Imbolc Or Candlemas Cozy Chat

Jenny has been a witch for 3 decades, here in this cozy chat, she explains how anyone can tune into the energy of the Imbolc as part of the Witch's Wheel of the Year. Imbolc is one of eight sabbats celebrated by witches throughout the year. Learn about the energy of the season and receive some journaling questions to reflect upon for the season.

Transcript

Welcome to a cozy chat on the holiday Imbolc or Candle Mass.

My name is Jenny Siebel.

I have been a witch for over three decades and I am the high priestess of our coven.

This is a cozy chat meaning you can just kind of settle in and maybe wrap a blanket around yourself or grab a warm cup of tea and just listen.

So I first want to share that I take a very modern approach to the witches' wheel of the year or the eight witches' sabbats.

And in that approach,

And most witches will follow something similar or pagans,

We celebrate the four changes of the year that most people notice or have on calendar,

Right?

So you have the equinoxes and the solstices,

But we also celebrate in between those times as these cross quarter days or sabbats.

And the first one that comes in the calendar year is Imbolc.

And Imbolc is in between the winter and the spring.

And it actually translates to first milk or something like that,

Because this is when people notice the animals would have milk again.

And so it means that,

Right?

First milk for some of us,

Depending on where you live,

This time of year,

You may start to notice your bulb plants or other people's bulb plants starting to come out.

You have crocus and daffodils and things like that.

But for the most part,

Traditionally,

The earth is still asleep,

Right?

There's not,

There may be buds on the trees,

But there are no leaves.

It's very still winter,

But you're feeling a little bit of spring.

The sun has returned and the days are getting a little bit longer.

And so that's really kind of the energy of Imbolc in between winter and spring.

And traditionally,

The holiday is celebrated around February 2nd.

But really,

Any time after winter solstice and before spring,

You can tune into this energy.

And the energy is a mix of winter and spring,

Right?

Winter,

We want to rest.

We want to mend.

We want to dream.

We want to really a lot of times go within and be hermits.

And then in spring,

We tend to come out of our hibernation period and feel a little more likely to go and want to do things and try new things or set some goals or things like that,

Right?

So we're in the in-between stage.

And so you're going to really allow yourself,

If you tune into this energy,

To notice that.

Notice in yourself your own energy.

Do you have more or less than you did in the darkest days of winter?

Notice the earth around you.

Take a walk if you can.

And just notice,

You know,

Notice what are the animals doing?

What are the plants doing?

How is it different than in the darkest days of winter,

Right?

And so really,

With these holidays,

The easiest way to tune in and celebrate them is to just take notice,

To observe.

Observe your own feelings and observe how the earth is either matching that or not.

And that's okay,

Too.

So there's a long history on a lot of these holidays.

And traditionally,

People celebrate this holiday with the goddess or Saint Brigid.

And if you're a secular practitioner,

That may not resonate with you.

So I'm actually not going to get into it that much.

There's plenty of information on Brigid out there.

And if that's something you're interested in,

I definitely suggest looking into it around this time because there will be lots of celebrations and lots of people talking about her and lots of information for you.

Instead,

I try to take more of a,

You know,

Relaxed approach for people who want to dip their toes into these sabbats,

But maybe aren't going to do a full ritual.

So some of the things that you can do on this day or around this day is light candles.

And they can be all electric candles if or battery operated candles if you're not into the whole candle thing.

But it's a way of honoring the light within returning,

Right?

Your spark of ready to have more energy and ready to do more now that the darkest days are over.

It's reminiscent of the sun returning.

And that's where it gets the name candle mass.

A lot of people light a special hearth fire on this day with intention.

You can do a bonfire.

You really want to,

You know,

Make this this light,

This kind of candle light,

This fire light a part of the practice.

It's cozy.

It's rejuvenating.

It's great for people who miss sunshine,

Right?

To sit by a warm fire.

It feels really comforting,

Right?

Really good for us.

The other thing that if you live somewhere where there is snow on the ground,

You can definitely work with snow as part of your tuning into in bulk.

You can collect it and put it on altars.

And yes,

Of course,

It melts.

And that's totally fine.

You can use it for spell work.

You can go out and just take notice of it.

Take notice of the quiet and take notice of how each,

You know,

Snowflake is different.

You know,

Really appreciate it because come spring or summer,

It will be gone.

So you can also tune in with doing different spells if you're interested in spell work or ritual that are about dreaming and working towards manifestation or change.

So in winter,

Really,

We kind of go within and we start to maybe get a clear idea of what we want for the upcoming year.

By in bulk,

That idea may be a little bit more clear for you.

And you can kind of revisit if you did a New Year's resolution or a vision board.

It's a good time to revisit those things and decide,

You know,

Is this really where I want to go forward?

And if so,

What are some steps that I can take now?

And then I would love to give you some journal questions.

You can use these as journal questions.

You can use them if you use tarot or oracle cards,

Or you can use each question,

Ask it to yourself and then sit in silence in meditation and decide,

You know,

What is the answer for you?

So the first question is,

Where do I need to relight the flames of passion?

Right?

This holiday is all about candles and fire and fire magic and bringing light into the home.

So ask yourself,

You know,

What is dwindled in your own self?

You know,

Have you let certain hobbies or things you enjoy go by the wayside?

Have you,

You know,

Kind of been in a little rut or routine that maybe hasn't been as fun for you?

Try to relight that passion.

The next question,

What do I need to burn away at this time?

So if you made some New Year's ideas or resolutions or have some dreams and hopes,

What are some of the things that are standing in the way of accomplishing that?

No,

We're not literally burning things down.

We are metaphorically burning them,

Transmuting them so you can write them down and burn them safely somewhere.

Or you can just kind of envision these roadblocks that are,

You know,

Going like blocking your own goals and aspirations as burning away.

The next one,

What do I need,

What do I want to manifest this year and what are the steps to do so?

So I already spoke about this.

This is a time to start to think about what you want this year.

And spring is really the time to make it more actionable.

But we're halfway there.

So what are the ideas that you have?

The next one,

Where do I need to shine a light on in my life?

Right?

So winter often brings up shadows and suffer some even depression.

And this might be,

You know,

Or triggers,

Holidays can be triggering.

So now that you're past all that,

Where do you need to shine a light?

You know,

Is it,

Do you need to go to therapy?

Do you want to start a yoga practice?

Do you feel like maybe this one relationship needs better boundaries?

Like,

Where do you need to shine a light?

The next one,

What do,

Where do I want to put my energy this year?

So where your thoughts go and your heart goes and your mind goes,

Right?

This is where your energy goes.

So making a conscious decision where you want to put your energy is very empowering and will really help set the tone for the rest of the year.

And lastly,

What is one word that sums up how I want to feel this year?

I've been doing this for many years now.

I pick a keyword for the year,

A keyword that I want to attract into my life,

Such as play or creativity,

Nourish,

Joy,

Rest,

Something that is positive that will help set the tone for you at this time.

I hope you enjoyed this.

I hope that you can tune in to the energy of InBulk in your own way.

It doesn't have to be huge.

It doesn't have to be major.

It could be very simple as lighting a candle and tuning in with your own self and deciding,

You know,

Exactly how you want to feel this year and beginning to set the tone for yourself.

Blessed be.

Reviews

You brought it all together for me; I felt that, thank you 😊

Thank you for the info. I think I took a class from you elsewhere on oracle and tarot cards. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge. 😊🌿🕊️