Imbolc Ritual

To prepare the self:

Bathe as usual and anoint with oil of an appropriate scent for the season. Wear fire-safe clothes in colors of white, orange, red, yellow, pink, or brown. Wear magickal jewelry and flowers or a hair wreath made of plants of the season.

To prepare the circle:

Sweep. ¤ Lay out cord. ¤ Position altar with white or snowflake-themed cloth. ¤ Position God and Goddess candles. ¤ Position other God and Goddess representations. ¤ Add Earth bowl and salt at north. ¤ Add incense burner with incense. ¤ Add candleholder and white or “snow” candle at south. ¤ Add goblet and water at west. ¤ Put pentacle at north. ¤ Put wand at east. ¤ Put athame at south. ¤ Put chalice at west. ¤ Add bolline to south. ¤ Add matches to south. ¤ Add match holder to north. ¤ Add wet napkins to west. ¤ Add bell to west. ¤ Add libation bowl to north. ¤ Add any decorations for the season. ¤ Have a yellow candle in the cauldron, and some patchouli oil, basil, and poppy seeds. ¤ Put a large bowl on the center of the altar and have enough water to fill it high enough to toss pennies into like a wishing well, and put the candle wheel around it. ¤ Have paper and crayons in the circle. ¤ Bring Tarot cards into the circle and put them to the west. ¤ Have five pennies, the newest you can find. ¤ Have handy some modeling clay and five birthday candles. ¤ Have materials for wish tree and the fledgling tree from Yule at the left of the altar, and dragon’s blood oil or other catalystic oil. ¤ Put an apple on a plate on the right of the altar, and have handy milk and wine. ¤ Have yarn ready for finger-knitting. ¤ Complete with feasting foods of the season.

Begin ritual:

Cast the circle. Sit inside and focus, and invoke the God and Goddess.

Meditation (to seasonal music if desired):

Today the God is a child and the Goddess patiently awaits His maturity so that She might become His bride. Her only desire is to be His bride, but now She simply cares for Him as a mother, and nurtures Him in His youth. The Goddess is recovered from the birth and is beginning to awake; we see signs of Her awakening in the melting snow and the day’s lengthening. We preserve ourselves in the frost as we wait for Her motherly love to warm the Earth into blossoming. Now is a time for new beginnings, for the seeds of a thousand futures to be planted, and today, we plant.¹

Opening Honor:

Open the ritual by lighting the yellow candle in the cauldron with a new match, and greeting the boy Sun King. Take patchouli oil and stroke it onto the yellow candle as a symbol of the mother’s protection. Then toss poppy seeds into the cauldron with the candle to symbolize love, and add some basil for extra protection. Focus as you do this on your promise to keep the God safe and nurture Him until He is old enough to take care of us and to be the Goddess’s Consort. Greet Him by lighting all eight candles on the candle wheel. If you wish, read a tribute to Him or play Him a song.² Now take some time to focus on the childlike aspect of yourself, and take up the crayons and draw a picture of any sort. Try to really bring out your inner child. You can keep this as a refrigerator decoration for the season, after which it can be stored, saved, given away, or even burned to give the ashes to the gods.3 Honor Him, and His mother the Goddess, with a toast of milk.

Imbolc Activities⁴:

Wish Tree can be constructed now. Assemble tree with five bare branches, one for each wish. Mix sachets of one or two herbs with an appropriate oil for each wish, bundle them up with white thread, and hang them on the tree’s branches, with tags to remind you of what you wished for. Anoint branches with dragon’s blood or other catalystic oil to set wishes in motion. Have a Tarot reading by shuffling well and picking five cards to tell the outcome of your wishes and what you should do to make sure they come true.⁵

You can dress your corn dolly as a bride now if you wish, and honor Her position as Maiden.

Ritual Core:

Place the wish tree, or just five wishes written on paper if you have not made a wish tree, in the center of the candle wheel: Inside the bowl. Now pour water in around the tree’s pot’s base, until there is enough water to throw pennies into. Set out a small candle rooted in clay (to help it stand up) for each of the five wishes; light them all and concentrate on your wishes. Hold onto a new penny as you stare at a candle, and make your wish. Then toss the penny into the water. Do this for the other four wishes. Then, making certain to acknowledge that usually this is an affront to the elements but that you don’t mean it that way, blow out the candles as a charm to make the wishes come true. Make sure you remember which candle stood for what wish so that if one or more does not go out, you won’t be disappointed if it doesn’t happen. Now toast the tree with spiced wine and pour a libation.⁶

Now take your God-oriented tools, the athame and the wand, hold them tightly, and hold them out to the yellow candle in the cauldron, acknowledging the young God as the waxing year’s King.

BANISH THE YULE SEASON AND INVOKE THE IMBOLC SEASON with banishing and invoking pentagrams. Ring the bell and say “it is done” or “so mote it be.”

Follow-up:

Greet the new season with a toast and pour a libation. Now celebrate the child God’s arrival with a feast. Begin the feast by cutting the apple, separating the stem from the bottom, to see the five seeds inside arranged in a pentagram. Eat one bite from both sides, acknowledging your acceptance of both sides of life: Light and dark, male and female, life and death. Put the remainder of the apple in the libation bowl.⁷ Now begin the feast. Make sure to share everything you’ve eaten with the libation bowl.

Finger-knit and tie your rope to the previous years’ ever-growing rope. Meditate on the meaning of this weaving to symbolize the journey. Think about previous Imbolcs you might have celebrated, and what has transpired in your life since you finger-knitted for Yule.

Closing:

Thank the God and Goddess for coming and put out their candles with a pinch or a snuffer, and thank all elementals, then earth and close the circle. Put anything that was given in the cauldron into the libation bowl also, with the exception of the candle and its holder. When the circle is broken, the first thing you should do is go outside and bury the contents of the libation bowl, then commence cleaning up. Document anything important in your Book of Shadows. Change any decorations around your house that you have to reflect the new season.

Alternatives and Additions:

If you wish, you may leave goodies out for the little people, animals, or whatever you choose. You may dedicate this food to them before the ritual’s core.

This Sabbat is conducive to magickal workings having to do with catalystic spells, spells for beginnings, rejuvenation spells, purification spells, and spells for good luck for future endeavors. If magick is to be done, do it right before the feast.

If dancing, singing, or any other personal or individual merriment is scheduled, it can be done either after the feast and the core of the ritual, OR it can be done after the circle is broken.

Footnotes:

1--Groups can alternate speaking lines of this as a chant, and use “we” instead of “I.”
2--For groups, a group dance or chant is appropriate here, or simply a turn-taking in reading a God-related poem, tract, or chant.
3--In a group, you might try having the younger or youngest of the group lead an activity or take an unusual position of honor, even play-acting as the child God, or perhaps everyone could give him or her gifts of flowers or herbs to wear in the ritual.
4--With groups, it may be preferable to do these activities outside circle, or in such a way that the High Priest and Priestess lead and allow everyone else to contribute in a small way, so that it does not take up the entire ritual.
5--The High Priest or High Priestess can give the Tarot readings for each member, or pairs can couple up and read each other’s cards.
6--Each person can make a wish in a group and put it on paper in a pot, if the whole group does not wish to make individual or one group wishing trees. They can each toss a penny and have their own personal candle to blow out.
7--Working partners should each take a bite of the apple and then switch; in coven situations, just pass each piece around to make sure everyone gets a bite.