Imbolc is a sacred Earth Holiday with ancient roots & modern relevance. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, it is the time of the quickening. The first stirrings of Spring in the Earth. A perfect time to slow our activity, quiet our minds & dissolve our inner chatter to a sacred stillpoint.

In this keen quiet, our Spirit is moving, stirring the deep waters of life, engendering your next cycle of growth. If we are still, we can sense this subtle awakening. At this moment, you don't need the details. Seek the life-pulse rising, like Spring sap in sycamores. Your Spirit is calling you to expand, evolve, excel. Sense the Truth-Yes! in your being. Tonight, when darkness falls, energize a candle with your Yes! and set it in a window. Let your light shine in the world. Spring is coming!

If you are having trouble stilling your mind, a purification ceremony can help. Think of it as a Spring cleaning of the Spirit. I've adapted this practice from a ceremony I learned from Starhawk's Spiral Dance 30 years ago. When I did this lovely spiritworking for the first time, I experienced a profound sense of sacred empowerment & healing - just what I needed at that time. May this ceremony bring you the blessings you need in this moment.

Salt-Water Purification Ceremony

• Create a time and space for quiet without interruptions.
• Take a few deep breaths to calm yourself.
• Invite luminous Spirit support to be present with you.
• Fill a cup with water.  Add three mounds of salt, and stir.
• Sit with the cup in your lap.
• Let any disruptive thoughts or feelings surface in your mind; be present with any dense energies in your body or energy field.
• Sense these as a muddy stream, which flows out of you as you breathe and is dissolved by the salt water in the cup.
• Allow yourself time to feel deeply cleansed.
• Now hold up the cup.  Breathe deeply, and invite the green light of Nature to rise up through you from the Earth.
• Let this luminous energy flow into the salt water, until you can visualize the water glowing with light.
• Sip the water.  As you feel it on your tongue, know that you have taken in the power of cleansing, of healing.  You have been cleansed by the power of change.
• If you are planning to light a candle (as discussed above), now would be a good time to energize and light it.
• Thank Spirit for their presence and support.
• Place your candle in the window
• Empty the leftover water onto the Earth (being careful to choose a spot where the salt water will not damage growth.)
• Enjoy the sacred stillness of Imbolc.