Imbolc

Well, for those of you who are familiar with Celtic beliefs, today, February 2nd, is known as "Imbolc." There are many stories that describe the cycles (seasons) that the Earth goes through. In this particular tradition, Imbolc is the time when the Earth begins to awaken from her sleep. The Goddess has gone from child, to maiden to mother, to crone, (symbolizing the cycles of the Earth) and begins the cycle again at Imbolc as the child. Brigid is the Celtic Goddess of Imbolc, and she represents the "child" aspect of Goddess, or of the Earth.

Brigid is also considered the deity of poetry, smithcraft, and the hearth. According to John Matthews in "Drinking from the Sacred Well: Personal Voyages of Discovery with the Celtic Saints," there was a "real" Brigid who lived in Ireland, and was known, among other things, for forming one of the first "double" monastaries in Kildare. Men and women had separate quarters, but they came together in common worship. Brigid lived approx. 452-524 A.D., during a time when men dominated education and religion. So she was truly a groundbreaker during her time. Matthews states that Brigid's "compassionate nature, her openness to other kinds of belief, and above all, the burning passion of her spirituality make her one of the most important characters of the Celtic world...Her story is about offering the entire harvest of a life lived to the full, of a love expressed for every part of creation" (p.57).

So anyway, some of my ancestors may have been Celtic, and since I am a writer and sometimes consider myself a poet, I thought it would be nice to sit down and creatively write today. The trouble is, my mind is a complete blank.

Maybe it's one of those midwinter blues things or something. Let's see, I'm getting over a bad cold, I worked overtime on the weekend, I'm in a feud with my therapist and am presently not speaking to him, and there is absolutely NO chocolate in the house. I was invited to a movie next weekend, but I will be working (again--ugh), and I have had no interesting or even fruit-filled dreams.

Hmmmm....maybe it's the chocolate. I need chocolate before I can create. Is there a patron saint for chocolate???? Or I should probably say, "matron" saint for chocolate. If not, there should be, and she should probably manifest in the form of a woman with raging PMS, with a candy bar in one hand and a bag of potato chips in the other. Not that I would know anything about that.

Anyway, I had to leave to do some errands (like filling my car up before the temperature drops to zero), and I started feeling strange about this Imbolc thing. After all, I don't know much about ancient Celtic beliefs, but I was inspired by a description of Imbolc in my calendar that challenged the reader to "declare who you are...name and claim your spiritual path..." and further asks, "What are your spiritual goals for the coming year? What is stirring inside you that seeks to grow, and how will you nurture this growth?" (From We'Moon 2007 calendar, quoted from "Women's Rites, Women's Mysteries by Ruth Barrett, c 2004). For those of you who are editors and English majors, forgive the clumsy citation. I have no idea how to cite a quote from a calendar.

Anyway, back to Brigid and Imbolc...though I can certainly feel inspired to meditate on my spiritual goals and personal growth, I just can't connect that to a deity or belief system that I am not that familiar with. Maybe it's like borrowing a neighbor's tools without permission or something, or maybe it's some other form of breach of spiritual etiquette.

But I have really not been up for much spiritual work lately anyway. In the last three years, I have been on three Vision Quests, numerous sweatlodges, meditated, prayed, participated in other sacred ceremonies, and I am wondering if I am just tired. It isn't that I have lost my spiritual beliefs, it's just that I have applied myself to them with my usual "Type A," "hundred-mile an hour" fervor, and I have become tired of that aspect of my personality, in many ways. So my house isn't perfectly clean, I don't eat all "good for you," organic/health foods, and I like to spend the afternoon just lying on the couch with a good book, as opposed to "getting something done."

So maybe my spiritual goal for this year will be to lighten up and stop worrying so much about my karma, my aura, my effect on the planet, my mind/body/spirit connection, etc., and just slow down and enjoy life for awhile.

I'd say, "and with that, I am going out for a beer," but it's too dang cold out. I did, however, satisfy my craving for chocolate. And salt. And junk food.