Imbolc Ritual 1994

SETUP

Decorations: This ritual was performed in the living room of our home. It is decorated for the celebration by placing white fabric on the altars, and floor. The temple is filled with as many candles (unlit) as can be obtained. The banner with the image of Brigid is hung from the bile' in the center of the room. The Brigid's Cross symbol is placed in a position of prominence in the god's shrine. The shrines are decorated with items pertaining to their function and the candles are all set up but not lit. The brazier is set up at the base of the bile' with a chunk of firelog placed in it. The offering bowl, with it's candles unlit, is placed at the base of the bile' on the opposite side from the brazier.

A fresh cake of bannock bread, a goblet of wine, and a goblet of juice are placed on the altar table.

Each participant has spent some time in meditation upon their personal needs. Each has prepared two small slips of paper, one with an item of knowledge that they have gained that was especially valuable to them (gem of knowledge), and one with an example of an effort of will that they have performed in the time since the last ritual.

BRIEFING

Review the ritual just before beginning the individual meditations.

INDIVIDUAL MEDITATION

Think about personal and grove (family) needs between now and the Spring Equinox. As Brigid is a Goddess of healing, special attention should be paid to one's needs for physical, emotional, and spiritual healing.

PROCESSIONAL

To be sung when entering the temple and repeated a few times once everyone is inside to give everyone a chance to focus.

All: "We've come to the sacred grove,
with hearts and minds and flesh and bone.
Join us now in ways of old,
we have come home"
(Repeat)

LIGHTING THE SACRED FIRE

Light the firelog while all sing:

"Spirit of fire come to us, we will kindle a fire,
Spirit of fire come to us, we will kindle a fire,
We will kindle a fire, fan the flames inside our hearts,
We will kindle a fire, we will kindle a fire."
(Repeat)

POURING THE SACRED WATERS

Add a few drops of water from the (Chalise Well, Glastonbury) to the water shrine.

CONSECRATION OF THE ALTAR & TOOLS

Pass them near the fire and anoint them with water.

CONSECRATION OF THE BILE'

Sprinkle the bile' with water from the shrine.

MUSICAL SIGNAL

Ring the ritual bell and announce beginning.

OPENING PRAYER

Fox: "We open our hearts to the worlds on Imbolc,
may these words stir ancient memories in our souls,
may these offerings lend strength to our gods,
may these deeds bring honor to our ancestors,
may this love heal our mother, the earth"

PURIFICATION OF PARTICIPANTS

One purification for each of the three worlds, smudge for sky, anoint with water for sea, and anoint with ocher for land.

HONORING EARTH MOTHER

"We will now honor the source of our lives, the earth"

Ladle water over the earth stone.

"O Mother Earth, we praise thee,

for blackened crags of misty mountains
thrust from watery depths
scoured by rain and cracked by ice
life sustaining minerals flow in our veins
precious jewels from living stone

we praise thee

for swirling skies of cool clean air
we suckle at your unseen breast
you give us voice and carry sweet scents
and feed our inner fires

we praise thee

for cooling rain and salty sea
the womb of creation, great caldron of plenty,
rivulets of blood, we carry within us,
and float each generation in your gentle pool,

we praise thee

for all of these blessings in perfect balance,
and pledge to heal our great benefactor
who gives so freely, that we might live

SEASONAL MEDITATION

Settle yourself. Close your eyes. Feel your body relax. Feel as the tensions drain away from your face, your neck, your shoulders, your arms, your torso, your legs. Sense the whole of your body, calm, heavy in its relaxation.

Center yourself. Feel for that calm, comfortable center in which you are whole. Ground yourself. Extend yourself into the Earth, your mother. Feel as your roots grow into the ground, as you find your connectedness with her again.

This time is the time of Imbolc, the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. The sun has begun his journey back to full strength. He was born at Yule, and progresses through his transformation from infant to young man. He is potential, waiting to be realized. The days are lengthening as the nights shorten. Each day the sun brings a little more warmth, foretelling the thaw to come. For now, however, the Earth remains in slumber, Spring still only a faint whisper.

Extend your senses beyond the walls, to the world outside. Smell in the crisp air the hard frosts that grip the land. The cold grabs the inside of your nose, and every breath is a gasp. See the dark grey skies. Sharp ice crystals bite into your cheeks as the wind whips the tops off the snow drifts. A branch breaks with a loud snap as cracks caused by summer storms finally lose their battle with the weight of heavy snows.

Foxes sleep, snug in their dens, as sparrows fight for a chance at the feeder, not always refilled. The bright flash of a cardinal contrasts starkly with the sullen white snow, a bloody gash across a barren landscape. Ice coats the twigs and chimes in the breezes. Rebirth seems remote - even the call of the goose is a distant memory.

But look into the barns and the fields and watch the teats of the cows and the ewes begin to swell. The milk is beginning to flow. Old loin-fires of bulls and rams are soon to burst forth as the first new calves and lambs. They will struggle up on unsteady limbs, symbols of the green waiting impatiently to explode from the as yet quiescent soil.

This is the time of metamorphosis, of the promise of fruition of seeds sown in seasons past. Brigid stokes these fires, inspiring the bard, the smith, the healer. Fertility and creativity begin to flow in this dormant season, as small things born at the solstice begin to manifest, heralding the full flowering to arrive when the sun reconquers his throne.

