Imbolc 2018 Sabbat Box Theme Release • At Winter's End
• IMBOLC SABBAT BOX - AT WINTER'S END •
The new calendar year is here, and with it brings the promise of new life and new beginnings. We watch as the earth begins to awaken, her fertile soil ready to welcome the rise of her Sun Lord. We eagerly await the newness of life to come forth as the winter cold starts to wane. The earth comes awake: the air begins to sweeten, the earliest flower buds start to appear, even through the snow. The sun gives new life and new energy to all living things. The ice and snow begins to melt, water flowing through the forest, a promise of new life ready to emerge.
Across the globe, different cultures honor this time with festivals that celebrate the new life that awakens where they live. In many ancient European cultures, Imbolc was the celebration of the goddess Brigid, who many consider the original goddess figure. Brigid later became a Catholic saint, the original pagan aspects folded into Christianity. She is considered by some as the goddess of fire and light, as well as reproduction and fertility...Imbolc is said to be translated as “in the womb”.
In Ireland, feasts are held, pulling out some of the last winter stores as an offering to the earth’s promise of new seeds to be sown and future crops to be harvested. Many cultures in the past also considered this “lambing season”, when breeding of livestock and pregnant ewes and other animals would reproduce to add to the flock. This is also a time of weather divination, where people would look for the appearance of snakes or badgers from their dens to gauge how much longer the winter would be (and where the modern custom of Groundhog’s Day may have evolved).
Not only is Imbolc and its time of the year a time to reawaken the life of the earth, it is also a time of purification and cleaning out old, cooped-up things in our homes and lives that we are ready to let go and improve. This time of clearing away later became to be known as the annual tradition of “spring cleaning”.
Here at Sabbat Box we recognize and celebrate all of these different aspects of Imbolc. We are curating items to honor our connection to these traditions and rites and who they provide focus to of our magickal practice and Path. Much like early spring fruits and vegetables, we are collecting a group of items that will serve to help awaken all of your senses and help you to honor this amazing point in the Wheel of the Year.
- Llyfr Glas
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