Blessed Imbolc

It is Imbolc, here in the Northern hemisphere – festival of hearth and home, divination, candles and firelight. A time for cleaning house –

Cleaning house. Like many of those I know on this path, as our country continues to grow more chaotic, I am turning to hearth and home for some sense of grounding and comfort. One friend noted he was baking bread. Another is selling things she no longer needs or wants. I am sorting and organizing my shelves. I wish I could sort and organize on a much, much greater scale – a national scale – but while I can do what I can do, I don’t have an impact that’s as far-reaching as I’d like.

I’m not just sorting and organizing things, but also thoughts. I am always interested in the ways I am conflicted as a witch and a woman. There’s a lot of insight into what we feel conflicted about, I think, and even more insight into what form that conflictedness takes.

I have been conflicted about trusting myself again, after the crash and burn of the election. I never saw it coming (a common lament that I share with most of my friends). What does a witch do, when Her power is so needed, but she feels disempowered?

For myself – the last weeks have taught me to let myself flow intuitively and feel whatever is up – anger, helplessness and disbelief, some days. And today, at this celebration of light and home, and the simple things that make life worthwhile, I’m allowing myself to feel joy in simple things. Right now, connecting to joy, when I can, is the key to sustainable spirit, for me.

My Imbolc corn dolly is one of those things – made a decade ago, braided crown, gold thread, a shell to mark her powers to create and rejuvenate. Today, I take joy in Her, and in the simple and not-so-simple things she means to me. Women have been crafting these dolls in various ways for centuries – we endure. In the simple act of braiding and shaping the wet, softened husks, I remember the connection I felt to the Goddess. No one can take that away from me.

Blessed Imbolc to you. May whatever you feel conflicted about inform you. May the growing light show you what it is you need to sustain you.