Imbolc Musings
Imbolc Musings: The Sacred Stirring Beneath the Frost
Written by TJ, Shamanic Roots
As I sit to write this, the light is slowly, almost in an unseen way, returning. Not just in the skies, though in the last few days I’ve noticed the sun waking a little earlier each morning, but also in the land itself… in the song of the kookaburra greeting the dawn just a few minutes sooner… and again in the dusk, when their laughter trails the last gold of the sky a little longer. It’s subtle, but it’s there.
And the wattle. Goodness, the wattle.
It’s blooming everywhere across the land in which I live right now, a radiant burst of golden joy against the cool, bare bones of Winter. I’ve been watching it quietly sprout across the property here… and then, as I drove to the airport yesterday to pick up Boyd, I noticed it lining the roads like a golden thread, stitching Winter to Spring.
A gentle echo from the land:
“Life is returning. The wheel is turning.”
Imbolc arrives just before dawn tomorrow, Thursday, the 7th of August at 4:19am here in Victoria. Traditionally, Imbolc marks the halfway point between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, a cross-quarter festival, one of quickening, of inner stirring, of the sacred spark returning to the belly of the Earth.
The word Imbolc is said to mean “in the belly,” and it’s this deep belly energy I feel so strongly right now, I feel something awakening below the surface, still tender, still wrapped in quiet, but very much alive.
In Celtic tradition, Imbolc is the festival of Brigid, the keeper of the sacred flame, goddess of healing, poetry, birth and transformation. It’s a time to tend the hearth, the heart, and the hope we carry forward. It’s a season of preparing, slowly, for new life.
A sacred pause, a breath, a blessing.
My own understanding of this seasonal holy day has been shaped by years of self study, walking with the land, and most recently, deepened through Sara Brooke’s Wheel of Celebration, a powerful year long journey woven by Sharon Bolt of the White Dragon Lineage. I offer deep gratitude for the way these teachings have helped me anchor into the rhythm of the seasons in a way that is both reverent and embodied.
Since the container ending almost 6 months ago now, I have felt the stirrings, the subtle messages from the nature spirits, sharing their wisdom with me. I noticed the deepening of winter, the stillness, the pause, I’ve noticed the small shift over the past few days as we neared Imbolc. It’s a blessing, a true honour to be so deeply connected and feel the inner weavings of the seasonal energies around.
I know for myself, tomorrow night will be a time of ritual, a time of reflection and honouring of what has been and what is to come. A time of reflection on how I show up in the present, and how I can deepen even further into presence of self.
Reflection Prompts for Imbolc
What is quietly stirring within me, asking for light?
Where am I being called to soften, surrender and prepare for growth?
What flame within me needs tending right now?
What am I hopeful for?
How can I embody Brigid’s essence as healer, and keeper of the sacred flame?
How can I welcome in rebirth and transformation?
I don’t come to this work as a scholar of tradition, but as a woman who listens to the land, to Spirit, to the whispers within. The sacred wheel is something I feel in my bones. I walk it not perfectly, but intentionally. This grows with each turning of the wheel, and I know the more I journey along this path, the more in tune I will become. There has been many shifts this year, from disconnecting to certain energies I used to honour, used to give my power to, to feeling the calling, the need for the winter coldness, for the first time in years craving the stillness, the slowness of winter. This year has been a year of change, a year of transformation, very in tune with the year of the snake.
So as Imbolc dawns in the early hours tomorrow, I invite you to be with what is just beginning to awaken. You don’t need to rush forward. Let it be tender. Let it be sacred. Let it be yours.
With love and warmth from my hearth to yours,
TJ x
Shamanic Roots