IMBOLC EVE

The sun at 15 degrees Aquarius marks Imbolc (the weakest of what is referred to, among modern Pagans, as the Celtic Fire Festivals). How cold and dark these days must have been for our ancestors. How hungry. Imbolc, even more than Yule, was a feast of Faith in the coming spring, and the Hope of new babes.

This the Feast of First Milk. The ewes giving milk for the early lambs, those conceived during the Beltaine bonfires. Imbolc is the light of dwindling tallow candles in the coldest, hungriest part of winter. The sun's promise, born a fat, healthy baby at Yule, when there was still plenty of harvest fodder and meat, is not yet grown enough to bring forth spring. The God is at his weakest, suckling his mother for sustenance.

We are all, at some point in our lives, weak and vulnerable. We have all needed sustenance and nurturing and warmth. Take a moment tonight or tomorrow and honour New Beginnings with a candle's light. And if ever there was a Feast where cookies and milk are appropriate, it is Imbolc.

PRAISES, THANKS, AND BLESSINGS!!!