Imbolc greetings, blessings and love

Subject: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Bryn Pugh
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 03:57 AM

To all friends on the 'Cat.

Imbolc greetings, blessings and love.

So mote it be.

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 04:18 AM

How strange that this descended before my very eyes to the basement. It has a hell of a lot more to do with heritage and tradition than most of the tripe upstairs.

Imbolc, midway between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, has very significant folk traditions and customs observed throughout Britain's outer fringes.

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 05:19 AM

Herotage and tradition maybe, but music? Not so's you'd notice.

It's come at last... well, tomorrow... Candlemass. Christmas is over for another year and soon we'll embark upon the sombre season of Lent. Burn the holly, ivy and mistletoe, clean out the house and light a candle for the coming year.

Blessed be.

LTS

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Bryn Pugh
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 05:59 AM

Blessed Be, Liz - Merry Meet, Merry Part, Merry Meet Again.

I like to use one white candle and one gold one at Imbolc. White, for the fleeces of the ewes in milk, and gold for the lengthening of the days.

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Emma B
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 06:04 AM

Blessings for the season of sowing and lambing.

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 06:34 AM

I too think this should be above the line, subtitled "Folklore". Nice page here:

http://www.chalicecentre.net/imbolc.htm

I can remember watching Packie Byrne make a St. Brighid's Cross once, in his old armchair by the range, using rushes I had picked out in his back garden. (Well, he never was too great at mowing lawns...)   He sat there with his big mug of tea, chatting and plaiting, and made a lovely Cross for me which I still have. While he worked he reminisced on his childhood, when the whole family would make them for St Brid's Day, and one year he wove his from two separate types of rush, so that one strand stayed green for a long time while the other turned gold right away, giving contrasting colours. He says it hung above the family mantelpiece for years. WHAT I would give to have it!!!! But even the house itself is gone now.

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: GUEST,PMB
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 07:30 AM

That's got me confused Emma. I know lambing is when the sheep give birth to lambs- does that mean sowing is when they give birth to sows?

Happy whatever happens at Firbolg anyway.

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 07:46 AM

>Happy whatever happens at Firbolg* anyway

LOL !

Fir Bolg

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Mr Happy
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 07:49 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firbolg

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Emma B
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 08:08 AM

Thank you PMB LOL!

When I do typos - I DO typos! :)

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Micca
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 08:51 AM

Liz, you usually burn the mistletoe on the Beltane fire!!,
Blessings to all on for the festival my tutor always pronounced "Imbloc"
BBs Micca

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Rapparee
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 09:39 AM

Thank you, and the same to you.

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 12:18 PM

In your tradition maybe Micca.. I am not of your tradition.

Limpit was very nearly called Brighid... toss of a coin decided her name, and as it happened, Brighid the daughter of the Daghda lost out to a daughter of Gaia and great grandmother of Hekate. Explains a lot really.

LTS

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Micca
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 12:43 PM

Ah G-Grandmother of Hecate!! THAT explains a few things!!! altho' I am not sure (in our Celtic tradition) Brigid would have been MUCH of an improvement, except maybe, ask yourself, would YOU want her as your Healer?

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Amos
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 02:22 PM

When I read this thread title, I thought someone was prescribing some sort of emetic or somerthing.


A

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Anne Lister
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 02:39 PM

Micca, which particular Celtic tradition do you practice? Because there are significant differences between Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall, Brittany and Galicia. In my (Northern Welsh) tradition we don't burn mistletoe on any fires particularly unless there's a good reason to do so.
Imbolc, on the other hand, in my trad, is when you clean the house from top to bottom and light all fires from a fresh taper. I'm sorry to say we're fairly remiss in this aspect of the trad ...much as the house could do with a thorough scrub!

Anne

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Micca
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 06:37 PM

Tabster, since the mistletoe in question is that which has been used as "doorward" during Yule, and has hung over the entrances to the house, the suspicion that it will have absorbed any malevolent spirit or atmosphere trying to enter implys it may need safe disposal, and where better than in the Sacred Fire?, I have always burned it in ritual fires, similarly, in theory at least, Corn dollys should be burned after the harvest is secure, in the Samhain Fires or if carried through Winter in the Beltane fires but certainly before the new corn stalks grow, as a reminder of the Cyclic nature of things, of Life and Death of the year.

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: katlaughing
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 07:29 PM

Bright Blessings, everyone! Love reading of everyone's traditions. My house definitely needs a good cleaning out this weekend, but I think the old PC will probably get more than the house...well, it's a sort of cleaning out.:-)

There are some fun things to do with kids for Imbolc listed on This Page...scroll down a bit.

