Pregnant With Possibility – Three Beautiful Practices to Energetically Engage with Imbolc
- Brainz Magazine
- 4 days ago
- 8 min read
Dani Van de Velde is a passionate advocate for living a spiritually aligned life in the modern world. She is a meditation teacher, Reiki Master, psychic medium, and author of Spirited. She is the founder of Spirited Living and Spirited Business online communities, a broadcaster on News for the Soul Radio, and host of The Modern Crone podcast.
As we near the first two days of February, we enter the first turn of the Wheel of the Year, a cross-quarter point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox (in the Northern Hemisphere). The sunlight starts to change in the sky, very subtly brighter and slightly longer days. Water currents in the oceans and river systems shift, and deep beneath our busy cities and busy lives, the Earth is gently stirring towards spring.
Early spring is under the surface. In most northern countries, the land is still veiled in ice and snow, but signs of the shift are becoming evident. Snow drifts begin to shrink, and the slight increase in light stirs seeds into germination and animals from hibernation. Whether we are conscious of it or not, we are also affected by these shifts, because we come from and dwell in the same wild field that is starting to ‘gear up for growth’.
In my observation, people are affected by these subtle generative energies in similar ‘under the surface’ ways. They come through us in impulses, like the impulse to clear out disused clothes and items from cupboards and shelves, the impulse to take new directions, learn new skills, and create new habits (or shed old ones). For many of us, there’s the same impulse to ‘gear up for growth’, to get our heads, hearts, and homes in order, and to connect with the energies and vibe we want for the year to come. It’s a vibration we seek, a generative one. In my own life, I can see several creative projects I seeded at the end of last year now germinating. The last few weeks have been marked by introductions, connections, conversations, and referrals to enable the growth of these projects. If I were to map them out, it would look a lot like a root system growing and expanding. I also have an almost maddening desire to clear out anything and everything in my home space that hasn’t been used in the last six months.
As with all the turns of the Wheel of the Year, this time has been marked for thousands of years with beautiful rituals across many different traditions that help the seeker connect consciously with the immense wild-field of energy stirring and put it to use. The ancient Celtic festival is known as Imbolc (pronounced EE-molc), which derives from the meaning ‘in the belly’. At one level, this is in reference to pregnant or milking sheep, but also perhaps to the Spring stirring but still remaining within the belly of the Earth.
In Pagan Europe, this time was closely associated with the pre-Christian goddess Brighid and the threefold Goddess, transforming from the Crone (winter) into the Maiden (spring). Festivals marking this juncture were known as the Feast of Torches, Oimelc, Lupercalia, Feast of Pan, Snowdrop Festival, Feast of the Waxing Light, and no doubt many others now lost in time. Later, Imbolc was celebrated by Christians as St Brigid’s feast day (the pagan goddess and Christian saint sharing many attributes). The vibration of this time also refracts through festivals such as Candlemass and Groundhog Day.
As ritual evolves over the ages, connecting us with the early vibration of Spring, they link us to the wider field of energy that is available, because they have been charged with the awareness of many people before us through time, just as our churches, temples, sacred sites, and the wilderness are energetic bridges too. It is their role in the human story. They are gateways.
Here are three ways to engage with the growing vibration of Spring to bring hope, generation, and movement into yourself, home, and life. All draw on ancient roots and are adapted to modern living. They are simple, small steps that create a conscious connection, and it’s that connection that generates change, beauty, and a touch of the sacred in everyday life.
1. Mainlining the energy of spring through spending time in nature
Perhaps the most direct way to connect with the energies of growth and expansion around us is to spend time in the wilderness, directly attuned to the shifts in nature. Where I live in Singapore, so close to the equator, the seasonal shifts are far more subtle, but there are clear markers. The length of the day increases rapidly, as does the angle of the sunrise and sunset.
Creating a window to connect with the rising sun and the promise of the dawning day is simple and deeply centring. There is a beautiful energy at this time, before the day fully stirs into operation, a pause that allows us to gather ourselves into stillness and lean into the highest possibility of the day and the season. Face the rising sun directly, breathe in the dawn, and notice how it moves across the markers on your horizon each day. You might like to try my morning meditation Greet the Day on the Insight Timer app for this.
Meditative walking in nature with the intention of noticing the first signs of Spring around you combines movement with intent for connection, which is very powerful. It exposes the whole system to the stirring of light, new growth, creatures, changes in colour, and the pheromones released by plants for growth. Since the January New Moon, I have dedicated my morning time in the jungle to this practice. And whilst I am in the lush tropical jungle, I can sense the stirring clearly. Little Asian squirrels have become more active, the bird calls have deepened and diversified, trees are starting to blossom, and the jungle floor is covered in seeds. Delicious energy to be enveloped by.
