Imbolc Sabbat and Tarot Reading 2024

After the holidays, you become glum because the festivities are over, and all you have to look forward to are paying credit card bills from the gifts you bought and a long winter ahead. And by February rolls around, you are extremely tired of the snow and cold. However, there is another thing about February that is quite positive because that is when you start seeing a flicker of light at the end of a very long, cold tunnel.

There are a few more weeks of winter to go, and you can see that based on how the days are noticeably longer than they were a month prior. Spring is approaching soon, and you can welcome the preparation for spring by celebrating the Imbolc Sabbat, which starts from sundown on February 1st to the 2nd. Let’s review Imbolc and the traditions and do a collective tarot reading for the season.

What Is Imbolc And What Are The Origins?

Imbolc is a pagan Sabbat, as it symbolizes the halfway point between Yule or the Winter Solstice and Ostara, which is the vernal equinox. “Imbolc” means “in the mother’s belly” as the spring seeds begin to germinate in Mother Earth’s womb. Sometimes Imbolc is known as Candlemas or Oilmelc, as the celebration originated from the Celtic tradition.

Imbolc originated in pre-Christian Britain and Ireland, as the earliest mentions of the Sabbat were discovered in tenth-century Irish literature as a poem referring to ewe’s milk (the meaning of Oilmelc). The poem was about purification, and the speculation was that the Imbolc rituals began when sheep were being bred and lactating.

Since Imbolc is a celebration of fertility, celebrations honored the pagan goddess Brigid, who gave blessings for fertility and was the goddess to inspire creativity. Historians and poets in ancient Britain and Ireland worshipped Brigid, known as the Filid. Celts would celebrate Imbolc as they expected Brigid to visit them by crafting the sculpture of Brigid using oat bundles and wheat straw, as they would dress the doll and place it in a basket on the night of February 1st.

Their Imbolc traditions also consisted of making a tribute to Brigid by lamp burning and lighting bonfires. However, Christianity adopted Brigid when it took over Ireland and Britain. It called her St. Brigid, also known as Bridget, as she became the saint of Irish newborns, midwives, nuns, cattle, and dairy maids.

Imbolc rituals included weather divination; in Europe, the hedgehog was in charge of it. If the hedgehog saw its shadow, it would return to the den, which means winter would not end for another six weeks. However, if it did not see its shadow, then an early spring was predicted.

European settlers to North America who kept up with the pagan Imbolc traditions used the groundhog instead for weather divination, hence the origins of Groundhog Day. Now, let’s discuss the everyday modern pagan Imbolc rituals.

What Are Some Common Imbolc Rituals?

Pagans celebrate Imbolc in various ways, but there are some rituals that they share in common with one another. One common ritual is setting up an altar using a table or a bookshelf. If you want to celebrate Imbolc, then setting up an altar is something you will want to do. Depending on the space you have for it, you can add as many items as you would like. The colors associated with Imbolc are red, green, and white, and you can get a cloth of either of those colors to color the altar because they are the colors associated with Brigid.

White represents snow, red is the sun beginning to rise, and green is fertility and the earth under the snow. You will also want to get several candles that have those colors. The number of candles to get is up to you because of your space on the altar. You can place some spring flowers on the altar, such as daffodils, crocus, forsythia, and snowdrops. You can also get a Brigid corn doll and put it on the altar and a poem, as she is the patroness of poets.

You will also want to add some crystals to your altar, as the stones associated with Imbolc are bloodstone, onyx, turquoise, ruby, and amethyst.

Another idea of Imbolc’s items on the altar is having small statues of swans, sheep, or cattle as they are sacred to Imbolc. And since Brigid is the goddess of smithcraft, you can put a small hammer or anvil on there. Chalices or cauldrons are other items you can place on there, as Brigid is connected to healing waters, wells, and springs.

Baking desserts with dairy and eggs is another Imbolc ritual; you can also add slices of baked goods on the altar if there is room.

However, before setting up your altar, you want to create a ritual that involves purification. You can take a shower or bath as you soak yourself or meditate as you purify yourself. You can envision a white light surrounding you and cleansing you if you choose. You can use Epsom salts and other herbs if you choose to bathe. Then, after you dry and dress, you can set your altar.

Aside from setting up your altar and cleansing yourself before doing so,…