Lets Get Crafty.........A Hedge Witch Celebrates Imbolic

 

 Hello my friends!

With January half gone and the old woman of winter's icy breath on my neck ,this witches thoughts are filled with Imbolic.

February is a harsh and bitter month,in old Scotland the month fell in the middle of the
period known as the Wolf-month; also known as Dead-month.
February 1st. is known as Imbolc,Imbolic translates literally to,"in the belly" (of the Mother).
Although this month is bitter and dreary, small sturdy signs of Spring begin to appear in my realm.
My fields glimmer with new grass and ( here in Va.) Dandylions and Dead Nettle pop up with just a day or two of temps above freezing. Crows and their agust cousins the Ravens begin to build their nests and Lambs are beginning to be born.

In my garden Crocus,Snowdrops and Anemones shyly unfurl their petals and bloom with their feet covered in snow,letting me know yes sister we are here, your garden lives.
This is the time of year that the Old Woman of winter, the Cailleach, is reborn as Brighid or Bride,Young Maiden of Spring.
Imbolc is the time when the last of Yule's festive evergreens are removed. In some places it
is still traditional to hold on to the (undecorated) Christmas fir until Imbolc, when it is
taken and burned on the Imbolc fires. These days most of us dont keep the tree in place
much longer than the first of January,much less a whole month later.I certainly dont however there are ways to compensate for this.One of the things I do is when the tree comes down I whip out my pruning shears and cut enough of the tree up to make smudge wands and burning bundles for my cauldron. For Yule I decorate my doorstep with evergreens and fill a few empty pots with the same all outdoors where they dont drop all over the house.On Imbolic all of this is gathered up for my fire and I do a sweep of my steps with salt and spring herbs and petals from last springs bounty.

Another Imbolic tradition at my house is planting,last thing in the fall I pot up a few crocus and Daffies ,they are brought in on Imbolic watered and set in a sunny window ,within days I have my little heralds of spring breaking ground and peeking at me. Also now is the time that I prune my huge old Pussy Willow ,my Forsythia,and my curly Willow.The clippings come into the house and are crammed into every vase and jar I can lay my hands on.In the florist world this is called forcing.Its called that because within a week or so both will start to bloom,after about two weeks of lovely bloom the blossoms drop and roots start to form ,by the time its warm enough to plant I have tons of babies to give to all my buddies:) Below is Pussy Willow and Varigated Euronymus.

Traditionally, the colors green, red and white are associated with Brighid ,I always include these colors on my Imbolic Altar .I do this with candles and flowers.but you can use table cloths ,vases,crystals anything the choice is yours.

The white symbolizes the blanket of snow,the red the rising sun ,or for some the blood of life.
Green, both for the green mantle Brighid wears and for the life growing beneath the earth.

Lots of our Witchy tools are associated directly with Brighid and can be included on your Imbolic altar ......

She is connected to sacred wells and springs and can therefor be represented by your chalice or cauldron.

Brighid was a healer so Yarrow,Lavender,Feverfew ,Marjoram or any of the healing herbs are appropriate for your altar.

She is the patroness of poets so a poem by your hand is a wonderful tribute.

Also the Goddess of smithcraft,so a piece of hammered silver jewelery,a hammer,anvil or picture thereof can be used.

Since Brighid is undeniably Celtic, something Celtic should reside on the altar ,"a Brighid's cross,a pot of shamrocks,a small dish with some peat any of these will do ,A friend of mine printed out
a lovely graphic and framed it for her bow to the Celts ,I have a Tiny sliver harp necklace from Ireland that always goes on mine and this year I have some real peat that will go there also.
If you have no luck with growing plants or bulbs indoors and dont want to kill them ,then you
can always make a Brighids crown for the occassion.These are dead easy to make it is simply a circle of flowers and candles.It can be made of silk flowers if fresh ones are either unavailable or too exspensive.If this is what you use then make a wreath and set a candle in the center for your rites, afterwards it can be hung to brighten your days till springs bloom comes forth.

Other things that can be placed on your altar for the ocassion......

Birds nest ,most of us who live in either the country or the burbs have one that we have found abandoned ,but its perfectly alright to make one of your own.I fill mine with crystals to represent eggs.

A small offering of spring water in a bowl or chalice

Amethyst is a healing stone that also echoes the lovely purple of spring bulbs such as Crocus and Hyacynth

Some traditions believe that Brighid was sister to the Fae ,so a fairy for her altar is nice ,or put out a little Basil to intice them there (or both)

For those of you who dont have access to bulbs start a tiny pot of grass, if you have cats start a little pot of cat grass(they'll love it and you have put it to good use afterwards).

A small dish of salt can represent the white of snow

I know lots of us have feathers ,Im lucky enough to have been given a few Raven feathers and these go on my altar.So if you have them use them!

I have a lovely bust that I use to honor Brighid,I give her a crown of Ivy and flowers and she is placed close to my front door (so she can see my gardens from the window).Its not about how much you spend buying things for your Altars its about the care and intent you put into them.If I had one I could have just as easily used a doll for this.Notice behind her are jars filled with garland shaped like snowflakes these are left overs from other holidays.Also in some of the jars are popourri made from last years spring garden ,and healing herbs.Thats one way to curtail costs ,remember to harvest some of springs blossoms this year ,dry them and next winter make your own Imbolic mix .The glass paperwieghts symbolize (for me) the colors of spring.

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Instructions for forcing cuttings to bloom.......

Select branches that have the most buds and make a clean cut flush against the trunk of the tree so that no stub is left. This ensures quick healing. After gathering the branches, crush or split the lower stems an inch or two from the bottom to increase the area exposed to water. Then place the branches in a bucket or large vase of warm water (I put an asprin in with the water but its not vital to the process. Buds will appear within a week or so and blooms follow swiftly after.

Some of the easiest to force

Flowering quince
Forsythia
Witch Hazel
Pussy willow

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My Imbolic stoop sweep

healing herbs

(I chose these because I had a great harvest of them last year they could have been any of the healing herbs however)

Lavender

Feverfew

Yarrow

 

Daffodil and Rose petals (dried from last spring )

1 cup Sea Salt

1 tsp.ground gypsum