Let Your Intentions Take Root—A Simple Imbolc Ritual
The next several days is sort of like another crack at starting the New Year.
That’s because we’ve got a New Moon on Monday, Chinese New Year on Tuesday, and a special holiday known as Imbolc is today (Feb. 1), although many believe it extends into Feb 2nd as well.
Let me explain.
This first part is for those living north of the equator:
The Wheel of the Year is turning and February 1st and 2nd is a Pagan holiday known as Imbolc, sometimes called Candlemas. Although the ground might still be frozen where you are, there are profound stirrings way down deep. These are the stirrings of what’s to come, what is being manifested in the invisible realms.
Imbolc represents the exact halfway point between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. You already can feel this even if it’s cold, because the light is changing and the days growing imperceptibly longer as each one passes.
If you want to know more about Imbolc, check out my blog over on my old Holistic Hot sauce site here.
Imbolc time is ideal for a ritual of seed planting, with the seeds representing your intentions for the coming month, season, year or longer.
These can be for something (or things) you want to manifest—or see show up— in your life. Intentions can also be to affirm and add energy to new habits you are creating. You can plant seeds to add power to a project or idea you’d like to see blossom and come to fruition later this year.
A seed planting ritual doesn’t have to be complicated (although you can make it as grand and complex as you want.)
You can do it indoors with a little pot of potting soil and whatever seeds you can get your hands on.
A super simple ritual could consist of the following:
Place your pot filled with soil in a spot that feels special. Light a candle. Perhaps spritz or anoint yourself with a favorite oil or scent.
Then state or read aloud your intentions as you place seeds into the moist soil. Water your pot of seeds, and sit quietly for a moment visualizing how you will feel as these intentions blossom and come to fruition.
Place your seed pot in a special spot where you can water it and it can be a reminder of what you are intending.
If you are reading this in early February 2019, your ritual is made even more powerful because…
Monday, February 4th, is the New Moon! It occurs in the evening (9:04 Eastern time) in North America. If you’ve been following me for a while you know that I’m a lover of the Moon and I write a lot about the power and value of consciously creating and writing down intentions at the time of the New Moon.
The moon, during her dark time, lends her energy to your own when you connect to create one or more intentions or manifestations for the month ahead. Then as she begins to ‘wax’ and her light returns and grows bigger, it symbolizes the sprouting and blossoming of your manifestation.
And, to make the ‘New Year’ energy even more powerful, of course Tuesday, the 5th, is Chinese New Year! Although I’m not an expert in Chinese astrology, I do know that we are headed into the Year of the Pig—which is said to have a beautiful personality and energy, and to be a sign of good fortune. I like the sound of that for the coming year.
With all three of these auspicious events happening in a row you’ve got a nice long window for ritualizing your intentions. Even if all you do is take 10 minutes to sit down with your journal, know that you have an extra unseen push towards your dreams right now.
Last week I wrote about how stepping into a new identity (and leaving an old one behind) is a key component to reinventing yourself and to creating something new in your life. I know that for me, affirming this new identity is part of what I am intending during this lovely intention-setting window.
What are you intending as you look ahead into the year? What your own personal rituals to amplify your intentions?
