I recently finished writing the ritual for my coven's upcoming Imbolc celebration, and it started me thinking about what Imbolc represents to me. I have known several people who struggle to connect with Imbolc, and have a hard time grasping what it represents. In all things in the Craft, I believe it is important to find your own personal meanings for things, your own personal ways of connecting to them, and your own personal set of symbolism. This is how I found a way to connect with Imbolc.
Of course, there is plenty of readily available information about Imbolc, and what it's place on the Wheel of the year represents, but just like many of the associations connected with each of the sabbats, much of what it represents has become more abstract than practical in modern times. The name Imbolc derives from the old Irish "imbolg," which means "in the belly." Another name for the holiday, "Oimelc," means "ewe's milk." Each of these names refers to something that certainly would have been a cause for celebration at a time when life was much more dependent upon agriculture--the pregnancy and lactation of ewes. By this point in the season, winter stores may have been running low, but it would have still been too early and too cold to plant for the new season. Dairy would have provided a welcome new food source, and would have been a very early sign that the tides were turning and warmer, more fertile days were ahead. Celebrations of this turn of events would have been natural, but for those of us in the modern world who aren't farmers, it can be hard to relate. Sure, we can logically comprehend the significance, but as people who can drive to the grocery store and pick up a gallon of milk anytime we like, it can be difficult to truly put ourselves into the shoes of those who would have rejoiced at the lactation of sheep. Again, this provides us with more abstract symbolism than living significance.
Another popular association for Imbolc is that of the Feast of Brighid. This is a wonderful way to approach the holiday, as Brighid rules over many things that could be considered seasonally appropriate. Brighid is a goddess of fire, poetry and healing, and through her associations with the holiday, Imbolc could be thought of as a time that bring the light and warmth of fire, creative inspiration for the new yearly cycle, and healing and regeneration for the earth and those living upon in. Still, though, while this symbolism is slightly more universal and translates into modern day a little better, the problem remains that not everyone will be able to connect to it. This is primarily due to the simple fact that not everyone connects with the goddess Brighid, or wants to honor Her specifically every year at this time. The general themes may be more universal, but the connection to a particular goddess in the Celtic pantheon may not be considered as universal.
So where does this leave Imbolc? I have found ways to connect with all of the symbolism mentioned above, but there was a time earlier on my path when I too struggled a bit more with Imbolc than I did with some of the other sabbats. It took a few years of living the Wheel and really thinking about what each spoke on that Wheel represented to me before I began relating to Imbolc in my own way. In observing and connecting to my own environment, in present day, Imbolc has come to very much represent a time between darkness and light to me. It does not represent the same balance as, say, an equinox, but rather--it represents a turning point. Imbolc lies half way between the longest night of the year and the official start of spring. At this point on the Wheel, though the days have been growing longer for several weeks, that change has not yet become very apparent. And yet, we know that by the time Ostara comes around, the changes in light and the differences in the land will be quite obvious. Imbolc, then, is truly about helping to turn the Wheel. It is about overcoming that final hump of winter...casting off the final layers of darkness and cold. It is about calling the earth out its slumber, so that it can begin the process of donning its annual greenery, beginning again the age-old cycle. It is a time of emergence. This is how I connect with Imbolc. It is a time to step out of the darkness, and into the light. It is a time to lend my energy to the building momentum of the new turn of the Wheel, recognizing all of the blessings of the darkness, but leaving them behind to emerge into life, into light, and into the creative cycle once more.
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