Some of the ancient, pagan, pre-Christian
celebrations of this very day are still practiced in the other more modern
versions. As I said the seasons were always the same with the same things going
on. Aside from Imbolc which we I will refer to in a moment here, one early name
for this day was Oimelc, pronounced űr-melk, and means ewe’s milk. As we know
the milk was one of the biggest new blessings. As nature has it both cows and
sheep would be having young now just after the cold of winter is passed. Funny how
it works that even though the gestation time is different for animals they all
seem to mate in such a way as to produce young in the spring, which is the best
time for them. The cold is over and the new grazing grasses will be available
just as they are weaned. There is an
earth blessing where you pour milk into the soil for a fertile crop to come. This
is what I did in my gardens and I’ll tell you ore about it in a moment. All
sorts of new possibilities come with having milk again. Cream being a big one
adds such richness to food, and can be added to sauces or enjoyed cold for
dipping breads and cakes into.
Creamed cabbage in a white sauce with ham
bits is a traditional food eaten here. Actually creamed anything…potatoes,
carrots, even creamed bacon and onions, are common for this time of year. split pea with bacon soup is traditional. here you have bacon and dried peas. Another dish is mashed rutabagas with bacon and cooked grated carrots. Fresh
made cheeses are beginning to be eaten here as folks have more milk to use for
such things. By fresh cheeses I mean cottage cheese, cream cheeses, anything
that can be made from curdling milk. Even mozzarella starts as a fresh cheese. Milk
was the one new food except fish and small game which were not yet too
plentiful. As I have said what was being eaten was what was left.
Not to infer this wasn’t really good
food, aged hams, bacon, and sausages are very fine bits of meat. And the cold
stores of veggies had held freshness well, but the heat would come and even the
root cellar would not keep things in time.
Another name for this day is Folcaim, which
would be said Fal-kearm means “I Wash.” Throughout Europe this was
considered a time for purification, a time for cleaning out the old to make way
the coming of the new, a time for spring cleaning. As the earth was a wash with
melting snow and streams flowed, and rains came. It was considered that nature
was washing clean, basically everything for the coming year. So in turn, and
with old stores having to be used, cleaning things out, washing the body, and
purifying tools and spaces seems to make good sense. This sometimes took the
form of “doing without” in a ritual purification. Which made the fact that the
old foods and stores were to be gone sometimes before new foods, such as eggs
and meat and grain were available. This is where the Church placed Lent. But in
truth this is what was happening anyway. It was a serious time of working
again, tending the fields and livestock. Lent in fact comes from a Germanic
word that just means “spring” actually lengthening days.
The most common name for this time though
is Imbolc, also spelled Imbolg... pronounced am-melc, it means “in the belly”
which can refer to the animals that are still pregnant, but it also can mean “in
the bowels of the earth (land/soil)”
The
wheel of the year is a cycle, representing a lifetime, especially the life time
of the female reference to the Earth. Winter is “death and rebirth”, then its
followed by three fertility days, which are Feb 2, spring, and May 1. Then
summer is the time of “life, and birth” where the Earth gives birth to all the bounteous
blessings. And summer is followed by three harvest days which are Aug 1,
autumn, and Oct 31.
Where we are now... the earth…more specifically the land, is a new young maiden.
Who has just come into her “time.” She is a pure virgin now able to conceive. This
is a time of conception… not so much as in seeds planted but in that the
possibility is there. The ground is broken with the plow and the earth becomes
pregnant with the possibility of giving life.
So in my garden today I did break
the earth with a shovel full and poured in milk. The words I
used are a modern prayer, but the intent is the same as ancient times. I also
poured milk in my herb garden, but left it undisturbed as its covered in over
growth from last year which has plenty of green beneath it’s protecting till
spring.
From The Divine,
The One,
The Creator of all
that is,
c
May blessings be poured into this land, that it
may produce abundantly, all that nourishes the body and the soul.
c
May the bounty of Earth Mother be given freely,
and the seeds of labor and love bring
forth fruits to warm the hearts of all that will partake.
c
May any who are nourished from this land be in
turn blessed with goodness, fortune, and truth.
With humility and
gratitude I ask In the name of all that is, was, or ever will be. I bow within
your creation.
Imbolc is the time of the Goddess Brigid,
in her maiden form. She is pictured in white or with a green mantle with possibly
a torch or bundle of wheat or both. Her flowers are the crocus, daffodil and snowdrop. She is also known as Brid, and Brigantia (whom Britain
A Brid bed where a husk doll is dressed in white and placed in a basket
bed next to a club or stick of wood is placed at the hearth at the end of the
night. The Brid(e) and club represent
the female and male (phallus) aspects of conception.. Brigid blesses us with
the anticipation of the harvest. She purifies us with the fire of the Smith and
the Hearth, and the discipline to tend the grain fields and nursing livestock. She
also blesses us with the cabbage, carrots and potatoes, ham and bacon and
sausage eggs and grain, we have wisely stored, and with brand new milk. She inspires
us with love and poetry, light and enlightenment, conception, passion and
romance.
Next
…yumm… crepes cabbage and candles on this cold night.
Blessings mes amis.
No comments:
Post a Comment