Imbolc 2013-Initiation

Imbolc has always been a special celebration for me. As a novice, I was initiated into my first coven at Imbolc and was given the magickal name of Artemis. Later, I was initiated as a priestess on Imbolc, further committing and clearing another part of my spiritual path. My mentor was the one who chose this day for those rituals…and I was not sure how she came to this decision until later.

When I first met Etain, a former nun and lesbian who became a Wiccan priestess, she was the most welcoming person I had met in the Wiccan/Pagan communities. She was generous with her teachings and always emphasized to me that even when practicing as a group, each person’s spiritual path was individual. I might join their circle, but my beliefs and practices, would be my own to follow for the entire length of my life. Perhaps it was the difficulties she had in her own experiences that led her to teach me those lessons. Humans are subject to their flaws…insecurity, need for approval, desire for attention, grabs for power, etc. which she and I, too, saw crack and divide even the largest and most powerful groups. Perhaps her in-sight gave her a glimpse of what would happen in years to come.

As a newbie, I ‘knew’ that there was something within me that was different, but didn’t know how to harness, manifest or understand it. It was Etain who saw, and helped me come into my own power. One day, sitting in her office with two of the other members of the circle (a couple I knew as Rhiannon and Ash), Etain spoke with me about my abilities. I could detect the barely concealed sneer from the woman as Etain stated that I had a gift…but I simply did not know how to access it. For myself-I had no idea what she was trying to get at when she said that I would not believe, until I experienced it for myself.

She looked at them, then back to me. She told me to hold out my hand and took a ring…a plain band…off her finger and placed it in my palm. “What do you see? What do you feel?” I hesitated and told her I didn’t know what she meant. Etain smiled told me to take a breath and be still and repeated her questions. “What do you see? What do you feel?”  I did as she told me. I took a deep breath and just sat still. From the palm of my hand an incredible heat rose and traveled up my arm. At the same time, I felt my hand vibrating while other feelings seemed to overcrowd my mind. Images moved quickly in my mind, like a slideshow going at double speed. Unnerved, I opened my eyes, unsure how long I had been sitting like an idiot with all of them watching me. I placed the ring on the desk and sat back. Rhiannon said, “Well…?” and Etain smiled at me. “Did you feel anything?” Sheepishly, I said, “I- I don’t…it’s going to sound crazy.” Etain gently prompted me again to speak.

Me- “I saw colors. Red, at first, just the color red. My hand felt so hot, I felt it all the way up my arm. Then it felt like it was moving, vibrating…I had to hold it hard. I saw fire…so many flames. But there was also a mist…like smoke and steam. That’s it. I must sound stupid.” Ash sat with his mouth open and then he smiled at Etain. Rhiannon’s look turned into a poker face. I couldn’t read her expression, but I could feel the energy from her was unchanged. Etain then told me that it was her late grandfather’s ring. He had spent his entire life as a Firefighter. I was stunned. Did I really pick up those energies from that ring? Etain then told me that no one else had ever gotten that much when holding her grandfather’s ring. It was an indication that I had abilities that I needed to learn to access and train. And so, I did.

When I was initiated as a novice to the circle, it was Etain who picked the day and so Brigid’s Day…Imbolc, would be the best day for my initiation. Brigid is the Maiden archetype of the Triple Goddess (I was in my own Maiden stage) and so represents purification and new beginnings. Brigid is the Fire of the Hearth and Healing; Fire of the Forge of Crafting and Weaving; the Fire of Imagination and Inspiration. At Imbolc, sacred brooms are woven to sweep away old energies from the home-the origins of what we now call, ‘Spring cleaning’. As hibernating animals begin to rise from their sleep of the darkness of Winter, so Imbolc symbolizes their ‘waking’…as my initiation represented my own awakening to my gifts and to my new path.

Many years later, I prepare to celebrate another Imbolc. While I am older and passing into another phase of my life, I celebrate the Wild Woman waking within. The fire within of truth, magick, joy, and strength are reawakening in me. I will delve into this more in future blogs. I celebrate art and inspiration, love and light, and love….always love…

May the reawakening earth and the return of the light bring you joy. I feel the spark growing within me…and am preparing to make way for the brightness in the coming year. Light a candle, be still…and LISTEN. The Goddess is speaking to YOU...let Her light your path.... Blessed be…