Imbolc, (Saint) Brighid’s Day, Candlemas and Groundhog Day :Ritual for 2010: Part 3 of 4

[icymist]

One of the ways Wiccans and Pagans celebrate the different Sabbats or holidays of our calender which we calll the Wheel of the Year is with festivals and rituals on the day and night of the holidays. Pagan holidays are like Jewish holidays in that they are generally celebrated from sunset on one day to sunset on the next. So Imbolc is celebrated, traditionally, from sunset on February 1 to sunset on February 2. The following is the ritual that my family and I will be doing to celebrate the turning away from the season of ice and snow and the turning toward the first stirrings of Spring and seeds beneath the ground.

This ritual celebrates: the return of energy; the return of Spring; the transition of the Goddess from the Crone (the White Lady of the dark time) to the Maiden of the Light (full of healthy energy and the glorious promise of increased light and life vibrating across the Earth). It is actually two rituals in one to celebrate the many aspects of Imbolc and to honor, Brighid, my special Goddess. There are many aspects of Imbolc to be celebrated and this ritual touches on only on a few of them.

As with all your rituals, always call upon the elements of Air, Fire, Water and Earth as well as the Goddess and the God to be with you. My outline is only a suggestion. There are myriad ways to celebrate each of the Pagan Sabbats.

FIRST, the Priest and Priestess complete the Salt and Water Purification

More