Irish poet, W. B. Yeats, wrote all those years ago...The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.
Today is Imbolc, derived from a Gaelic tradition that marks the midwinter point between Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox in the northern hemisphere and I am looking for the magic as an antidote to a burdened world.
Imbolc, embodies Brigid’s Day, honoring the beloved goddess (patron saint) of poetry and inspiration, home hearth and fire, protection, and healing. Brigid is associated with smithing, domestic animals, and the color white. Some honor midwinter with a private ritual. Some have group gatherings and fire circles. I like to evoke the essence of what Brigid stands for all week.
What I love about midwinter here in Maine is the post-holiday quiet, the settled calm, and the strength of presence in the ledge and rock and stone. I take in the beauty of a gray season broken up with glimmers of snow globe days, sudden cerulean skies, and the art of dormant plants cased in ice. I’m shored by the sense of the tilt towards the light. Even when the winds howl and rattle the windows, for me, midwinter coziness is conjured with a ticking woodstove and an act of creativity.
~ Who I’m with: Ella and Rosie
~ What I’m reading: winter haiku
~ What I’m writing: winter haiku
~ What I’m making: paper scenes
~ What I’m sipping: a blend of soothing tea made of homegrown herbs–––chamomile, anise hyssops, lavender, and lemon balm, mixed with petals and dried hips from beach roses
Creativity Prompts
~ Create a ritual space including some form of fire or candlelight, something warm for sipping, and some lovely paper and pen for writing at the ready.
~ Gather some materials to collage. Choose papers that evoke midwinter either in color, texture, or images.
~ Read some winter haikus. Here is a link with a wide variety of haiku samples.
~ Respond to these wintery scenes and sentiments by creating a winter collage or write your winter haiku and illustrate it with a papery scene.
Hope you find the magic!
