Happy Imbolc! I'm not sure that's officially a greeting, but it's the best I can come up with for now. Imbolc (or Brigid's Day, or St. Brigid's Day) is a Celtic festival celebrated at the beginning of February, marking the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox and is just one of the pre-Christian holidays that herald the changing of seasons - spring, in this case. The goddess Brigid is closely linked to Imbolc and given her associations with new life and fertility, it's easy to see why early Christians easily accepted her as a saint. Brigid is also closely linked to midwifery and healing, poetry, livestock, the smithy and fire. She covered a lot of bases did Brigid! This is why modern Imbolc celebrations centre around women and in Ireland especially (where the day is a now a national holiday), there are whole festivals of music and diverse creativity led by women in celebration of Brigid.
Amongst the many things attributed to Brigid are snowdrops and these are a particular favourite of mine too. It's hard not to feel buoyant when you see snowdrops, especially after a miserable winter full of sideways rain and grey days. They look fragile and delicate, their little green-white heads bowed modestly, but make no mistake, these tough little beauties will battle their way up through snow and ice to bloom. The photo below was taken very recently in Luxembourg City and I know they are making an appearance in many other places now too. The snowdrop collage is my own and is made of hand painted papers on a black background which really makes the greens and whites pop and is framed in an 11 x 14" frame. Side note: if you like collaged flowers on black backgrounds, do investigate the work of Brian Clarke, his are especially beautiful.
Whatever your thoughts on Imbolc and Brigid, whether as goddess or saint, I'm sure you are welcoming the arrival of spring too and I hope wherever you are, the air is a little warmer and the evenings are arriving a little later each day. Unless you're in the southern hemisphere of course; that's a whole different conversation!
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