Sabbats Almanac: Samhain to Mabon - Kristoffer Hughes 2018
Imbolc Ritual by JD Hortwort
Imbolc
AS YOU PREPARE FOR your Imbolg celebration, set up a fire bowl or campfire outside, if possible. If not, use a large crystal bowl filled halfway with sand or rice. Set up at least as many candles as there are members in your group or one for every Sabbat of the year. Set it in the center of your ritual area on a table. This will be your Imbolc balefire.
Gather the following materials. Gather any ritual tools that are used in your group practice. Group members should also be encouraged to bring one or more of the tools they use at home. If you like, assemble the candles and herbs to be used for future rituals throughout this year. These can be bundled together and tied with ribbons or wrapped in tissue paper and placed in a basket at the altar.
You should have a basket or bowl of eggs for the member who will embody the Goddess Briget. Appropriate cakes and ale for grounding at the end of ritual would be egg-based breads, cakes or cookies plus cider, mead, or milk sweetened with honey.
Have a gold and white candle for this ritual. Have a small cauldron of water blended with juniper or cedar oil and a juniper branch for asperging members and tools. Appropriate herbs for Imbolg to use for smudging include pine resin, cedar oil, bayberry, and any white or yellow flowers in bloom for the season, like crocus or camellia or daffodils.
Begin the ritual. Everyone except a member representing Briget is inside the circle. Once the circle is cast, call your quarters or guardians as is your custom. At the House of Akasha, we usually call in this fashion.
North: Spirits of the North, Spirits of Earth, Ancient Ones. Be with us and guard us for this, our Imbolg celebration tonight.
East: Spirits of the East, Spirits of Air, Ancient Ones. Be with us and guard us for this, our Imbolg celebration tonight.
South: Spirits of the South, Spirits of Fire, Ancient Ones. Be with us and guard us for this, our Imbolg celebration tonight.
West: Spirits of the West, Ancient Ones, Spirits of Water. Be with us and guard us for this our Imbolg festival tonight.
High Priest (HP): Lord Dagda, Lord of the wild wood. Newly returned to us this Yule. Be with us and guard us for this, our Imbolg celebration tonight. (HP then lights the gold candle and the balefire. If the group is using a candle bowl instead of a balefire, the HP lights all the candles in the bowl.)
High Priestess (HPS): Something is amiss. The Goddess, Briget, is not with us. How can we celebrate the return of the growing season without the goddess of fire, the goddess of fertility, the Goddess Briget, daughter of the Dagda. Briget, she of many names. Brid, Bridgit, Brigan, Brigantia, Lady of the Shores, Bride the Beautiful, Flame of Ireland. We have lighted and tended the sacred fire. We call you back to us.
Lady Brid, She of the fire. Protector of the hearth. Inspiration of poets. Guardian of smiths. Be with us and guard us as we honor you tonight.
Briget rings a bell three times at the entrance to the east of the circle. HPS cuts a door in the East to let Briget in and says: Welcome, Briget. She closes the opening to the circle behind Briget, who enters with the basket of eggs. All members chime in, Welcome, Briget. The HPS lights the white candle.
Briget: The days have grown longer. My rest has ended. It is time to return to this world.
Briget begins to walk deasil around the circle, pausing in front of each member. The member holds her basket temporarily and charges the eggs with positive thoughts and energy for the coming year. As they do so, Briget continues to speak:
Imbolg is a time of renewal. All around us we see signs of that renewal. These eggs symbolize new energy, the potential for new growth, new possibilities. Even as Winter continues to chill our bones, flowers come forth as crocuses, daffodils, and more. We still see creatures all around us, frolicking in the tree limbs. The badger and groundhog stir from their dens to test the New Year.
The creatures of the farm that will sustain us with their wool, their milk and their meat are eager to return to the fields as they prepare for the next generation. While many trees are bare, we still see joy in life in the evergreens that surround us.
Even in the balefire, we see the illumination that will light our way to new ideas, new self-development, new goals as we go forward to greet the coming year. (Briget takes the basket of eggs to the altar. These will be made into an egg-based dish for the meal after ritual. She takes a place beside the altar.)
HPS: Take a moment to contemplate Briget’s words. Consider what they mean in your life.
Silent meditation for at least a moment
HPS: Everyone hold your ritual tools.
HP lights a charcoal and sprinkles Imbolg incense on the coal. Using his hand, he smudges the group altar and ritual tools. He then proceeds around the circle to smudge the members’ tools.
HP: Imbolg is a fire festival. We have lit the balefire to bring the light back into our life. We cleanse our ritual tools of all the energies and associations from the past. We charge them with our positive energy for the coming year.
HPS holds the asperging water and using the juniper branch, she sprinkles the altar and ritual tools. She proceeds around the circle to cleanse the member’s tools.
HPS: Imbolg is a time of new beginnings and fresh starts. We purify our ritual tools and cleanse them of any lingerings from the past.
As the HP and HPS proceed around the circle, smudging and asperging members’ tools, the group chants:
Welcome, Briget. Welcome the new year. We welcome you with gladness and cheer.
When they are done, the HP and HPS take the cakes and ale before Briget for a blessing.
Briget: May this food and drink fill us with the hope and promise of the coming year.
Cakes and ale are shared with the members. Everyone prepares to open the circle.
HPS: Lady Briget, Goddess of the hearth, healing, and fertility. Thank you for returning to us and being with us for this, our Imbolg celebration tonight. Hail and farewell.
HP: Lord Dagda, Lord of the wild wood. Newly returned to us this Yule. Thank you for being with us and guarding us for this, our Imbolg celebration tonight. Hail and farewell.
West: Spirits of the West, Spirits of Water, Ancient Ones. Thank you for being with us and guarding us for this, our Imbolg celebration tonight. Hail and farewell.
South: Spirits of the South, Spirits of Fire, Ancient Ones. Thank you for being with us and guarding us for this, our Imbolg celebration tonight. Hail and farewell.
East: Spirits of the East, Spirits of Air, Ancient Ones. Thank you for being with us and guarding us for this, our Imbolg celebration tonight. Hail and farewell.
North: Spirits of the North, Spirits of Earth, Ancient Ones. Thank you for being with us and guarding us for this, our Imbolg celebration tonight. Hail and farewell.
The circle is opened.