http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/imbolcfebruary2/p/Imbolc_History.htm

Imbolc is one of my favourite sabbaths. Winter is long here, and there isn't really visible signs of coming spring atm, but still.... something is in the air, clear promise of spring... This year in our Imbolc ceremony I was moved to invoke Freya instead of Brigid (that we have invoked before at Imbolc). Dunno why Freya this year, but everybody in the group agreed to it and we had wonderful celebration together.

I haven't been so inspired about organizing and leading sabbaths lately, but again in the middle of our Imbolc ceremony I wondered why I ever thought life would be easier/better/nicer without them... Observing how eager and dedicated the FST Fin boys are to our group work is absolutely amazing to observe, and how they lift me up from my self doubts and self inflicted misery time after time... what have I done to deserve them? Seeing the boys in the sacred circle, so focused into our work, made me feel deeply blessed...

Imbolc is about new beginnings, initiations, renewing dedication to the Goddess...  After turning within and maybe exploring our personal underworld, it's time again to start moving outwards. Whole FST fin group did some serious Shadow work during this winter, and we all felt significant change after Yule, and it just keeps getting better. I love flowing through the seasons!

Quote from: Mari on Feb 02, 2013, 08:57:28 AM
This year in our Imbolc ceremony I was moved to invoke Freya instead of Brigid (that we have invoked before at Imbolc). Dunno why Freya this year, but everybody in the group agreed to it and we had wonderful celebration together.

  It was lovely and riveting to gather specific suitable ingredients for the Imbolc celebration. Strawberry wine and some specific flowers sacred to Freya, water from melted snow (for invoking the water element of west), a rock and a feather from the roadside (for invoking earth/north and air/east). I liked going to a convenience store looking for flowers for a Goddess .

Quote from: Mari on Feb 02, 2013, 08:57:28 AM
Observing how eager and dedicated the FST Fin boys are to our group work is absolutely amazing to observe, and how they lift me up from my self doubts and self inflicted misery time after time... what have I done to deserve them? Seeing the boys in the sacred circle, so focused into our work, made me feel deeply blessed...

It's enigmatic at times how life goes, I feel blessed by life to have found a living spirituality *and* being able to practice it with likeminded people. And having a priestess (i.e. you ) in our group is a blessing. I'm really thankful for our group and hope it continues to thrive as it certainly has! It's always lovely to hear the positive effects of people on each other, thank you Mari for sharing that

Quote from: Mari on Feb 02, 2013, 08:57:28 AM
Whole FST fin group did some serious Shadow work during this winter

  Hopefully it'll bear fruit in the coming year. I'm having an inner recategorization/rethinking (about parts of myself, maybe some of them are ego splinters) process going on myself at the moment...