Imbolc
Imbolc has been a sacred calendar marker since ancient times, traditionally celebrated from the evening of 31 January until the night of 2 February, welcoming the first signs of spring’s return.
The Midwinter celebration—also known as Imbolc—is a late winter and early spring celebration at the same time. True to the energy of the winter season, it is a time to take inventory and plan for the coming months: what to grow, what to expect. This is a time when the seeds are still buried deep in the soil of Mother Earth, yet they begin to gestate and dream of sprouting in the very near future.
Midwinter: A Festival of Light
Between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox, we celebrate Midwinter—a festival of light with roots in both pagan and Christian traditions, known variously as Imbolc, Candlemas, and St Brigid's Day. This moment marks a turning point in the Wheel of the Year, a threshold where the light begins to return and the first stirrings of life hint at the coming spring.
In pagan traditions, much of this day is grounded in the agricultural calendar, traditionally used to predict the arrival of spring-like weather and the best time to sow crops. In the Celtic tradition, the day was called Imbolc (meaning “in the belly”) or Oimelc (meaning “lambs’ milk”), as it coincided with the lambing season. It was also called Brigantia, after the Celtic goddess Brigid, a female deity of light, marking the Sun’s halfway point in its journey from the Winter Solstice to the Spring Equinox.
In the Christian tradition, the name Candlemas derives from the candles lit in churches on this day to celebrate the presentation of the Christ Child in the temple of Jerusalem.
Over time, Midwinter has come to be marked as a threshold day, celebrating the final chapter of the winter season—when the Sun slowly returns and the first plants begin to sprout from the soil.
At this time of year, Mother Earth is pregnant with possibility. Life stirs beneath the surface, and nature gradually wakes to greet springtime. Taking a last breath before quickening her pace, Midwinter is Mother Earth’s final pause before activity resumes.
CANDELA PORTAL by Artist Mads Vega during Copenhagen Light Festival
Taking Inventory
In the Nordic lands, Midwinter was a time of quiet reckoning and practical reflection, rooted in the rhythm of the agricultural year. It marked the halfway point since the harvest feast—a threshold day to take stock of provisions for both people and animals, ensuring there was enough to carry through to the next season.
When the stores were sufficient, the day became a celebration. In Denmark, this was Kyndelmisse, marked by Kjørmesgilde—festive gatherings where barley pancakes were prepared. Round and golden, the pancakes mirrored the Sun, a symbol of light returning and hope for the months ahead.
Midwinter, then, was more than a practical pause. It was a moment to honour the abundance of the past, reflect on what sustains us, and welcome the slow return of warmth and light as the Wheel of the Year turned ever onward.
The Goddess Brighid
Brighid is the Goddess associated with Imbolc. Rooted in ancient history, the origins of her worship stretch from the regions of eastern Europe and India to the British Isles. Known as Brigit, Bridget, and Bride (pronounced breed), her name means Fiery Arrow or Bright One. She is also known as Mother of All Wisdom, Exalted One, Flame of Two Eternities, and the Ashless Flame.
Brighid was probably originally a Sun Goddess. The story of her birth tells that she was born at sunrise, and that a tower of flame burst forth from the newborn’s forehead, reaching from the Earth to the Sun.
Brighid is the Flame in the hearts of all women. She has always been a Goddess of Fire, and also a Goddess of Water. She was, and remains, the most powerful and most deeply worshipped Goddess of the British Isles, from long, long before the advent of Christianity.
As a Goddess of fertility, household animals, plants, and trees, Brighid presides over the first buds, the earliest flowers such as snowdrops, and the lambs and calves that begin to be born at this time of year.
For this reason, milk, cheese, and butter are set outside on Imbolc Eve to honour her and to feed her oxen, as she is said to walk the land on that night.
Brighid is considered a triple Goddess, though not in the sense commonly understood as maiden, mother, and crone. She has three aspects, all associated with Fire and Water: Brighid the Healer and Midwife; Brighid the Smith, Craftswoman, and Warrior; and Brighid the Inspirer of all arts, particularly the written and spoken word.
Brighid the Healer
As Brighid the Healer, her wells and springs figure prominently, for their waters are considered holy and healing. She is a Goddess of Water. In this aspect, she is the teacher of herbal and plant medicine. She is the midwife to birthing women. She is the guardian and caretaker of household animals, particularly cows.
