Imbolc, the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, is the belly of winter, and how befitting that the meaning of this Gaelic word means “in the belly.” This refers to the ewes about to give birth, as evidenced by their udders filling with milk. The spring lambs will soon be here. This is a lot like winter, right? We’re starting to see little signs of hope that winter will be over before long — little green shoots of grass, and flower and leaf buds starting to swell on the trees. You may be noticing that certain plants and flowers are popping up at this time of year. In my area, wild yellow oxalis is in all its glory at Imbolc. I know what time of year it is just by the pillows of yellow flowers all over the fields and orchards.

If your environment is covered in snow, what changes are you noticing at this time of year? Lengthening days? Migratory birds? Each environment has its own signals that the seasons are changing. If your land is covered in snow right now, what gives you hope that this won’t last forever? Celebrate that!

Imbolc is a Pagan sabbat, or holiday, and is one of eight evenly spaced sabbats on the Wheel of the Year, which has eight evenly spaced spokes — the solstices, the equinoxes, and the midway point between each. It is celebrated on February 1 through February 2, and traditionally, this is the sabbat where we honor the Celtic goddess, Brigid, who was later transmuted to a Catholic saint, St. Brigit, with festivals in her honor still held in Ireland to this day.

Brigid is amongst the great Mother Goddesses, with many attributes, including creativity, poetry, healing, and medicine. However, one of her foremost associations is with her fiery forge, on which she can hammer any metal into the shape she wishes. She can make artwork or weapons, and is a skilled blacksmith. In fact, she is associated with all master smith work. Because this is the time of year for the eyes to give birth, Brigid is also known as a protectress for farm animals in general, but also sheep specifically. She watches over the birthing ewes and their newborn lambs.

To celebrate Brigid’s strength and creativity, here is a tarot spread, in the shape of the traditional Brigid’s Cross, which is a symbol often handmade with straw as part of honoring her at Imbolc. The cross is often hung inside the home or on the front door as a symbol of protection. So, we will make our Bridgid’s Cross not out of straw, but out of tarot cards.

Brigid’s Cross Tarot Spread

To begin, hold your tarot cards and gently shuffle them as you breathe and relax, and quiet your mind. Allow a vision of Brigid to materialize – see her long, fiery red hair and and the fire of her flame as she pulls a strip of metal from it with her tongs, and hammers it into shape on her anvil. Image that she notices you, and stops her work momentarily, and pulls a deck of cards from her pocket. She hands a card to you.

As you continue gently shuffling the cards, pull out a card each time you see her presenting a card to you and place it in front of you, for a total of four cards. These are the messages Brigid has for you.

Thank Brigid for spending this sacred time with you, and imagine her returning to her forging as you slowly return to where you were, and open your eyes.

Assemble the cards face up from 1 to 4 in this pattern:

 

As you place the cards in this position, notice that the bottoms of the cards touch in the center of the cross. If you drew reversed cards, and want to read reversals, pay attention to where the bottom of the cards should be – in the middle.

Focusing on Brigid’s creative, protective nature, here are the questions that go with each position:

1)  What do you need to spark? What little ideas or beginnings or seeds need to start taking shape in your life?

2)  What do you need to forge? What are the things that need to be focused upon that will require some time, effort, patience, and skill on your part?

3)  What do you need to birth? What do you need to just allow to happen? What needs to naturally take place, or emerge, if you will just get out of the way and go with the flow?

4)  What do you need to protect? What are the projects, people, situations, or even thoughts and feelings, or even your own energy, that you need to protect from damage, criticism, or ridicule?

 

I hope you enjoy this celebration of the great Mother Goddess Brigid, on this brightly blessed sabbat, Imbolc!