Imbolc

The first stirrings of spring, a festival of the hearth and of new beginnings.

When: 1 February in the north, 1 August in the south.

What it is

Imbolc (say "IM-olk") lies halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It is still winter. But the afternoons are longer, the snowdrops are out, and the first lambs are born. Imbolc celebrates the moment when the year begins to move under the surface.

It is a festival of light and of cleansing: of candles, of clearing out, and of the first plans made for a year that is not yet visible.

Where it comes from

Imbolc is one of the four seasonal festivals of old Ireland. An Irish glossary of about the year 900 explains the word as the time when the ewes give milk. Of the rites that went with it in the time before Christianity, nothing is recorded.

The day belongs to Brigid. Irish texts know a goddess of that name, the patroness of poets, smiths and healers, and a saint, Brigid of Kildare, an abbess of the fifth century whose feast is 1 February. How much of the goddess lives on in the saint is an open question among scholars.

The customs of Saint Brigid's Day were written down in the last three hundred years. People wove a cross of rushes and hung it over the door for protection, and left a piece of cloth outside overnight for her blessing as she passed. They are kept in Ireland today, where the day has been a public holiday since 2023.

On 2 February the churches keep Candlemas, the blessing of the year's candles. The Imbolc of modern witches was shaped in the 1950s from these sources. It is one of the eight sabbats of the Wheel of the Year.

Ways to celebrate

Clear out: one drawer, one shelf or one corner, to make room for what is coming.
Light: a white candle at dusk, or simply every lamp in the house switched on for a moment.
A Brigid's cross: woven from rushes, straw or strips of paper and hung by the door.
First signs: a walk to look for buds, catkins and the first flowers. Leave them where they grow.
Words: Brigid is the patroness of poets. Write a few lines, or read a poem aloud.
A small plan: note what you would like to begin this year, without starting it yet.

Good to know

Saint Brigid's Day is a living feast in Ireland, religious for some and a matter of culture for others. If you take up its customs, name where they come from.

Never leave a candle burning unattended, and do not carry a burning candle from room to room.

Snowdrops are poisonous, above all their bulbs; keep them away from children and pets.

Imbolc is no time for great resolutions. Whatever stirs now is small, and it is allowed to stay small for a while.