The River Reporter
Thursday, February 1, 1990, p. 5

Imbolc: midwinter reminder of a fire goddess

By TOM RUE

"We have not inherited the world from our ancestors; we have borrowed it from our children," an African proverb reminds us.

St. Brigit's Day falls on February 2nd this year. Normally associated with Catholicism, this day is actually a pagan holiday which honors the Celtic goddess of fire and forge, smithcraft, poetry, inspiration and healing who preceded the deity known to English-speakers as Jesus.

The other three annual sabbats of modern earth-centered religions like Celtic Wicca include Samhain (November eve), Beltane (May eve), and Laghnassad or Lammas (August eve.)

Wiccans celebrate the turning of the earth's seasons, much as Christians celebrate the annual anniversaries equated in myth with significant events in the life of their god.

Among ancients Celtic peoples, the goddess Brigit was associated with ritual fires of purification. Her holiday is also known as Imbolc.

This festival is celebrated today by pagan religions which celebrate nature as Eternal, symbolized in terms of a Great Goddess whose male consort is represented in the form of a man with horns (not to be confused with a more modern myth-image personifying evil.)

Imbolc is described as the day "our Lord [the sun] reaches the zenith of his journey."

That Imbolc is one of the celestial "sabbats" whose cycles are measured by the megaliths on Salisbury Plain known as Stonehenge built in prehistoric times attests to its religious significance among ancient Europeans.

Imbolc literally means "around the belly" (symbolic belly of the Mother Goddess.) Its rites are propitiary and protective against the elements.

A mediaeval quatrain tells us Imbolc was celebrated as a day of feasting and ritual purification:

Tasting every food in order,
This is what behooves at Imbolc
Washing of hand and foot and head,
It is thus I say.

During the Middle Ages, when the old religions of Europe were put down by Roman conquerors, Brigit became "Saint Brigit." Her imagery was taken over by Christian hagiography and was venerated in Ireland's county and parish of Kildare as the holy Brigit, who was supposed to have tended "the holy fire" along with 19 nuns.

While continuing to use such terms as "esbat," "sabbat" and "coven" the practices of modern Wicca bear little resemblance to stereotyped mediaeval witchcraft, though most Wiccans accept the appellation "witch."

"Lifecraft" might be a more easily understood term to most hearers. Based on the etymology of the word, witchcraft is sometimes referred to as "the craft of the wise."

It is a modern religion which might be characterized as environmental/feminist mysticism. Ecstatic spiritual experiences are reported by participants in some ritual circles, which combine such elements as tribal drumming, chanting, meditation, dance, incense, candles and other elements in moonlit rituals.

Modern followers of old or resurrected European religions commemorate the turnings of the earth as milestones. By focusing on some of the most fundamental commonalities of being human, it is felt by many adherents that the Old Religion helps them to feel closer to the central stream of life and live in peace.

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