Emerging, Melting, Quickening:
Imbolc as a Threshold of Light and Renewal
A note: Sending blessings whether you’re stepping into the renewal of spring or the slowing embrace of autumn. May this season of Imbolc or Lughnasadh bring you exactly what you need. In this post I am sharing about my experience of Imbolc here in the British Isles, perhaps if you are in the Southern Hemisphere, you can save this for your Imbolc season.
The Slow Arrival of Spring
It's a week since Imbolc. The shift of the season is subtle, not yet fully arrived, but undeniable. I've seen my first crocuses, and today I will visit my local Yew Tree and hopefully see snowdrops! The seemingly relentless rain has given way to frosty mornings and icy windscreens, but with welcome blue skies and shorter nights.
I always find it rather difficult to share about the seasonal festivals (although I keep insisting on doing so). For me, each festival is not a single day; it is a process rather than an event. And I resist the noise that accompanies these seasonal thresholds online, the endless debates over the correct date, the astrological timing, the dogma that abounds. It's probably just me, but sometimes it feels like an exercise in spiritual-superiority, a need to prove who knows the most.
I trust Dr. Sharon Blackie when she says that we know virtually nothing about the pre-Christian festival of Imbolc; and I also embrace the widely held theory that it is associated with the Irish Goddess Brigid, and was later transformed into a Christian festival.
As an agricultural festival celebrating the first ploughing and the beginning of the lambing season, it was a time to bless the land, to call in fertility for the crops and the herds.
If at the heart of Imbolc, is the melting of Winter and Spring emerging, we can mark it simply by stepping outside and witnessing what is stirring, recognising the shift in light, honouring what has been nourished in the darkness of winter and is now quickening to take shape.
A Time for Listening and Looking
For me, these seasonal turnings are always a time to listen and look. I choose familiar walks so that I’ll notice the changes, get a sense of what is happening beneath the surface, and know that so much is stirring.
It's a time for nature's awakening and an invitation for us to collectively reawaken.
One way to honour this threshold is with a simple ritual of light. At dusk, light a candle and take a moment to reflect on what is stirring in your life: What is beginning to unfurl? What seeds are germinating? What is asking to be tended? What is waiting to be brought into the light? Offer a blessing for the land, for your home, for the quiet intentions forming within you.
Reimagining the World
This is also a time to deepen into our ability to imagine new ways of being together, to ask: How do we reimagine the world? How do we foster our relationship with the land and one another?
At Imbolc, we can reawaken our own mycelial networks and conspire with our communities to collectively dream into being the world we wish our children to inherit.
Brigid’s Legacy
As mentioned above, Imbolc has long been associated with Brigid, and in 2023, Ireland officially recognised St. Brigid’s Day as a public holiday for the first time. This was the result of years of dedicated campaigning started by Treacy O’ Connor and Lorna Evers Monaghan, and led by the organisation, Herstory, founded by Melanie Lynch.
Herstory worked to elevate Brigid’s legacy, advocating for recognition of her role as a figure of creativity, protection, and renewal. The movement gained support from women’s organisations, cultural groups, political figures and the incredible poet Laura Murphy. Through petitions, public awareness campaigns, and political lobbying, the campaigners made a compelling case for recognising Brigid’s influence, not only as a religious and mythological figure but as a symbol of sovereignty, feminine power, and social justice.
“ Brigid is the bridge, crossing the threshold from Goddess to Saint, Celtic to Christian, North and South, winter and spring, water and fire, masculine and feminine, ancient and modern.”
- Treacy O’ Connor
This holiday acknowledges Brigid’s place in Irish mythology and Christian tradition, and is a reclamation of a narrative that celebrates female wisdom, resilience, and leadership.
The Power of Reclaiming Women’s Stories*
We are in a time when it is increasingly apparent that the granting of rights to women has only ever been a surface-level illusion, and those rights that we thought were hard-won, are being rescinded each day. It is more vital than ever that we reclaim women's stories and keep them alive.
