“I would like an abundance of peace. I would like full vessels of charity. I would like rich treasures of mercy. I would like cheerfulness to preside over all.” -St. Brigid of Kildare (451 – 523)
Happy February, friends! I write to you today gazing at a blanket of white snow that stretches for miles outside my window. The pine trees look like they are wearing their wedding dresses today under a gray, misty sky. All is still, calm, and so deeply restful. I cannot help but feel grateful for the place I live in—a place in which the winter goes on for many long, freezing months, and much of life retreats deep within the Earth. I didn’t always love the winter, but now I look forward to this time of year. I look forward to the stillness of the frozen white and gray wilderness. My soul feeds upon it as if it is the most restful of sleeps— as if my spirit is receiving a thousand year ice bath beneath a glacier so that it may emerge in the spring pure, reborn and revitalized. I imagine the glaciers that covered this part of North America before they melted to reveal lakes the size of seas and forests that stretched on endlessly. It makes me wonder what I will be come spring time.
February first and second mark the ancient Celtic celebration of Imbolc. It represents the halfway point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. In ancient pagan traditions, the goddess of the Earth gives birth to the god of the Sun on the winter solstice, and Imbolc marks her recovery. She awakens to the lengthening of the days and grows fertile with sprouting seeds of new life. As Pagan traditions gave way to Christian beliefs, the celebration of Imbolc was preserved as St. Brigid’s day. St. Brigid is a thinly veiled representation of the ancient Pagan goddess, Brigid, one of the most important of the Pagan religion. Brigid is an aspect of the great
goddess representing healing, restoration, inspiration and the balance of life.
Imbolc is not a holiday that I had ever celebrated in the past. If you had asked me a few days ago, I would not have even been able to tell you when it took place. But on February 2nd I pulled an oracle card for my Instagram followers and it happened to be the “Brigid” card for healing. As I looked at the image on the card, I felt personally drawn to this goddess. There was something about her that seemed to be reaching out to me. So after posting the card, I decided to read more about Brigid, and discovered that this was her day! She had my full attention now, and I decided that I would make time to connect with her to see what messages she might offer.
But right then, I had a dentist’s appointment—not something I was looking forward to. They were going to perform a minor procedure called a “frenectomy” that day in which they would have to make a small incision in my gums. I had been putting this off for years, and finally committed to doing it at the insistence of my dentist. I sat in the dentist’s chair and was informed that my usual periodontist couldn’t make it, so someone else would be filling in. Moments later, a doctor with long red hair breezed in and warmly introduced herself. There was an air of synchronicity about it, as she reminded me of the Brigid I had seen on the oracle card earlier that day. Mentally I invited the goddess Brigid and Archangel Raphael to be with me for a smooth procedure and a restful, healing day.
As the procedure commenced, I closed my eyes and meditated. I felt Brigid with me. Her personality was warm, strong and assertive. I felt her soothing me and directing healing energy into my lower gums. As the procedure ended, I mentally thanked her for her help. Soon, I was signing my paperwork to leave, when I noticed that the periodontist’s first name was Brigitte. I smiled to myself and simply took a moment to fall into quiet awe at the universe’s incredible capacity for miracles.
That is when I received this message from the goddess Brigid: “Miracles are ordinary, dear child. They occur every day. When you bask in wonderment at their blessings, remember that the mysteriousness you perceive is the simple functioning of divine order. What human beings call miracles are equally extraordinary to the simplest of occurrences. The smile on your face, the rising of the sun and the running of the rivers are of the same origin as that which seems to be mysterious and impossible. There is a higher order that often resides beyond human awareness. Divine order is the source of miracles. Reach for it, blessed people, and this knowledge will be given to you. From this knowledge shall come the day when all people create to their highest divine potential and live to mirror Heaven on the blessed Earth.”
And so it is with awe in my heart that I share Imbolc blessings with you, my friends. Pause today and allow yourself to truly see all for which there is to be grateful. The cycle of life is renewing within you now, and you are its artist.