Feabhra, February

On remembering light

The first day of February.

Saint Brigid’s Day.

Imbolc.

In the belly.

Seeds. A time for all that has been held safely in the womb to meet the brightening earth. We are making our way towards the spring; towards the light.

Brigid is an intriguing and important figure indeed. Born on the threshold of a door neither within or without the house, at the breaking of dawn when neither night nor day held their sway, Brigid is a figure of liminality.  

She guides the journey from winter into spring in Ireland and represents our relationship with the feminine. Her roots are entwined with a much older, pagan goddess, whose festival at Imbolc welcomed the return of lighter days after the darkness of winter.

Patron saint of babies; seafarers; children whose parents are unmarried or born into abusive unions; Ireland; the poor and more besides -she represents those voices that for centuries have been silenced. She saw the darkness of the old ways and shone a light on them, showing strength, resilience and that unnamable thing that flows through the blood of a woman.