Happy Beltane.
This is my favorite time of year when nature comes alive.
Celebrate with Mama Earth.
🌎💚
Celtic Beltane / May Day
Time to Bloom
“If flowers can
teach themselves
how to bloom after
winter passes,
so can you.”
~ Noor Shirazie
🌸
#spring
#equinox
#sprout
#bloom
Photo by Nancy Lankston
Imbolc Has Arrived
Here in the northern hemisphere, we are halfway to spring.
“…beneath the surface of winter, the miracle of spring is already in preparation; the cold is relenting; seeds are wakening up. Colors are beginning to imagine how they will return. Then, imperceptibly, somewhere one bud opens and the symphony of renewal is no longer reversible. From the black heart of winter a miraculous, breathing plenitude of color emerges.”
John O’Donohue
🌱
#Imbolc
#wheeloftheyear
#cyclesandseasons
🌱
Art: The Maiden Awakens
by Annie Louvaine
The Roots of Easter
As we hold Easter egg hunts and gift those we love with bunny shaped candies this weekend, we are actually tapping into European rites of spring from pre-Christian times. The ancient Germanic Goddess Eostre (aka Ostara) embodied spring, the season of rebirth, renewal and new growth. Eostre’s symbology included fertile rabbits as well as the egg.
The sacred moon Goddess Ix Chel holds a similar place of honor in the Mayan culture. Like Eostre, Ix Chel is also associated with rabbits. She is shown below with her beloved consort rabbit.
Ix Chel has been worshipped throughout Mexico and many parts of Central and South America for thousands of years. It is said that Ix Chel is responsible for nourishing the crops by overturning her sacred womb jar so that the waters will flow through the world, nourishing new life.
“Goddess Ix Chel, known as the Maya[n] Goddess of the Moon, Water, Weaving and Childbirth… all having to do with cycles, tides, creating and bringing new life.
Her Rabbit consort/ child/sister/brother/mother/father/friend is the personification of new life and cleaving to bringing the young along, the gentle spirit, the shy, and yet the enduringly fertile/creative.
She is called the pale one…and is co-existant and interchangable with the moon and the moon’s cycles… she is a miracle maker, a healer, a teacher, a keeper of stories… and as she is also the moon also going dark for three days… Ix Chel suffering torment but comes ever back to full radiant reflective light again.
There are so many Ix Chels in the world, and so many Auroras and so many Jesu’s and so many Attis’ and so many of the great One who was taken down and then came back to life in triumph.
~Clarissa Pinkola Estes
It is amazing to me that people all over this Earth created similar stories and myths of rebirth and renewal to honor spring. We are truly one Tribe.
🐰
Celebrate Spring
In celebration of Spring Equinox, here is a guided meditation to help you connect with the joyful spring energies of Mama Earth.
#spring
#grounded
#grateful
#joy
The Coming of Spring
Goddess Brigid is honored and celebrated at Imbolc in early Frebriary.
Brigid was born at sunrise with a flame of light shooting from her flaming red hair. Her sacred fire represents divine inspiration, warmth, safety, and home.
Brigid is also known to be a great healer and protector of life. Ancient wells honoring her are still found in Ireland and Scotland. People have prayed and left offerings at her wells for thousands of years. Their waters hold healing powers.
Ancient Nature Goddess Brigid brings the light of spring. It is said that flowers bloom wherever she walks.
May Brigid bless the house wherein you dwell
Bless every fireside every wall and door
Bless every heart that beats beneath its roof
Bless every hand that toils to bring it joy
Bless every foot that walks its portals through
May Brigid bless the house that shelters you.
🔥
#brigid
#fire
#water
#goddess
#protectress
#sacredfeminine
#herstorymatters
Photo by NancyL
Seeds Are Stirring
Imbolc is upon us. Celtic stories tell us that the Cailleach—the divine hag Goddess who rules over winter and death—gathers firewood for the rest of the winter on Imbolc. If the Goddess Cailleach wishes to make the winter last a lot longer, she will make sure that the weather on Imbolc is bright and sunny, so she can gather plenty of firewood. But, if Imbolc is a day of foul weather, it means the Cailleach is asleep and winter is almost over.
The Cailleach was worshipped by the Celts as the sacred Earth Mother in her bare winter form. And she is not just a dark and evil hag who arbitrarily decides how long winter will be. The Cailleach is also the Bone Mother who collects the bones of the animals that die in the winter. The Bone Mother is said to sing or pray or sleep over the bones all winter long. She does this out of love, so that the animals will cross over and can return as new life in the spring.
There is a magic to Imbolc and the early days of February. It is there, running just beneath the surface. Can you feel it? Mama Earth holds the seeds of spring safe for us all winter. As the cold wind blows and the snow piles up, she holds them safe in her soil.
#Imbolc
#Bone Collector
#Hag Goddess