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Nickhere
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 07:58 PM

Anois teacht an Earraigh
beidh an lá dúl chun shíneadh,
Is tar eis na féil Bríde
ardóigh mé mo sheol.
Go Coillte Mach rachad
ní stopfaidh me choíche
Go seasfaidh mé síos
i lár Chondae Mhaigh Eo.

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Jeanie
Date: 02 Feb 08 - 05:01 AM

Candlemas day today...one of my old mum's weather sayings:

"If Candlemas Day be fair and bright
Winter will take another flight."

Well, it's certainly fair and bright in my neck of the woods this morning, so winter is far from over. (The opposite also holds true - if it isn't fair and bright where you are today, the odds are that you will have seen the worst of the winter weather for this year).

- jeanie

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 02 Feb 08 - 05:04 AM

How's old Punxsatawny Phil doing, or is it still too early?

LTS

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 02 Feb 08 - 05:07 AM

How's old Punxsatawny Phil doing, or is it still too early?

LTS

































Sorry, couldn't resist.

: D

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Anne Lister
Date: 02 Feb 08 - 05:21 AM

Micca, you didn't say which Celtic tradition this comes from. In my trad mistletoe isn't a door ward and we don't use corn dollies, either. So no need to burn either. But the word "Celtic" is fraught with problems, especially when accompanied by the word "should". There is no unified "Celtic" tradition that I'm aware of - there are many and varied traditions in all regions.

Anne

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Cats
Date: 02 Feb 08 - 10:20 AM

Brightest Blessings from us both. May the Goddess smile on us all. On my rockery today the snowdrops have flowered all around my Green Man.

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Mrrzy
Date: 02 Feb 08 - 04:10 PM

Good luck and health to all!

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Tig
Date: 03 Feb 08 - 02:17 PM

We bested Jack Frost again last night and the Green Man took back the earth (in the Northern hemisphere). The days are already lengthening out and the snowdrops are out on the square.

Believe and Summer will return!

Bright Blessings
Tig
xxx

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 03 Feb 08 - 02:37 PM

In our back field (south coast of Ireland) the daffodils are already poking the ends of their shoots up through the soil. That's awfully early in the year (started end January)... implications are a little worrying re global climate issues...

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: lady penelope
Date: 03 Feb 08 - 04:24 PM

Mmm, 'Celtic' traditions.... Frankly I doubt you can put a name to anyone's 'Celtic' tradition. There are as many as there are villages. How and what my family from Glasgow followed as traditions will completely differ from the traditions followed by those who lived in the highlands of Scotland. But they're all Scots...

In our house the house was cleaned before New Year (be that the claneder New year or Samhain), to start the coming year with no 'baggage'. And we wouldn't have had mistletoe in the house at all!

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 03 Feb 08 - 05:08 PM

Just got back from spending a very snowy Imbolc in Scarborough!

Bright blessing to all

Blessed Be

Khatt, Paul and Harry

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Micca
Date: 03 Feb 08 - 06:06 PM

Tabster
Forgive me, I was using, at best, "sloppy shorthand" in using the word Celtic in this way in that, as I understand it,the "custom" originated the traditions of (several) kinds of Wiccan, and other related traditions with which I am familiar as a blanket term for mainly the traditions originating in the so called "Celtic" areas of Europe. That Mistletoe is a Sacred plant to several belief sytems is beyond dispute. I personally, have found this (doorward) belief to be common to at least 3 of the main groups or types of Wicca, and 2 of the Druidic groups also, some of which I hold initiations in. My own first Mentor taught me more than 40 years ago as part of my ritual training that the entrance to ones dwelling and the entrance to the Sacred Circle were decorated with mistletoe at Yule which was burned at Imbolc, or Beltane, and that the traditional kissing was ,of course, derived from greeting the Lord and Lady as one entered and I have not heard a contrary or convincing alternative explanation since.
Here is a quote about it that covers the point about its possible origins I think, fron See here
"Mistletoe was used by the Druid priesthood in a very special ceremony held around this time...five days after the New Moon following winter solstice, to be precise. The Druid priests would cut mistletoe from a holy oak tree with a golden sickle. The branches had to be caught before they touched the ground.
The priest then divided the branches into many sprigs and distributed them to the people, who hung them over doorways as protection against thunder, lightning and other evils.

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 04 Feb 08 - 05:58 AM

For the first time in years, I remembered to finish the stump of my advent candle at Candlemass... Christmas is truly over (unless you count my own personal tradition of 'the celebration isn't over until all the chocolate has been eaten' - in which case there's another 3 months worth because there's no WAY I'm eating all that chili chocolate in one go!), Pancake day tomorrow!

LTS

Subject: RE: Imbolc greetings, blessings and love
From: lady penelope
Date: 04 Feb 08 - 04:05 PM

What??? Already??? Crikey....