Fire. The fires in our hearths. Feel the warmth, smell the food cooking. The fires in our smithies. The clang of hammer striking anvil, shaping raw metal into tools. The fire of desire. The climax which joins cell with cell in the creation of life. The fires of creativity. Music rings and voices flow as living beauty is sculpted from idle words and actions. The fire of transformation. The season of transformation from the depths of Winter into the rebirth of Spring.

Now, slowly, gradually, come back inside. Come back to us. Begin to sense the world inside. Prepare yourself to celebrate this season of Brigid, this season of fire, this season of changes. Rouse yourself. Be ready to grab the spoke and turn the wheel past the numbing cold of winter to the seductive promise of Spring, as we join together in the celebration of Imbolc!

UNITY CHANT

"We are one, we are one, we are one, . . ."

"In this task, we've begun, what we will, shall be done"

STATEMENT OF RITUAL PURPOSE

"We have gathered to celebrate the festival of Imbolc. The celebration of the first signs of spring. The wombs of livestock grow heavy as the first births of the year begin. This is the time of the year when we homor Brigid, triple goddess of smithcraft, healing and bardic arts. And we also remember the young Sun whose birth we witnessed at Yule, as he rises higher in the sky each day, bringing warmth to our world."

PLANTING THE COSMIC TREE/HONORING THE SACRED BILE'

"This pole represents the vertical axis of the multiverse,
the cosmic tree of life.
It's roots burrow deep into the soil of the underworld,
it's mighty trunk has grown up,
piercing this plane of existence,
to spread it's branches across the upper realms.
The bile' is our connection to other worlds
and the center of our ritual universe,
constructed that we may come to understand the workings of the worlds."

EVOKING THE GATE KEEPER

"The keeper of the ways between,
the worlds of Gods and mortal kin,
from common lands to other worlds
throw wide the gates for us again"

EVOKING THE FIRE, WATER, AIR, AND EARTH DEITIES

Light a candle for each (with the exception of fire). Invoke them to participate in the ritual.

Offer:
powdered incense to fire,
stick incense to air,
a crystal or rock to earth,
a coin to water.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE OUTSIDERS

"We acknowledge the presence of the chaotic entities, we give you a place in our ritual so that you will not disturb us in search of one."

INVOKING NATURE SPIRITS, ANCESTORS, AND DEITIES

Each person takes a moment, starting with the shrine of their choice, to commune with the spirits of that shrine. The first person will light the candle. Little bowls or cups containing material for offerings (below) will be placed at each shrine for the use of the participant.

Offerings:
Nature spirits - milk, birdseed
Ancestors - sweets, wine or mead
Gods - wine or mead

INVOKING HELPFUL BEINGS BY PROVINCE/FUNCTION

Light the west candle.

"We honor the scholars in all realms. We make offerings by returning some of the best of what we have learned and ask that you guide us as we seek wisdom and truth."

Each person should burn the offering of paper with their gems of knowledge written on them.

Light the north candle.

"We honor the warriors in all realms. We make offerings of examples of our efforts of will. We ask that you grant us courage and strength as we travel upon our chosen paths."

Light the east candle.

"We honor the producers in all realms. We make offerings of the products of our labors. We ask that you grant us the strength and skill to produce our sustenance."

Make an offering of bannock bread.

DESCRIPTIVE INVOCATION OF THE DEITIES OF THE OCCASION

"We call upon Brigid to join us in this sacred place."

All: Light all of the remaining candles in the temple.

Cut an apple in half and offer it and some wine to the Brigid banner, placing them at the base of the bile'.

"We honor the lady Brigid at her time of prominence.
Brid, exalted one,
triple goddess of smithcraft, bardic lore, and healing,
goddess of inspiration, guardian of childbirth,
bright lady of the eternal fire,
patroness of the family hearth,
hear our praise for you on this day"

PRAISE OFFERINGS, OFFERINGS, LIBATIONS, ETC.

SEEKING THE OMEN OF RETURN

MEDITATION ON PERSONAL AND GROUP NEEDS

A silent meditation of personal and a brief discussion of grove needs between now and the next high day.

CONSECRATION AGREEMENT

Lift the chalice of wine and the plate of bannock bread.

"May the spirits assembled bless this bread and wine, the fruits of the harvest,
that it will provide strength and health,
to help us through the last lean months of winter."

CONSECRATION AND SHARING

Share the consecrated food.

THANKING THE ENTITIES INVITED, IN REVERSE ORDER

Off the cuff

THANKING THE GATEKEEPER AND CLOSING THE GATES

Off the cuff

AFFIRMATION OF PAST/FUTURE CONTINUITY AND SUCCESS

"Our celebration of Imbolc has been a success,
we have placed our footprints on the ancient path of our ancestors,
and brought honor to our heritage and our gods.
May the great wheel turn until we meet again on the Spring Equinox."

UNMERGING, REGROUNDING & RECENTERING MEDITATION

The time has now come to complete the circle of our celebration. Close your eyes, and find once more your center. Ground yourself, and link with the Earth beneath you. Gather close any stray energy left from our celebration, and return it to the earth. Hold with you the sense of the season, the bare cold earth, the sleeping creatures, the empty fields, but with it the coming of mothers' milk, the dropping of young, and the whisper of the promise of Spring.

RECESSIONAL

"Walk with wisdom, from this hallowed place.
Walk not in sorrow, our roots shall e'er embrace.
May truth be your brother, and honor be your friend,
and luck be your lover until we meet again."

ANNOUNCEMENT OF ENDING

Fox: "This concludes our Imbolc celebration."

MUSICAL SIGNAL

Ring the stag bell.

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