The peope of the earth walk many paths and all are a part of the great circle of life. Some paths cross over others without people even being aware. An example is the celebration of Imbolc. No matter your way, as their is no 'THE' way, you can say 'Our Way as One People' with many paths!THE CHILDREN of planet earth are subject to many systems that hold sway over their daily lives -- some of them, like government, tribe and family, are localized. Others are broader still, like environment, physical science and, we assert, astrology. Some are ancient and powerful and have been largely forgotten. With the constant and amazing astrology of these last months (and the months ahead) creating a slipstream of change and turmoil, we enter the period Wiccans and people of the old religion call Imbolc.
Imbolc, occurring February 2 - 6, is a midpoint between winter solstice and spring equinox (in the Northern Hemisphere) -- it's a cross-quarter of the solar wheel. It calls for the blessing of the seeds, and the awareness of new life, still unseen, springing from within. It's one of our ancient turning points, a shift in awareness away from the dormancy of winter and into anticipation of the birthing that spring brings us. Many consider it a sacred doorway of energy, and the Wiccans hold that the quarter-points are even more potent than the Cardinal points of Equinox or Solstice, the Druids referencing them as Major High Days and celebrations. The Catholic church adopted this date for its celebration of Candlemas, a commemoration of the purification of Mary after giving birth, as well as the presentation of Jesus in the temple forty days after his birth. It signifies both an ending and a beginning.
In the secular world, this same time frame brings us Groundhog Day. We will discover how long winter will remain with us based on the comings and goings of a pudgy rat-type mammal with buck teeth. While that seems somewhat absurd to me, given that we are no longer witness to a natural and undisturbed world as were our forefathers, it makes me smile to think of Bill Murray clutching a chattering groundhog (in the movie Groundhog Day) and speeding toward a cliff, telling it not to "drive angry." That movie fascinates me, anyway, it is wise well beyond its gag lines. In fact, it's a portrait of human enlightenment in slow motion. There comes a moment in the long looping days of the anti-hero in which he understands that contributing to the happiness and well being of others is the way in which he will find his own. He turns his attention to changing himself instead of manipulating those around him, and finds that his world has changed for the better. It even delivers him a "happy ending."
My daughter sent me an e-mail this week, one I'd received dozens of times in my in-box, containing a bit of wisdom I'd heard well before there was an Internet. It was something I was mindful of, a kind of 'default truth,' and yet it jumped off the page at me this time. It reminded me that bits of information come to us like seeds, planted and awaiting their moment to break through the barriers of our attention. It seemed to me the perfect message to meet this period of Imbolc, of eclipse, of energies gone direct and retrograde, of major planetary change.
The old spiritual saws remind us of our connection with all that's outside of us, not in the way we usually think of it but as an extension of our internal process: as above, so below -- as within, so without. All we think of as outside of us begins within us, in our attitudes, our ability to meet life with honesty and integrity, our aptitude for getting out of our own way and glimpsing a larger picture of our own activity and behavior. What does that look like?
Imbolc, occurring February 2 - 6, is a midpoint between winter solstice and spring equinox (in the Northern Hemisphere) -- it's a cross-quarter of the solar wheel. It calls for the blessing of the seeds, and the awareness of new life, still unseen, springing from within. It's one of our ancient turning points, a shift in awareness away from the dormancy of winter and into anticipation of the birthing that spring brings us. Many consider it a sacred doorway of energy, and the Wiccans hold that the quarter-points are even more potent than the Cardinal points of Equinox or Solstice, the Druids referencing them as Major High Days and celebrations. The Catholic church adopted this date for its celebration of Candlemas, a commemoration of the purification of Mary after giving birth, as well as the presentation of Jesus in the temple forty days after his birth. It signifies both an ending and a beginning.
In the secular world, this same time frame brings us Groundhog Day. We will discover how long winter will remain with us based on the comings and goings of a pudgy rat-type mammal with buck teeth. While that seems somewhat absurd to me, given that we are no longer witness to a natural and undisturbed world as were our forefathers, it makes me smile to think of Bill Murray clutching a chattering groundhog (in the movie Groundhog Day) and speeding toward a cliff, telling it not to "drive angry." That movie fascinates me, anyway, it is wise well beyond its gag lines. In fact, it's a portrait of human enlightenment in slow motion. There comes a moment in the long looping days of the anti-hero in which he understands that contributing to the happiness and well being of others is the way in which he will find his own. He turns his attention to changing himself instead of manipulating those around him, and finds that his world has changed for the better. It even delivers him a "happy ending."
My daughter sent me an e-mail this week, one I'd received dozens of times in my in-box, containing a bit of wisdom I'd heard well before there was an Internet. It was something I was mindful of, a kind of 'default truth,' and yet it jumped off the page at me this time. It reminded me that bits of information come to us like seeds, planted and awaiting their moment to break through the barriers of our attention. It seemed to me the perfect message to meet this period of Imbolc, of eclipse, of energies gone direct and retrograde, of major planetary change.
The old spiritual saws remind us of our connection with all that's outside of us, not in the way we usually think of it but as an extension of our internal process: as above, so below -- as within, so without. All we think of as outside of us begins within us, in our attitudes, our ability to meet life with honesty and integrity, our aptitude for getting out of our own way and glimpsing a larger picture of our own activity and behavior. What does that look like?
by Judith Gale
