The Old Pagan at Imbolc

“Here's to the few who forgive what you do, and the fewer who don't even care”

I am the Old Pagan at Imbolc. Traditionally this time was when it was getting lighter and yet was just as cold. At the Green Party Conference in Abergavenny it was very cold in the hall it was held in. yet it was a time of renewal and hope. It has been a long winter politically and Spring is coming. The long Winter of the Wales Green party has gone. When I compared the mood at the AGM in November 2014 with the special conference on Saturday I felt the difference. The Greens were united, a superb Welsh manifesto for a sustainable society was adopted. We are the only party now to support an Autism act for Wales, we are the only party to take on board a social model for mental health policy. I feel a spring in my step, Alice Hooker Stroud our new leader in Wales was superb in her first TV interview on the Sharp End, she will be great in the debates in the coming election.

Within the Green party the Narcissists are gone it was not like the AGM of November 2014, there were no tables of cliques, no positioning for a role in the coming leadership campaign. Yes they have gone and we face outwards, sure who we are and not hypnotised by what other parties are or what they might be.

Yesterday I attended an interview with one of my clients for his PIP assessment. While there I heard a story that chilled me to the bone. I heard of a man who was paralised totally below the neck. He described himself as a “ a head on a corpse in a bed ” . Despite adequate and voluminous medical support the DWP decided to send a medical professional out to assess him to see if it was true. If we have come to this point where we no longer believe the Doctors, Nurses and Therapists who support so many people then we have become a poor and cruel society. Ian Duncan Smith should hang his head in shame. I have never seen anything as ugly as someone without compassion.

Amongst the hope of the last few days there was sadness yesterday. A friend was sectioned I spoke to them yesterday afternoon they were stunned, frightened. The 28 day sectioning had taken from them all their rights, their independence and self esteem. My friend is eccentric, whimsical, quirky but kind, perhaps obsessive at times but very bright and now is made powerless. We need a social model for mental health more than ever and we must challenge the dominance of the medical model that dominates in Wales. Our mental health is a metaphor, a simile a metonymy of the way we live , think and be. We should celebrate our diversity and our selves and not repress and control those who both rebel against conformity and prejudice.

Imbolc, in the Celtic seasonal calendar marked the beginning of the lambing season and signaled the beginning of Spring and the stirrings of new life. It is Feile Brighde, the 'quickening of the year'. The original word Imbolg means 'in the belly', and therein you have the underlying energy. All is pregnant and expectant - and only just visible if at all, like the gentle curve of a 'just-showing' pregnancy. It is the promise of renewal, of hidden potential, of earth awakening and life-force stirring. Here is hope. We welcome the growth of the returning light and witness Life's insatiable appetite for rebirth.

It is time to let go of the past and to look to the future, clearing out the old, making both outer and inner space for new beginnings. This can be done in numerous ways, from spring cleaning your home to clearing the mind and heart to allow inspiration to enter for the new cycle. ('Spring cleaning was originally a nature ritual' - Doreen Valiente). it's a good time for wish-making or making a dedication.

Imbolc is traditionally the great festival and honouring of Brigid (Brighid, Bride, Brigit), so loved as a pagan Goddess that her worship was woven into the Christian church as St Bridget. She is a Goddess of healing, poetry and smithcraft. She is a Goddess of Fire, of the Sun and of the Hearth. She brings fertility to the land and its people and is closely connected to midwives and new-born babies. She is the Triple Goddess, but at Imbolc she is in her Maiden aspect.

Some of the symbols attributed to Brigid are:

The Snowdrop. The first gift of Spring in the bleakness of Winter.

The Swan. The swan mates for life and represents loyalty, fidelity and faithfulness. Swan feathers are a powerful amulet.

The Flame. Imbolc is a Fire Festival and fire of all kinds is associated with Brigid - the fire of creativity, the protective hearth fire, and her fire wheel - the Brigid Cross, which heralds her as a Sun Goddess.

Brigid's Cross. This is a traditional fire wheel symbol - found at the hearths of homes throughout Ireland and beyond as a symbol of protection. A customer in the shop recounted finding a hearth in Ireland, in recent years, adorned with over 200 Brigid Crosses - 200 years in the life of a hearth and a family, overlit and protected by Brigid.

Brigid Doll. A very old tradition involved the making of a Brigid doll which can be included in ceremony and/or placed in 'Bride's Bed' to bring fertility and good fortune to the home.

The Serpent. In Celtic mythology Brigid was associated with an awakening hibernating serpent which emerged from its lair at Imbolc. Traditionally serpents were associated with creativity and inspiration - the powerful Kundalini energy of the Eastern Mysteries. Paths of earth energy were called serpent paths and at Imbolc they are stirred from their slumber.

Sheep. Brigid's festival is at the beginning of lambing - eat ewe's milk cheese!

Imbolc Colours: White and silver for purity, green for the fresh burst of life.

Herbs of Imbolc

Blackberry: Sacred to Brigid, the leaves and berries are used to attract prosperity and healing. A Goddess plant, belonging to the planetary sphere of Venus.

Coltsfoot: Coltsfoot or 'sponnc' (Gaelic) is a herb associated with Brigid. A herb of Venus, moves emotional and physical stagnation and is used magically to engender love and to bring peace.

Ginger: revitalises and stimulates the 'fire within' - helps alignment with the rise of Kundalini serpent energy at this time of year!

Trees of Imbolc

Rowan: Luis, or the Rowan, is the tree usually assigned to this time of year in the Celtic (Ogham) Tree Alphabet. It has long associations with the Maiden aspect of the Triple Goddess. It is also known as the 'Quickening Tree' and is associated with serpents. Traditionally it protects and wards of evil. A sprig of Rowan can be put near the door of your home (we have a whole tree), or a sprig worn for protection. Rowan berries have a tiny five-pointed star on the bottom reminiscent of the pentagram.

Willow: The fourth tree in the Celtic Tree alphabet - S Saille, is also long associated with the Maiden aspect of the Triple Goddess. Willow is the great 'shape shifter' of consciousness and emotion and symbolises feminine energy and the lunar cycle. Its branches are flexible - expressing movement and change rather than resistance. It is a tree of enchantment and dreaming, enhancing the confidence to follow one's intuition, and inspires leaps of imagination.