why do we celebrate imbolc? on one blog i read that its to celebrate sheep lactating but i still dont get it? why are we celebrating sheep producing milk and how does that tie into the Celtic goddess Bridget???
I don't personally celebrate Imbolc, so if I'm wrong anyone can correct me!
As far as I know, Imbolc rituals did stem from the rituals surrounding lactation of baby sheep. This is because their milk was thought to symbolize purity and rebirth, which is the central message of spring and something Imbolc serves to celebrate.
This connects to Brigid because she is the goddess of fertility. The lamb and sheep have always been associated with purity and rebirth, and the breeding and lactation of such animals is naturally tied to spring and rebirth, as well as Brigid in this way.
In the meanings of the Sabbats during the Wheel of the Year as divised by Gerald Gardner, each Sabbat carries a variety of different meanings.
In the mythology of the Lord and Lady, Imbolc marks the coming of age of the Goddess. Think of her as the Maiden when she has her first menses. In this guise, the Maiden is the promise of fertility both of the Goddess, but also of the land itself. In Traditional Wicca, the Goddess is also Mother Nature and closely tied to the Earth, so the Wheel of the Year at one level marks the cycle of life of the God and the Goddess.
The Sabbats also mark certain points in the cycle of the seasons. Imbolc marks the point in the cycle where one can clearly see the days getting longer and the nights getting shorter. This is the fulfillment of the promise of Yule, that we would not go down into the darkness, but light would return and life continue. This promise can also be seen in the first flowers in the woodlands such as snowdrops. And in the fields, the livestock begin to let down their milk and to give birth to their young. All of these are seen as the fulfillment of the promise of fertility and of new life.
Remember that famine and starvation were always a risk if the harvest was poor or the winter was severe. The milk from their cows and sheep might make a difference between having enough to eat or dying of starvation, so it was vitally important that this come about.
We know that the ancient Celts in the British Isles celebrated four great holidays, Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnassad, and Samhain. But we actually have no real knowledge of what those holidays celebrated since the Celts left no written records. The first mentions of Imbolc came about in the 10th century, long after Ireland was Christianized, and those stories were written down by Christian monks, so their accuracy is doubtful.
In modern practices, such as Wicca, most of us are not farmers or shepherds so the agricultural meanings of Imbolc are largely unimportant to our lives. But the concept of fertility can apply to more than just the earth or the animals. Fertility can also apply to inspiration, to arts/crafts, to new beginnings of projects in our lives. So in metaphysical terms, the goals that we planned at Yule now begin to send up their first shoots for us to tend until we bring them to the harvest at Lugnassad.
