Imbolc translates as “in the belly”; a festival of light and fertility and also purification and shedding that which no longer serves. It is the Celtic festival that marks the beginning of the new year and as such it invites us to undertake an inventory of our life, to consider what serves us and what no longer serves us. It is a time which also invites us to think about what we would like to draw into our life in the forthcoming year, and particularly to consider what our deepest needs are. This is a time when our ancestors celebrated making it through the winter and having enough food in their stores to sustain them.
It is a festival of the hearth fire, often associated with the goddess Brighid. The fire offers us an opportunity to let go of anything that no longer serves us. This simple fire ceremony can be carried out using the flame of a candle on the kitchen table. You are also welcome to come to Prestwick beach where we will build a fire (expected to start from 7pm on Saturday 2nd February).
I suggest that you make two lists:
1. The first list is a list of those things in your life that no longer serve you. These may be material things, like the cracked mug that you’ve been using to drink your tea out of, or they may be unhelpful emotions or coping mechanisms, such as biting your nails, or letters from a friend who you have been hoping would reconnect for the past ten years. I like to let go of things with gratitude in recognition that these things have served us in some way. Find a pretty sheet of paper, or a plain sheet of paper which you can then decorate. Alternatively I’ve attached a pdf with some decorative borders that you can use if you have a colour printer. Then write down all those things which you feel no longer serve you and would like to let go of. Write them with gratitude for the gifts they have given you. Then on the evening of tomorrow, Saturday 2nd February, read the list through, allowing yourself to connect fully to each item and when you feel ready hold the page over the fire and gift each item on the list to the flame.
2. The second list will include all those things you are choosing to draw to yourself, that you choose to welcome into your life, along with the light of the new year. You could simply create a ‘Joy List’: a list of all the things in life that give you joy. On my joy list I have things like ‘collecting washing off the line outside’ (that yummy dried-outside smell), ‘the smell of fresh cut grass’, ‘peppermint tea’, ‘brushing my hair’, as well as some more exotic ones like ‘swimming in warm oceans’. In fact most of the things on my list are easily accessible, like ‘having my hands in the earth’, ‘watching children play’, ‘dancing’. Alternatively your list could be one of goals, such as ‘travel to Iceland’, ‘visit family in Australia’, ‘climb a Munro’, ‘run a marathon’. You could even create both types of list or a type of list of your own creation. Do what feels good for you Again you can use the borders in the pdf file to make your own ‘pretty paper’ for these, or else you can decorate your own. I then suggest that you post your joy list, list of goals etc where you see them every day.
♥ Whatever you choose to do I wish you many blessing & great prosperity in this new year ♥