Eating the first foods of Spring brings these powerful generative energies directly into our bodies. Head to the local farmers’ markets to source them straight from the Earth and in season, when the spring energy that yields them is at its peak. Early Spring produce is bountiful, colourful, and yummy. Vegetables: Arugula, Asparagus, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrot, Cauliflower, Celery, Collard Greens, Kale, Lettuce, Leeks, Onions, Parsnips, Potatoes, Rutabaga, Spinach, Sweet Potatoes, and Turnips are the main characters. And for fruits, it’s the citrus family that bursts onto the scene at this time: Clementine, Grapefruit, Kumquats, Lemons, Limes, Mandarins, Oranges, Strawberries, Tangelos, Tangerines.
2. Using the element of fire
Imbolc is one of the four Celtic Fire festivals. It acknowledges the return of the sun and a stirring into action. Fire is also associated with the third Chakra, Manipura, our centre for personal power, self-esteem, volition, and the putting of choices into action. Fire and Light are associated in nearly all spiritual traditions with inspiration, illumination, transmutation, expansion, and purification (the release of low-vibration energy and blocks). Some simple ways to connect consciously with the Fire aspect of the season are:
Change up the candles in your home, sacred space, and meditation kit. The traditional colours used for this are white, orange, and red candles. Another beautiful tradition is Candle Anointing, a simple ritual for dedicating candles to the season and bringing high-resonance scents into the home. Typical Imbolc scents include cinnamon, rosemary, myrrh, and frankincense.
Burning bay leaves imbued with intent is a simple yet powerful ritual that helps clarify in the mind and heart the aspects you wish to nurture and grow in the coming season. Bay leaves have long been recognised for their medicinal properties. They contain powerful compounds such as pinene, cineol, elemicin, and linalool, which, when burned, are released into the air and are known to soothe feelings of anxiety and frazzled nerves, as well as alleviate fatigue and respiratory tightness. It’s likely that burning bay leaves as an Imbolc ritual began when households sought to purify the air in their homes after the long winter months spent snowed in and sharing space with livestock.
A powerful addition to this tradition is to write on the bay leaves the aspects you wish to nurture with the Spring energies for growth in your spiritual soil-bed. It’s a simple tradition I used to practise with my young children. I would give each of them three bay leaves and ask them to write on each one the things they wanted to develop within themselves for the year. We’d then burn them together and state the aspects we sought to grow as we cast the leaves into the flames. There’s something very powerful about a family standing as witnesses to each other’s growth, and it also gives parents an inside track on how best to support their children’s spiritual and emotional development.
3. Using traditional Imbolc symbols in groovy craft for the home and gifting
Imbolc is a celebration of home and hearth, particularly, and as with each turning of the Wheel of the Year, I love to make symbolic crafts for my home and gifting. Two powerful symbols for the season are St Brigid’s Cross and the Spring Maiden. Both these symbols were made on Imbolc in a gathering of the village women.
St Brigid’s Cross is traditionally made from interwoven reeds or hay. The Christian story goes that St Brigid went to visit a dying Druid King and, at his bedside, wove a cross from the threshing hay on the floor. Upon seeing the cross, the Druid converted with his last breath. Whilst there is no historical evidence of St Brigid having lived in Ireland, there is a lot of evidence of her character and the cross having far more ancient origins. The older Celtic tradition at Imbolc honoured the Goddess Brigid (Bhrid, Brede, Bridean) as a symbol of the Maiden Goddess representing the early Spring vibrations, and the cross is believed to be an adaptation of the Sun Symbol used at Celtic Fire festivals to acknowledge and link to the energies of the shifting sunlight across the earth and seasons. What I love about this symbol is that it captures the spiralling, expanding energies of early Spring. There is movement within it. You can find plenty of YouTube instruction videos on how to make them.
Another powerful symbol for the season is the maiden Goddess in all her beauty. In ancient times, corn dolls or goddess dolls called Brídeóg were fashioned from hay and hung on doorways and in bedrooms to attract the energies of the Spring and all its promise. Larger versions of Brídeóg were paraded through village streets, and chants were called to invite her and all her abundance into the community and fields.
This one was very easy to make using leftover cotton yarn from my craft box. The wreath was ready-made, and I fashioned the Brigid’s Cross from dried lavender stems a student had given me.
I also make these Goddess dolls to give to my friends. I create each one with the recipient in mind, weaving my best wishes for them into the maiden Goddess form, with gratitude for their friendship in my life.
Making time to honour the coming season as it emerges through the wilderness helps us attune to its vibration and power. This is the real point: when our human systems vibrate at higher resonances of possibility, expectation, and love, it creates changes in our ordinary experiences. This is the true vibration of Spring, and it’s delicious. Why not engage?
Happy Imbolc, everyone!
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Read more from Danielle Van de Velde
Danielle Van de Velde, Meditation Teacher, Reiki Master, Psychic Medium, and Author
Dani Van de Velde is a meditation teacher, Reiki Master, psychic medium, and author of Spirited. She is the founder of the Spirited Living and Spirited Business communities, supporting spiritually aligned growth and conscious leadership. Dani is a broadcaster on News for the Soul Radio and host of The Modern Crone podcast, exploring modern spirituality and embodied wisdom. Her work bridges intuition and everyday life, offering grounded, accessible pathways to self-trust and inner clarity. She is known for a warm, practical approach that honours both the mystical and the real.
