Today’s Holiday for Creators!

Blessed Imbolc!

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You might not be aware that there is a holiday just for artists and writers, but there is and it’s today. Today, the exact halfway point between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal (Spring) Equinox is one of the four most powerful holy days of the year. “In-between” times and places (midnight and noon, dawn and dusk, swamps and bogs, beaches, doorways and thresholds, and the four halfway points between the solstices and the equinoxes) are always seen to be the powerful times and places for magic, for launching desires and for divination.

To the ancient Celts and many modern day nature religions, Imbolc is a day sacred to Brighid, goddess of the forge and of creative fire. It’s celebrated with fire, lots of candles, fires in fireplaces and outdoors. All the fires are not just in honor of Brighid’s sacred forge, but also as a form of sympathetic magic for the young sun, seen as a growing boy this time of year, getting stronger every day.

Brigid at Imbolc by Wendy Andrews cloudsonline.co.uk 

And more than that, this is the day to celebrate, nurture and stoke our creative fires. It’s the most powerful time of year for writers, poets and smiths of all kinds.

Another great thing to do today, spring clean your creative space, studio, office, or desk. Then bless it and fill it with the energy of Brighid, the muses, and of creative fire.

Imbolc Ritual & Divination

www.paintingdreams.co.uk

Find 12 candles, one for each month of the year, a deck of tarot or divination cards, and a lighter. You might also want a notebook and pencil. Place the candles in a circle on the floor, unlit, and sit in the middle of them. Spring flowers would make a lovely offering here. Quiet your mind, get very relaxed. Meditate for a few minutes to get into the right mindset.

Give thanks and praise for your creative spirit and your muses, who have fed your fires all year long.

Light the first candle. This will be your January candle and so your focus for just this one, will be on the month just gone by. Study the flame and think about your creative soul, speak to your muse, and ask her to speak to you through the cards, the candles and your thoughts. Pluck a card from your deck to lay face up in front of that candle. Study the card, as it might carry clues as to what you were supposed to learn or what energies were active in your life during January.

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The 2nd candle will focus on February. Ask your muse for her for help with your February creations. The card will guide you about where your focus or challenges might be this month. When you’ve finished, make a note.

Repeat this process until all 12 candles are burning. When you’ve finished, sit quietly and listen for messages. Look at the cards again if you’re moved to. Pay attention to any thoughts, ideas, notions, predictions that pop into your mind, or anything from the cards that stands out to you. This is a powerful time. Everything that comes in can have meaning.

When you’ve finished, snuff the candles with a snuffer or pinch them out with wet fingers. Blowing them out is considered offensive. Give thanks to all the energies who joined you in this circle, especially your muse or muses.

Before you go back to your day, take time to journal everything. Flesh out the notes you took more thoroughly and record what cards fell where so you can refer back to them later on. While you’re doing this, a grain-based snack is a very good idea. Helps ground your energy back into the physical after communing with spirit in such a powerful way.

Need more? Here’s last year’s Imbolc Post.  And if you search IMBOLC on my site, there are at least two others.

And here’s my favorite Imbolc song. Listen and enjoy. May your creative fires burn bright all year long!

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