The energies of early February are intense

 In Blog

I am a traveler
On a sacred journey
Through this one shining day.

                                        – Richard Wagamese

If you’ve been finding that these past few weeks have been intense, you are not alone.  Not only have we just emerged from a powerful eclipse season, but the weather posed challenges in many parts of the US.

Here in my neck of the woods (Ohio), we experienced a polar vortex (sub-zero temps) followed by 60-degree weather – all in less than a week! Such extremes are disorienting not only for us humans, but for all beings. The plants in my garden don’t know what to do.

Add to that the Celtic cross-quarter holiday of Imbolc here in the Northern Hemisphere, which was traditionally the beginning of spring (February 2), the New Moon on the 4th, bringing very strong energies we can use for transformation, and the beginning of the Lunar New Year on the 5th!

One of the culprits is climate change

Climate change is real, and it challenges us to make changes in our lifestyles. We are already seeing the results of those extreme fluctuations in temperatures. I recently read that the polar icecap has receded so much that there are now places in Canada where you can see land for the first time in more than 40,000 years. Polar bears that 10 years ago were strong and well fed are now pitifully thin.

We need to reconnect with the earth

We in the Western world have tended to move far from our rootedness in the earth, and I find that the Celtic cross-quarter holidays help us reconnect to the turns of the seasons and the natural rhythms of the year. Such reconnection is even more urgent in this time of great climate change. As stewards of the earth, we have a responsibility to all living beings to be more closely connected with the earth. We ignore this responsibility at our peril.

When winter ends, the bright light returns

The Festival of Imbolc, one of the four most important festivals of the Celtic year, celebrates the end of winter and the returning light. Signifying the beginning of spring, it is associated with fertility and abundance as it coincides with the lambing season and the stirrings of new life above and below ground.

The Divine Feminine reveals her strength at this time of year, with the patron Goddess/Saint Brigid (meaning “bright flame”) as the representative. The Celts honored her as the threefold goddess of healing, fire (craftmanship, especially metalworking) and wisdom/childbirth/midwifery. St. Brigid (453-525 CE) was a bishop of the Celtic Christian Church, founder and abbess of double monasteries (both men and women), and a primary patron saint of Ireland and Celtic Christianity.

It’s an ideal time to work with your energy blocks

Many of my friends and students have remarked on how strong this New Moon (on the 4th) has been. Its conjunction with both Imbolc and the Lunar New Year means this New Moon carries the strong notion of re-seeding.

This New Moon invites you to communicate with your own energy blocks, “what is denied, trapped, repressed, limited by our chosen circumstances, where our personal power has been restricted and bled off into addictions, habits and self-destructive thinking and behaviors,” says Patricia Liles (powerpath.com new moon update). In so doing, you are being given the opportunity to free yourself from roles imposed on you by your family and culture.

This is a potent time for re-seeding, transformation, for revisiting your boundaries, and for (re)connecting with whatever is your true passion. I encourage you to use this time wisely, as it is seeding what is to come in 2019.

An Imbolc blessing for you

May the life stirring underground
stir new dreams to life within you.
May the flames of inspiration and passion
be ignited in your soul.
          —from The Seasonal Soul

With love and gratitude for each of you,

Mary

If you are finding these energies intense, please check out my individual sessions page, or book a Discovery Call to explore how we can help you.

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