Rather than looking on helplessly, hoping it could never happen here, we must commit to using our voices for others, but also to learning our own herstory, and rising to meet these challenges with strength and solidarity.
The campaign for, and creation of St Brigid's Day, speaks to the importance of a broader recognition of women’s contributions throughout history, which have been diminished, buried or nearly erased. We can learn so much from their campaign.
If Brigid calls to you, please subscribe to Marisa Goudy Myth is Medicine, and find her podcast, Knotwork Storytelling. You can listen in to two recent episodes with Treacy O’Connor and Laura Murphy.
*I will be writing more about this in another post.
Traditions that Breathe
I am a strong advocate for reclaiming our ancestral traditions, not to fossilise them, but to let them breathe and evolve. These festivals are not static; they are living, changing reflections of our relationship with the land and the cycles of time. In honouring these thresholds, we are not trying to engage in historical reenactment but in an ongoing, reciprocal relationship with the natural world to which we belong.
To celebrate Imbolc is to participate in an ancient rhythm that still pulses beneath our modern lives. It is to acknowledge that, just as the land is stirring, we are called to tend to those quiet stirrings within ourselves; to honour what is asking to be nurtured, and to recognise that transformation often begins in stillness.
The traditions and customs we inherit are not relics but roots. They ground us in something deeper than fleeting trends or rigid dogma; they connect us to those who came before and those who will follow.
Seasonal Practices and Inspiration
If you’re looking for inspiration on how to honour the seasonal transitions, Dr Sharon Blackie's course, Sisters of Rock and Root, has been invaluable to me, together with the following books:
Seasons of Moon and Flame by Danielle Dulsky
Each of these books offers insight into the traditions, stories, rituals, and meaning of the ancient festivals. They resonate with my cultural heritage and ancestral lineage and have provided depth and beauty to my own seasonal practices.
As always, we can learn from these powerful teachers and storytellers, and exercise our discernment in our practices and the sacred tools we use.
An Imbolc Petition
As we cross the threshold of this season
May we step forward with intention, embracing the wisdom of the past and the possibilities of the future.
May we honour the quiet stirrings within us, listening to the whispers of what longs to emerge.
May we recognise the sacred reciprocity between ourselves and the land, tending to her with care as she nourishes us in return.
May we gather in community, weaving together our dreams, stories, and resilience as we answer the call for our collective reawakening.
May we know we belong to the Earth, and let the Goddess embrace us as a channel to reclaim Herstory.
May we embrace transformation, trusting in the unfolding of what is yet to come, knowing that in each ending there is a seed of renewal.
My hope as always, is that something in what I share resonates with you and that this feels like a conversation in Circle. Please do respond, share and reflect in the comments or the chat, or by email. It is a privilege to read your words and stand witness to your journey and current experience of life.
With you in Circle in these (r)evolutionary times
p.s. I love sharing books and I love supporting Indie bookshops. If you can’t get to a local bookshop or prefer to order on-line, the links that I share take you to the author’s website or to bookshop.org. On that site you can choose a specific bookshop to support and they’ll receive 30% of the cover price (or almost all of the profit) or, 10% of the cover price contributes to an earnings pool that is evenly distributed among participating independent bookshops each month. In addition, I am a member of their affiliate program which means I receive 10% commission and an additional 10% goes to Indie bookshops. So it’s a win for book lovers and bookshops!
Gorgeous Mitle, much to savour in your writing and at this special time of the year. Thank you .
Thank you, Mitlé - as always, for your gorgeously written words and inspiring reflections. I am saddened to be reminded that we have lost many of the threads that tie us to our ancient traditions and yet, at the same time, delighted that an echo makes itself heard through St. Brigid's story. Equally, I wholeheartedly agree the way we choose to mark our milestones must evolve and be relevant to our lives. Happy unfurling to all...