Spring in the Belly of Winter
IMBOLC: A CROSS-QUARTER STATION OF THE SUN
February 3, 2025 at 12:10 PM PT / 3:10 PM ET / 20:10 UT
Sun at 15° Aquarius - Solstice/Equinox Midpoint
Late January · Anderson Valley, California
From windows in my father's house,
Dreaming my dreams on winter nights,
I watched Orion as a girl
Above another city's lights.
Years go, dreams go, and youth goes too,
The world's heart breaks beneath its wars,
All things are changed, save in the east
The faithful beauty of the stars.
—Sara Teasdale, from Winter Stars (1920)
* * *
In the dark of the moon, in flying snow, in the dead of winter, war spreading, families dying, the world in danger, I walk the rocky hillside, sowing clover.
— Wendell Berry, February 2, 1968
The measured, reliable "faithful beauty" of nature is, more and more, a much needed restorative for this deeply troubled world. Teasdale's and Berry's words, both written during the throes or wake of war, speak to the dark despair that can well up and consume us, and how such a simple "countering act" of beauty, of sowing clover seeds on a hillside, noting the calm enduring beauty of the stars, can make all the difference. Berry's lines were written during a previous, intensely chaotic, transitional time, almost 60 years ago to the day, two Saturn cycles come and gone.
The lovely Betsy Crawford wrote that Berry composed these lines three days into the disastrous Tet Offensive, and "faced with grief, fear, and despair, he was sowing a member of the Fabaceae, the legume family. It is one of the most ancient plant families on earth, with fossils 56,000,000 years old. It is also one of the largest, and perhaps the most important for our species. Our evolution went hand in hand with the legumes, the most abundant source of plant protein."
At this turning point in the solar year, as we move into a unstable month of eclipses, along with a world-changing conjunction of Saturn and Neptune, when Time and Timelessness join hands, look for reminders of the steadfast beauty of this world. Gather all that nourishes every part of your soul at this time of year when we emerge from the darkness of winter. It is time to sow more light and beauty around us, in step with nature.
* * *
BY EARLY FEBRUARY, here on the north coast of California, there are signs that winter — mild as it is here — has lost its icy grip. In the vineyards spread throughout our rural Anderson Valley, rows of winter cover crops show the first haze of bloom. They form careless bands of incongruous shaggy growth between neat and ordered lines of hard-pruned vines. And where the vineyards end in open pasture, newborn lambs walk on tentative legs and hang close by their mothers who munch grass a shade of impossible green, luminous in the warm afternoon sun.
At this time each year, our little corner of the world transforms into an emerald earth, a vivid reminder of how miraculous plants really are. Soaking up the increasing sunlight and nourished by winter rain, their green pigment waxes with the sun, a natural solar panel that absorbs energy for alchemy: the transformation of sunlight into sugar. And in the process, they perform another incredible, more and more critical feat: "inhaling" carbon dioxide and "exhaling" precious oxygen. The ewes both breathe and eat the products of their green meadows, and in turn perform their own magic, converting green grass into milk for their young.
Imbolc (pronounced i-molk or i-molg) is the name given to a Celtic festival long celebrated at this transitional time of year. Associated with the fire goddess Brigit, it marks the awakening — or quickening — of the Earth in late winter. Quickening, which means "to spring to life," is an archaic term for making a fire burn brighter, it also refers to the stage of pregnancy when a woman first feels the stirrings of life deep within. I remember those stirrings during my own pregnancy, no more than tiny butterfly flutterings — and like the first signs of spring, easy to miss. Deriving from the Old Irish imbolg which means "in the belly," Imbolc is a reference to the pregnancy of the ewes and lambing season which occurs at this time of year — a similar name for this day is Oimelc, Old Irish for "ewe's milk." Imbolc is also the beautiful, earthy way in which the Irish metaphorically referred to this time of year, that "spring was in the belly of winter."
Of the seasonal turnings in the wheel of the year, Imbolc is a "cross-quarter" day, marking the midpoint between the previous winter solstice and the coming vernal equinox. Winter-weary, ready for change, we search, at this time of year, for signs of spring. It makes sense then that so much of the lore associated with Imbolc has to do with weather forecasting. Will spring arrive sooner or later? — a special concern for our agrarian ancestors who were watching their winter food stores disappear, while outside a thick blanket of snow still covered much of the ground. Carefully watching for signs of spring was not just a nature lover's amusement, but serious business. Timing the first plowing of the soil and spring plantings were decided according to these seasonal observations that revealed the pace at which Mother Earth was emerging from her long winter's slumber.
