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Happy Spring, sort of! Yes it is! This Imbolc week marks the halfway point between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. Another "bringing in the light" day. Imbolc is said to have been celebrated (particularly?) in Ireland, where it is now recognized as a feast day for St. Brigid. While it’s said by some that due to Christian incursion St. Brigid “replaced” the goddess Brigid in Ireland, there are scholars who disagree that such a goddess was recognized. Either way, the astronomical facts aren’t in dispute, we are at the halfway point between winter and spring. And, in a sense, spring is happening, under the surface and visibly. Plant kin are beginning to wake up here in the lower midwest (I’m not as familiar with the patterns in Chicago but I'm told you're several weeks later than we are in southern Illinois and St. Louis): the witch hazels at my house are in full bloom, and many of my early daffodils have plenty of green foliage poking up from the ice. Just a few miles south of me some of the daffodils are showing their still-closed blooms. It won't be long before the tree sap is really running, and the birds start moving en masse. I love to daydream about what my deep ancestors were doing on such a day. How they were feeling, what they were eating. Their rituals and ceremonies. Today we'll honor the old Irish custom of leaving a scarf out on the porch railing or in a tree for Brigid to bless as she flies by. Tomorrow we'll bake a cake and raise a glass, put a little of that on the altar and say thank you getting us through this far. Here are a couple of links with some interesting things about Imbolc: https://www.almanac.com/quarter-days-and-cross-quarter-days https://gathervictoria.com/2023/01/20/the-caileachs-red-ale-cake-the-darkness-the-light/ #Imbolc #land #landandbody #spring #ice #daffodils  Image shows daffodil leaves poking up through the white, frozen sleet.
Photo by Margaret Howard, 1-31-2023
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