Romanticize 16: Let's Get Imbolc

We're officially at the midpoint between winter and spring!

This sabbat, named for the Irish phrase “in the belly,” is also known as Brigid’s Day (pronounced Bride) after the Celtic goddess of poetry, spring, healing, and fertility. It’s officially celebrated on February 1, though the holiday technically stretches from the evening of January 31 to the evening of February 2.

This is a time when daylight finally begins increasing and the environmental shift from winter to spring begins in earnest (even if we can’t quite see it yet!) Brigid is also related to creativity, which is why this is a perfect moment to start a new project, launch fresh ventures, and make plans for your future.

There are many ways to mark the occasion—through prosperity, cleansing, and protection spells, by setting up an altar, or by observing the correspondences associated with Imbolc. For today’s Romanticize, I’ll offer up a few options and then show you how I’m celebrating.

The Romanticize

Observe Imbolc in your own unique way.

The Advice

• If you’d like to surround yourself with correspondences for the day, this Instagram post has an excellent round-up.

• Some easy activities include planting or ordering seeds, weaving a Brigid’s Cross, doing some spring cleaning, baking or eating fresh bread, using your cleansing bath salts, drinking herbal tea, meditating with amethyst, exploring outside for new bright green shoots and buds, and journaling about your upcoming goals.

• To create a small altar, light a white or yellow candle, place a bowl of salt next to it (for purification), and include amethyst if you have it (or any other crystal that makes you feel creatively sparked). Add any of the correspondence items you have on hand from the linked post above—perhaps some sprigs of lavender, a sprinkle of rosemary, a vase of daffodils, some cinnamon sticks or incense. You can write a letter to Brigid, or pen a wish for yourself and leave it with the other treasures.

The Inspiration

Many of you surely remember the lambs Big and Tiny that I nursed back to health last year. How fitting that they were born on February 1, as a popular Imbolc correspondence is sheep and lambs. With that in mind, I started my day by sitting in the field with the flock. Tiny was my bottle-fed baby for a while, but these days he wants nothing to do with me. It was bittersweet at first, but now I just laugh when he runs away whenever I try to get near him. He’s just doing what’s instinctual, and that means he’s healthy and happy!

I strolled through the fields and found a few early pearlescent little snowdrops poking through the frozen ground. Because snowdrops are also an Imbolc correspondence, I dug some up and placed them on my altar alongside a piece of amethyst. Then I created this protection ritual from Lidia Pradas and placed it beside the flowers and crystal. I warmed up with a cup of chamomile tea and sat with the energy of all the exciting promise that this coming season holds.

I’d love to know the results of your Romanticize—feel free to share your experience in the comments, or tag me on Instagram. Until next Wednesday, fellow romantics!