Groundhog Day, celebrated on February 2nd here in America, is an example of the kind of weather divination lore common at this time of year. If it is sunny on this day, the groundhog will see its shadow and be frightened back into its burrow. Winter, then, will continue on for six more weeks. A groundhog, by the way, is a woodchuck, and in the American South, it is also called by the descriptive name "whistle pig" due to its habit of whistling warnings to its burrow mates when danger approaches. Groundhog Day is a cultural "echo" of older European weather lore, in which a badger, snake, or bear functioned as the "prognosticator" rather than a groundhog. An old Scottish-Gaelic proverb explains the custom:
Snowdrops St Gregory's Church, Welford, Newbury by Mark Horton
One of my favorite stories associated with Imbolc weather lore is the dark figure Cailleach, which derives from the Old Irish, caillech, meaning "the veiled one." A crone figure whose familiars were the raven and the owl, the Cailleach represents the power of winter, its brutal, stormy weather, but also the enduring wisdom that comes through age and adversity. Her power melts away, along with the ice and snow, each year in early spring.
THE CAILLEACH'S TALE, like the groundhog's shadow, explains the paradox of good weather on Imbolc being a harbinger of more winter. According to lore, if the Cailleach is in a foul mood and intends to make winter last longer, she brings fair weather on Imbolc so she can gather plenty of firewood. However, if Imbolc arrives with foul weather instead, the Cailleach is fast asleep in her cottage, not gathering firewood; and happy days, winter will soon be over. On the Isle of Man, where they refer to her as Caillagh ny Groamagh (Gloomy Old Woman), she is considered a winter and storm spirit. According to legend, she appears each year on Imbolc in the form of a gigantic black raven carrying sticks in her beak.
RISING IN THE HEAVENS at this time of year is another harbinger of spring, this one celestial. Close to the "Plow in the Sky" (The Big Dipper) which is part of the greater constellation Ursa Major, is one of the brightest stars in the night sky, Arcturus. Known as the "Bear Keeper," Arcturus first rises over the eastern horizon in January, and has signalled for thousands of years that spring is on its way.
Arcturus is associated with the Celtic Goddess Brigit who was called the "Daughter of the Bear," as Imbolc, her end-of-winter festival, followed the rising of this bright, yellow-red star. As mentioned, a bear was one of the animals chosen as the weather "prognosticator" in old Europe, which may reflect Arcturus's close proximity to Ursa Major. Arcturus is from the Greek Arktouros: arktos bear + ouros guard or keeper, a reference to the star's position, following the Great Bear, Ursa Major. In Greek mythology, Zeus placed Arcturus in the heavens to protect the nearby constellations. Arcturus is the brightest star in the constellation Boötes (the Herdsman) and is a red giant, fourth brightest star in our entire sky, many times larger than our Sun, and is 37 light years away from the earth.
The above diagram's dotted lines illustrate the mnemonic device, "Arc to Arcturus and Spike to Spica," to help you find find both of these marker stars. If you continue the arc formed from the four stars of the Big Dipper's handle, it will lead you to very bright Arcturus in the constellation Boötes. Continuing along this same arc from Arcturus, you will find Spica in the constellation of Virgo.
A couple of years ago in this same part of the night sky. Green Comet E3 was at its closest point to Earth and on view an hour or two before dawn, in the north sky below the big dipper and close to the borders of Brigit's own Great Bear, Ursa Major. My husband and I got out of bed in the wee hours that year to look for it from our front porch, and there it was perched just above the redwood trees in the backyard. It's been a long, long time, 50,000 years, since this comet last passed by us, back when, according to archeologists, a sudden flourishing of the arts occurred: cave paintings, petroglyphs and carvings began to appear worldwide at this time.
A couple of years ago in this same part of the night sky. * * *
Brigit: Celtic Goddess, Irish Saint
Imbolc is closely associated with the Celtic-Irish fire Goddess Brigit, who was, according to Irish mythology, one of the Tuatha Dé Danann — a race of supernatural beings. Cheryl Straffon, in her book, The Earth Goddess: Celtic and Pagan Legacy of the Landscape, writes of Brigit:
"The production of food, the fertility of the land and the fecundity of Mother Nature were all key functions of Bridget, and they underlie the traditions associated with her day. The country people always regarded the advent of Feile Bride (Bride's Feast Day) as marking the end of nature's sleep during winter and her reawakening to the fresh activity of life."
