |
| Significance | beginning of spring, feast day of Saint Brigid |
| Celebrations | feasting, making Brigid’s crosses and Brídeógs, visiting holy wells, divination, spring cleaning |
What is Imbolc and how is it celebrated?
Imbolc is the Pagan festival that marks the sight of spring around the corner, celebrating light and fertility. Light a candle – a flame is the traditional symbol of Imbolc, which is a ‘fire’ festival. Spring clean your home, or perhaps just make one corner of it look shiny and new.
What happens at a pagan ritual?
It may consist of informal prayer or meditation, or of formal, structured rituals through which the participants affirm their deep spiritual connection with nature, honour their Gods and Goddesses, and celebrate the seasonal festivals of the turning year and the rites of passage of human life.
How do you celebrate Imbolc for kids?
You can start by setting up a family altar for Imbolc. Include the colors of the season – white for a blanket of snow, red for the rising sun, and green for the goddess Brigid. Add a few potted seedlings, since Imbolc is a harbinger of the spring to come. Even very young children can help plant seedlings in pots.
How do I mark Imbolc?
How Do We Celebrate Imbolc Today?
- Plant seeds.
- Make Brigid dollies or Brigid crosses to protect the home.
- Bake oatcakes and leave milk outside for Brigid on Imbolc eve.
- Decorate your altar with colors and symbols related to Imbolc.
What do the pagans worship?
Most pagans worship the old pre-Christian gods and goddesses through seasonal festivals and other ceremonies. Observance of these festivals is very important to pagans, and those in hospital will generally wish to celebrate them in some form.
Do pagans worship the earth?
We believe that the divine is here with us in the natural world, not in some faraway place in the sky. We hold a deep reverence for nature and the earth. Pagans tend to be earth conscious. Some Pagans believe in a multiplicity of Gods and Goddesses.
How is ostara celebrated?
For Ostara, celebrate with foods that honor the the coming of spring—eggs, early spring greens, shoots and sprouts, and of course, the all-important marshmallow Peep.
Is Imbolc a fire Festival?
Imbolc is a Fire Festival and fire of all kinds is associated with Brigid – the fire of creativity, the protective hearth fire, and her fire wheel – the Brigid Cross, which heralds her as a Sun Goddess. Brigid’s Cross.
Who is God in paganism?
Pagans worship the divine in many different forms, through feminine as well as masculine imagery and also as without gender. The most important and widely recognised of these are the God and Goddess (or pantheons of God and Goddesses) whose annual cycle of procreation, giving birth and dying defines the Pagan year.
What are modern Pagan Imbolc celebrations?
Modern pagan Imbolc celebrations include activities to celebrate the coming spring and engage energetically with the cycle of the year. Fire is still a strong component of the holiday. In Marsden, Ireland, there is a large annual fire festival.
What are some ways to celebrate Imbolc?
Brigid is often associated with fire, so many Pagans honor her with fire celebrations. To welcome Brigid, the harbringer of spring, some Pagans hold a bonfire. Wood and herbs are burned outside, and the fire drives away the winter chill. Arguably the most popular fire ceremony on Imbolc involves candles.
What do you need for an Imbolc altar?
Candles are also a necessity for an Imbolc altar, though most Pagans always have candles on their altar. Many Pagans like to make talismans on Imbolc and keep those talismans all year. One of the most common and popular Imbolc talismans is a Brigid’s cross.
What does Imbolc mean to neopagns?
For Goddess worshipping pagans, Imbolc is the point when the Goddess transitions forms from Crone to Maiden. The Celtic goddess Brigit or Brigid tends to take center stage for Neopagns on Imbolc. This goddess is associated with fire, fertility and healing waters.