So of course the day I wrote my last post we had a huge amount of snow, so I didn’t get to plant my Imbolc apple tree after all. That joy will have to wait till after the thaw, and then some, till the ground has warmed a little. The weather during the period of the recent pair of eclipses (Jan 26 and Feb 9), traditional harbingers of general difficulty and climatic weirdness, has been intense in many places, including snow and rain paralysing transport in the UK and a hurricane in Spain and SW France. And in Australia the terrible, terrifying fires, a combination of a very hot summer and some very crazy people. I want to extend my thoughts and prayers to everyone there and to say that there is a lot of coverage in the UK of the traumatic events Australia is suffering, and that many people around the world are sending their support and empathy energetically. I think this is the positive angle of our shrinking globe – yes, we get inundated with tragic news and it can feel overwhelming, but if we turn that overwhelm into prayer for those in need, maybe it helps lend some psychic strength.
Monthly Archives: February 2009
Happy Imbolc!
It’s Imbolc tomorrow, February 2, and in keeping with ancient tradition, I am going to plant a tree. An apple tree, to be precise. It still feels very wintry here, with hoar frost on the trees and a forecast of snow tomorrow, but crocuses and snowdrops are pushing through the earth with bright green shoots, and we know the year’s turn towards the new is really happening now. Not so long until spring, and warmth in the air again!
Early February has long been celebrated as a holiday in many cultures: in ancient Ireland it was Imbolc and Brigid’s Day, in the Mediterranean and later in all of Europe, Candlemas and St. Bridget’s Day. In the US Feb 2 is Groundhog Day, a celebration of the lengthening days causing small furry creatures to poke their noses out of their hibernation holes and sniff the warming air. The Chinese and Tibetan New Years also occur in this time period, usually falling somewhere in the late January, early February window.
At this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere, the land, refreshed from the resting period of winter and purified by frosts, is getting ready for cultivation, for the renewal of the agricultural year. This is a moment of quickening, as the spark of life reappears, coming up from its deep underground slumber.
Read the rest of this year’s essay on Imbolc at http://planetaryenergies.net/2009/02/01/planetary-energies-imbolc-2009/