As a fire goddess, Brigit's associated qualities are similar to the three astrological fire signs: Aries (self-determination, directness and the martial arts), Leo (self-expression and creativity) and Sagittarius (philosophy, high culture), for Brigit is credited as being the Goddess of activities and states of mind that are highly creative as well as intellectually lofty: wisdom, excellence, perfection, brilliance, frank directness, and poetic eloquence. She is also considered a Goddess of craftsmanship (especially blacksmithing), of healing ability and warfare.
Among Brigit's brothers were Aengus (Oengus mac ind-Og), Irish God of Love and Youth, and Bodb Derg, king of the Tuatha Dé Danann. After they were defeated in battle, the Tuatha Dé Danann were given sovereignty over subterranean Ireland. The mischievous fairy folk, the sídhe, are understood to be the diminutive form of these old Gods and Goddesses still sore about the loss of their dominion over Ireland.
According to Irish mythology, Brigit is credited as having "invented" night whistling to alert her companions, and keening, while mourning for her son Ruadàn, after he was slain in battle. The act of mourning for a lost child, the fire symbolism, and ties to the emergence of spring, all strongly connect Brigit with the Roman goddess Ceres. It was a Roman custom at the beginning of February to form processions with lighted candles in honor of Ceres, who brought perpetual winter to the world while searching for her lost daughter Persephone.
Saint Brighid of Kildare
The Goddess Brigit is also revered as Saint Brighid of Kildare, with her feast day, Lá Fhéile Bríde, falling on February 1st. According to lore, on February 1st, Saint Brighid awakens the land and returns the light of the Sun, marking the very early start of a new growing season. This year, 2023, Ireland will celebrate the very first St Brigid’s Day public holiday.
Like her pagan goddess antecedent, Saint Brighid is associated with an eternal, sacred flame, such as the one maintained at her sanctuary in Kildare, Ireland. Brighid is also associated with holy wells and springs, and at Kildare as well as many other sites throughout Celtic lands, sacred wells and springs are dedicated to her. The custom of dressing the well — tying "clooties" (a strip or piece of cloth) to an adjacent tree — is an old custom in honor of Brigit that is still in practice to this day.
Candlemas, or The Feast of the Purification of the Virgin is also celebrated at this time, on February 2nd, and marks the end of the Epiphany season, 40 days following the birth of Christ. According to the Gospel of Luke, Mary and Joseph took the baby Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem forty days after his birth to complete Mary's ritual purification after childbirth. The concept of purity and purification has long associations with the month of February. One example is the Roman festival of ritual purification, Februa — an early version of spring cleaning. According to Ovid, the Latin, Februare, means purification through washing or rinsing with water, and stems from an earlier Etruscan word that means purging. Interestingly, the Latin word for fever, febris, stems from the same root and also associated with purification and purging, the sweating that occurs commonly with fevers.
WOVEN CROSSES are associated with Saint Brighid and are traditionally made on February 1st, her liturgical celebration day. Many folk rituals are associated with the making of the crosses, among which is the belief that the crosses protect one's home from fire and evil. They are hung in the kitchen, by the door, and from rafters for this purpose. Made by weaving rushes or straw, they contain a characteristic square center from which four radial arms extend. The cross is a symbolic cousin to the older pagan Sun Wheels that represent the seasonal turnings of the solar year. The crosses also represent the weaving of fate, and evoke the Greek Moirae, weavers of destiny who controlled the "thread" of life. For those inspired, here's a tutorial for making your own Saint Brigid's Cross from rushes:
* * *
— Sara Teasdale, from Winter Stars (1920)
IN MY OWN GARDEN here at Imbolc, new swellings on the branches of the plum tree mark where clusters of white blossoms will soon open, and the green tips of the daffodils are rising out of the ground among the remains of last year's yarrow. Each year they remind me of that autumn day, years ago now, when my daughter, a happy little three year old, and I planted those bulbs together. We have a special relationship with these flowers: planted on my birthday in late autumn, they bloom every year for her birthday in early spring.
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