Video: Imbolc, the Celtic Festival of Spring
A rainbow and a Brigid’s cross by Haley Owens on Unsplash.
We hope you will enjoy our springtime gift for you! It is the replay of a session of our ‘Spirit of Iona’ online series, in which we celebrate the Celtic festival of Imbolc through story, meditation and song. Bring a white candle and matches if you like and let yourself be carried into the ancient ways of Celtic spirituality …
In this session community member and Iona lover, Katherine Collis and her guests from her Iona group share about the ancient festival of Imbolc, which honours the Celtic Goddess Bride (also Brighde, Brigid, or Bridged). Iona, the island where we hold the ‘Spirit of Iona’ weeks in our beautiful retreat house Traigh Bhan, is known to be her island. In fact all islands on the West Coast of Scotland are called the ‘Hebrides’, named after Bride.
Katherine Collis in front of the garden gate of our retreat house Traigh Bhan on Iona.
The Maiden Goddess of Spring has been loved so much by the Celts, that she found her way into Christianity. She is the patroness Saint of Ireland, where her essence is still celebrated on St. Brigid’s day, the 1st of February.
Imbolc Traditions and Rituals
The first spring flowers bloom wherever Bride passes
Bride is known for her healing powers. Wherever she walks on the frozen winter soil, the snow melts and flowers blossom where she passes. She is the patroness of smiths, poets, and healers and honoured through many traditions and rituals, which have remained in Scotland, Ireland, Britain, and Wales to this very day.
St. Brigid’s Crosses are still made from rushes as a protective charm for doors and windows
People craft Brigid’s crosses from rushes as a protective charm for their entrance ways. As she is believed to walk the lands in the beginning of February they make a bed for her in their houses and leave her food and drink, they also hang scarves or clothes outside their houses overnight for her to bless. In Bride’s honour, white candles are lit, the first seeds are sown, Brigid dolls are made from straw, and sacred wells are visited for their water’s healing powers.
The Light is returning: Sunrise on Iona
Celebrating the return of the Light
Bride is the maiden aspect of the Goddess and is said to bring the milk to the ewes before they give birth to their lambs. So, originally, the timing of the Celtic festival of Imbolc was more fluid and was celebrated with the arrival of the first lambs in February, which marked the beginning of the agricultural season, and the time when the return of the light in the northern hemisphere starts to become noticeable.
Bride and her connection to Iona and Jesus
The well of eternal youth on Dun I, where Bride is said to have looked after her flock of sheep
Folklore has it that St. Brigid landed on the shores of the sacred Isle of Iona accompanied by oyster catchers when she was looking for safety and shelter. It is said that she lived by the Well of Eternal Youth upon the hill Dun I, guarding her sheep, and blessing the land. Another legend says that she used this well as a portal to bring Jesus to Iona and became his foster mother. She is also said to have been the maid at the inn who invited Mary and Joseph to stay at the stable when they were looking for a place to stay the night Jesus was born. Many pagan and Christian legends are woven around her presence, and because she is loved by so many of different faiths, she holds a sacred place in our hearts today …
If you would like to join us for one of our Spirit of Iona Weeks, please read more …
