Imbolc means "in the belly of the Mother" and is the first celebration of spring according to the Celtic calendar. The belly of the mother is where the first of the seeds that fell to the Earth during last fall’s harvest season are slowly beginning to stir.

This year, the feast of Imbolc is particularly profound as it is coinciding with the energies of the rare celestial phenomenon we have come to call the “Super Blue Blood Moon” here in the Northern Hemisphere. The shadow of the Earth is passing over the body of the Moon as she waxes full for the second time this month… the Moon is drawing nearest to the Earth, relative to her personal orbit, as these two Cosmic Goddesses who are also nearest and dearest to our hearts continuously whirl and twirl in their intricate spiral dance around the Sun. The synchronicity of this cosmic event with this particular feast isn’t lost on me, and neither should it be lost on you.

Under Roman Catholicism, the feast of St. Brigid’s day, or Candlemas, as Imbolc came to be known was a glorious celebration of fertility that was often marked by sighting the first of nature’s blooms. It was celebrated with music and dancing, laughter and gaiety, and of course, as we human beings celebrate being alive each day… with food!

In my heart, I imagine that Imbolc was a feast typically marked with a profound sense of relief and ease… the worst of winter’s gales have passed (with any luck), and the tension and anxiety that goes along with wondering if we have stored enough resources to last through the season of barrenness begins to unwind itself, offering our minds and bodies some much-needed, sweet release.

Catholicism also celebrates Candlemas as the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and marks the first entrance of the Sacred Mother with her Infant Son into the temple of God—the womb of the Church. Here, on this day, two elders of the Church, an upright and careful man named Simeon and a prophetess named Anna, were able to offer blessing to the Christ. They shared this prophecy with the child’s mother: “[He] is destined to bring about the fall of many and the rise of many in Israel… and so the thoughts of many hearts shall be made manifest; as for thy own soul, it shall have a sword to pierce it.” (Luke 2:34-35)

Many of us are feeling as though our souls have been pierced over the past year or so, myself included. Pouring forth from our hearts are the blood of passion and the tears of pain. May this week’s lunar shadow sighting eclipse the sorrow from our souls and wash the grief out of our eyes. May our hearts be once again made whole and fertile, rich lands for the wealth of seeds of love, creativity, healing, and FUN to be planted, take root and grow. May our minds be drained of all the suffering and distress that goes along with being buried under the weight of grief and shame.

And may the light of our souls refract like a prism through the crystal sword which pierces us, casting our spectral shadows into a rainbow of 8 billion shades upon the Earth.

May each of us radiate our own peculiar frequency of love-light across the world, and may these colors be woven into a glorious nest where each of us can be at home.

With Faerie kisses and Angel blessings,

Cassandra