Now that Imbolc has come to pass, I am able to put my understanding of this fire festival in to words. As I age, my awareness of deeper meaning of the cross quarter days seems to deepen. Samhain and Beltaine are exciting times of celebration with great fires, dancing and mischief. But the subtle influence that the “lesser” events have and recognizing them is a sure sign of my seasoned soul. When I  began to plan and day dream of what I will do for Imbolc, My mind went immediately to candles, sacred wells, waters and Brighid. What I discovered this year, was the complete immersion of healing, hearth and home. When I invited my sisters over for the evening I was in a quandary of what direction the ritual would take. I had 2 scenerios that I played out in my mind. I love to use music and dance to create  energy to send out to the pulse of the earth and I have done this with great success in the past. This year was different. I had those around me (including me) that needed to be helped by the flame of herself.  As a group we worked on a sewing project . We sat in a circle on the floor and we each took turns stitching in our own hand love, peace and acceptance of  what we could not change and the need for release of the pain emotionally and physically. We laughed, sat in silent contemplation and let the words and music of  our Ancestors sink into our being. We worked as our Mothers, Grandmothers, Aunties and kin did before us. We came together on this cold night and understood just a bit of what our sister kith lived.

We took our work into the “Witches room” (as my daughters named it) and began our mental magic. I love this part of the rituals that I facilitate. The building of energy or force that surrounds us, directing it toward out goal and the release.  This type of group work is very rewarding but exhausting. When you choose to do this it comes with the disclaimer of taking the next day for rest. As we pushed our pulse down to the earth, she pushed back and gave us a jolt. We took this and pulled the gift from our spirits and shaped it into the force that was directed toward our intent of the hearth. With the release came the peace and contentment of a lover spent. We did our work well –the seasoned ladies of the hearth.