New: Imbolc Ritual and Practice by Orlagh Costello

 

Imbolc (Imbolg) Ritual & Practice The Fire Festivals Ritual Series by Orlagh Costello at the Irish Pagan School

From the Irish Pagan School page for this class and ritual: 

"Class Series providing practical rituals for all seasons, as we work through the Fire Festivals Cycle in the Irish Tradition:

"Have you ever wanted to do a ritual to authentically celebrate the Irish Fire Festivals (Samhain, Imbolg, Bealtaine, or Lúnasa)... but weren't sure what to do or where to start? 

"Each session in this series will cover the basic associations and practices for each festival to give you a good grounding with regard to the ancient Imbolc (Imbolg) traditions in Ireland. Then you'll move into the main event - a ritual attuned to those associations, including guided meditation and original Irish language prayers.

"This ritual can be personalised afterwards for your own use, but will give you a solid framework right now, which you can develop further as your personal practice grows."

Click here to learn more and to sign up.

Image: Candle and sheaf of oats from IPS site.

Féile Bríde 2018: Light out of Darkness

Féile Bríde 2018: Light out of DarknessSaturday 3rd February 2018
Solas Bhríde, Kildare Town
Registration at 10.20am

"Life has given me many challenges, which I choose to take as opportunities to learn and grow. This is my choice. I learned this on death row. I chose life, health, forgiveness, and love. That choice saved me from bitterness and hatred that would have destroyed me from within. I have dedicated myself to an end to violence – in all its forms. This is the way I honour the lives that were sacrificed along the way. This is the way I give back to the universe. Love is the answer. Fear is the enemy. We must choose the world we want and work towards making it happen every day in our own lives."

These are the inspiring words of death row survivor, Sunny Jacobs, whose life reads like a Shakespearean tragedy, with injustice heaped upon further injustice, creating circumstances that would have crushed many people. An innocent woman wrongfully convicted of murder, her husband was executed, she lost other family members and she spent many years awaiting her own execution. But Sunny came shining through it all with dignity, strength, courage, compassion and hope. She is the perfectly encapsulation of this year’s Féile Bríde’s theme: ‘light out of darkness’.

Sunny and Peter Pringle, the last person to have been on death row in Ireland, have devoted themselves to promoting healing, peace and reconciliation. Together they have established The Sunny Centre – a sanctuary for others who suffer injustice, especially people who are wrongly convicted of crimes they did not commit and have spent time under sentence of death. We will hear their extraordinary stories at Féile Bríde this year.

Other speakers include the distinguished academic and activist Peadar Kirby, who plays a leading role in the Cloughjordan Eco-Village; UCC Professor Emeritus and life-long peace activist John Maguire; Hanny Van Geel of La Via Campesina, which promotes the rights of peasant communities around the world, and who describes herself as ‘rooted in farming’; and Rose Hogan who has a life-long commitment to agro-ecology and sustainable agriculture.

In a world marred by war and the woeful destruction of our exquisite planet, Féile Bríde is but one example of the many, many people and groups throughout our world who hope for and work towards a better future, a more just world and for the light to overcome the darkness.

And as the Spring birdsong heralds the end of another winter, we will also have music because, as Hans Christian Anderson said, “where words fail, music speaks”.

For more information, including the programme, go here: http://www.afri.ie/news-and-events/date-for-your-diary-feile-bride-2018/

Friends of Bride's Mound: Gathering, Archaeology, Hedge-Laying

C/O Glastonbury Opportunities, Unit 7 Abbey Mews, BA6 9DY.

Email; friendsofbridesnew@yahoo.co.uk 

January 2017 Newsletter

IMBOLC – Wednesday 1st February 2017 

The Friends of Brides Mound invite you to join us for the day, the feast day of St. Brigid. 

9.30am White Spring opens (tbc)

 10am Ceremony at the White Spring (tbc)

12 noon Meditation at the Well Head at Chalice Well

10.00 – 1.00pm Refreshments available at Chalice Well

1pm Walk to Bride's Mound with Serena Roney-Dougal; 

Meet outside the White Spring, where the White and the Red springs join.

Wear clothing and footwear suitable for wet and muddy conditions! 

2.30pm Gathering around the fire on Bride's Mound.

AGM.  The Library of Avalon, Glastonbury 22nd March from 7.30pm to 9.30pm.  All welcome.

Archaeology on the Mound 

Somerset skeletons are oldest evidence of monks found in UK

As you might have seen on the national news, Richard Brunning of Southwest Heritage Trust led a team doing the first archaeological dig on the mound since Philip Rahtz’s dig in the 1960s. All very exciting!

An ADF Imbolc Ritual

I realized today that I have not offered here any actual ritual for Imbolc, or indeed for flame-keeping, and that doing so might be of help to some readers. After poking around in my computer I further realized that it has been so long since I have felt the need to write out my rituals ahead of time (I've found over time I'm happier keeping it direct and simple), I don't have any to hand.

So I went noodling around on the internet and found this. It has many interesting ideas and although I would make changes if I were using it (such as not using the word invoke, as I don't feel I have the power or the cheek to summon a deity--invite, maybe), I think it is a great jumping off place. Kudoes to Rob and Kami for their work here.

A Solitary Imbolc Ritual

by Rob Henderson and Kami Landy
written March 31st, 1999
Adapted from the Shining Lakes Grove 1999 Imbolc Rite, written by the SLG Liturgists
with sections shamelessly stolen from the StoneCreed Grove Solitary Liturgy

(This is my first attempt at writing a solitary ADF ritual. Well, perhaps "writing" isn't the right word, more like "assembling". Our Grove's Imbolc Rite this year was more scripted than our usual fare, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to do a solitary ritual. I'm adding some running commentary in the parentheses, so you can understand not only what you're doing, but why you're doing it. -- Rob)

[Kami's commentary will be in brackets, like so.]

(If you've got your Dedicant's shrine set up, you should use that for this ritual. If you don't have such a shrine, you can make do with representations for the well (a bowl of water) with a piece of silver for the Well offering (a coin is fine), the fire (a candle - three candles, or a three-wicked candle, would be best), and the tree (a branch placed in a pot of soil is good). You'll also need:

• a separate bowl of water and a candle (to receive the blessings of Brigit)
• offerings for Brigit (see below for suggestions)
• offerings for the Outsiders (food or drink)
• For purifications: mud or red ochre; salt water; incense or smudge stick
• a straw "dolly" or rowan stick to represent Brigit, and a straw bed for her (optional)
• For the return blessing: red, white, and black ribbons attached to the frame of a doorway (optional)