She herself travels with two sacred oxen, and the white cow, the white swan, and the white wolf are associated with her as totems. One of the symbols associated with Brighid is the white wand around which a snake is entwined. This symbol predates Asclepius, the healer god of the Greeks, whose emblem was a serpent coiled around a rod.
The swan is one of the totems of the Goddess Brighid. In addition, swan feathers are powerful amulets. Read more about Swan Medicine here.
Brighid the Smith
Brighid the Smith is the mistress of the smithy fire and the anvil. In this aspect, she is associated with horses. This also extends to fine jewellery-smithing — silver and gold — and to any craft a person may practise and seek to master. She was also the creator of swords, daggers, knives, shields, and all weapons of protection, as well as cooking vessels.
The hearth fire is sacred to Brighid, with its association with nourishment, food, and the health of a family. It was also a place where people gathered to tell stories, as the oral tradition was sacrosanct to the Celtic peoples.
Brighid the Inspirer
This leads to the third aspect of the Goddess: Brighid the Bard, the Inspirer of the fire in the heart and mind, from which arise song, music, poetry, stories, writing, eloquence, theatrical performance, and the harp.
Although the oral tradition was of immense importance to the Celts, and there were those who devoted their lives to gathering and remembering the stories of their people, Brighid is said to have invented “talking marks” — the Ogham, or writing. As all of these are associated with the element of Air, she is also an Air Goddess.
Brigid's cross is typically woven on 1 February, her feast day, as well as the festival of Imbolc in pre-Christian Ireland.
Brighid’s Cross
Brighid’s cross of rushes, which was later co-opted by the Church, is thought to have originally been a solar cross or sun wheel, indicating the movement of the Sun in the turning of the great Wheel of the Year. Hanging Brighid’s cross from the rafters of one’s house was believed to bring the blessing and protection of the saint for the remainder of the year.
People still make these crosses today in the British Isles and Ireland, hanging them over the front door for protection and laying the one from the previous year on the hearth fire.
Other traditions include lighting candles throughout the home to encourage and reflect the returning light of the Sun, and bonfires are lit outdoors.
Strips or squares of cloth are laid outside the door on Imbolc Eve, or hung from a ground-floor window, for Brighid to bless as she passes. They are brought inside the next day and used whenever healing is needed throughout the year. Fabric strips or pieces, known as clooties, are also tied to the branches of trees overhanging a sacred well or sacred spring, offered as prayers to Brighid for healing. This custom takes place throughout the year.
May the Goddess bless you with her mighty strength in this fragile, liminal season, as winter turns to spring and the earliest flowers of white and green venture forth from the snow, seeking the Sun.
May your heart, too, mark this sacred time, remembering to remember and to seek all that grows as it turns towards the light.
Midwinter Blessings
Sidsel Solmer Eriksen, Founding Editor
Midwinter Practices
Whether celebrated through old or new traditions, together or alone, may the Midwinter day mark the returning light and awaken a sense of growing anticipation in your life.
Pancake Party
In both pagan and Christian traditions, pancakes are eaten at Midwinter—perhaps because their round shape resembles the sun.
Invite friends or family to enjoy pancakes served with summer jam from the last harvest and golden honey.
Imbolc Fire Ritual
And old tradition was to light a candle at sunset different places in the home, preferably by the windows and let them burn during the night. And during the day, Winter was ‘swept away’.
In today’s world, where we do have lights everywhere in our home, a different way to honour the Imbolc can be to
light a candle or do a mini fire ceremony to let go of winter and welcome the light.
You can also fill your home with tall, white candles and turn off all electric lights throughout the evening on Imbolc, marking this threshold with a night bathed in the gentle glow of candlelight.
Tend Your Dream Seeds
Which seeds lie quietly in the soil of my inner world, waiting to awaken?
What dreams are stirring for the year to come?
How can I “make good soil” for growth? (Rest, envision, prepare, plan…)
What inner resources can I call upon to make the last stretch of winter more gentle and nourishing?
Choose one question to guide your reflections this February, allowing it to illuminate your path and help you thrive in this final chapter of winter.