The "Cold Moon" (Imbolc)

This coming weekend brings to us what the Natives of this continent called the "Cold Moon" and what we celebrate as Imbolc or Gwyl Mair--"the time of infinite possibilities for the new cycle of life and creativity, when energies are still gathering..." (Llewellen's Witches' Datebook 2010, 39). A time of infinite possibilities...

Isn't winter--at least, this darkest stage of winter when the winds are at their more biting and the days are shortest--THE season of possibility? We're given a "clean slate" of sorts. The earth lies dormant, the skies are usually steely-grey, and we gather indoors to recapture that which is most vital and life-giving to us. We "nest" at this time of the year--the hearth's fire is cheery and comforting, the meals we share are substantial and sustaining, and the plans we make are most lavish. This is not a season of distractions--there is no "pretty" in the socially-accepted form of the term. We concentrate on the "should be"s and the "will be"s now.

Louis MacNeice wrote of this in 1935...of the promise of this season...

The room was suddenly rich and the great bay-window was
Spawning snow and pink roses against it
Soundlessly collateral and incompatible:
World is suddener than we fancy it.

World is crazier and more of it than we think,
Incorrigibly plural. I peel and portion
A tangerine and spit the pips and feel
The drunkenness of things being various.

And the fire flames with a bubbling sound for world
Is more spiteful and gay than one supposes -
On the tongue on the eyes on the ears in the palms of one's hands -
There is more than glass between the snow and the huge roses.
(http://www.artofeurope.com/macneice/mac5.htm)

This is a season of dualities...of promise...of possibility.

In the softness of the winter moonlight....

A Blue Moon to Welcome 2010

Good 2010, dear Lair visitors (old and new)!

Last night, She joined our earthbound celebrations by gifting us with a "Blue" Moon--the second full moon of the month. According to my ever-present Witch's Datebook (2009, Llewellyn), "The Blue Moon is a time for spontaneity and imagination. [...] This is a time to release your inhibitions, letting go of fears that limit or constrict you. Release negative memories, emotions, and habits that hold you back" (133). Though it may not have been at the forefront of our minds last night amidst the celebrations and festivities of "ringing out the old and ringing in the new," the magickal qualities of last night were woven throughout our observations.

Didn't everything about this New Year's Eve seem slightly more special...slightly more "significant"? Didn't the passing of the year...of the decade...seem more poignant than New Year's Eves past? Didn't you feel the brightness of the night winds, see the crystal sparkle of the stars, smell the freshness surrounding you--even if only for a moment? She was lighting the way to new perspectives, new undertakings, and new trails on your Path through last night's Moon.

Here, it's snowed thrice so far this winter. The Natives believe that snowfall is a cleansing of the earth...a purification ritual of sorts. Perhaps She is cleansing the earthbound experience and lighting our way to a deeper understanding or awareness through the snows and the Blue Moon.

It's 2010...the opening of a new year and a new decade. The Paths we're on--whether connected or disparate--are renewed once again. There's ample possibility...remarkable promise...and fresh starts everywhere we turn today. Where will your feet lead you? Where will your heart beat truest? Where will you seek, search, and study? Wherever it is, it's a choice made, this year, in the clarity of Her Blue Moon.

Wishing you the softness of the moonlight throughout the coming year!!