IMBOLC RITUAL

You will need:
- Lots of tiny candles or night lights
- Drum
- Smudge stick
-  Matches
- Bowl or shell


1. Perform this ritual after daylight has faded. Sit or lie quietly on the floor. If you are feeling stressed or tense carry out the Deep Relaxation exercise.

2. Imagine you are a seed, deep in the arms of Mother Earth. The earth is cold, dark, and hard, but you can sense that there is light above you. Imagine yourself slowly, slowly pushing upward toward the air. It is difficult, as life often is, but you know you can make it.

3. Visualize yourself breaking through the hard crust of the earth. You feel the cool air on your face. You stretch up toward Father Sky with confidence, knowing you have firm roots in the Mother Earth.

4. Open your eyes and light the first small candle. Softly start to beat your drum. Imagine you are calling new life out of the earth. Think of any small hopes and dreams you have for the year – imagine you are gently coaxing them into reality.

5. Slowly light more candles, one by one. As the room fills with light, the sound of your drumbeat should become firmer and more insistent.

6. When all the candles are lit, stop drumming. The room is full of tiny lights; the new life under the earth is coming back. Your hopes are on their way to becoming reality.

7. End your ceremony by smudging yourself and others to purify yourself and make way the new. If you have animals, smudge them too.


The ritual of Imbolc is celebrated on February 2, just as new growth bursts into the world.

Imbolc Incense

Burn this incense at your Imbolc ritual, or at any time that you want to bring about the energies and insights of Imbolc.

What You'll Need:

• A handful of powdered sandalwood
• 1 teaspoon dry bay laurel
• 3 teaspoons myrrh powder or crushed resin
• 1 teaspoon dried coltsfoot (leaf or flower)
• Vegetable glycerin
• 6 drops myrrh essential oil
• 3 drops basil essential oil
• 2 drops bay essential oil

In a medium-sized bowl, place your powdered sandalwood. Stir in about two tablespoons of vegetable glycerin. Add the tablespoons one at a time and then mix with a metal whisk or a fork.You simply want to create a soft, fluffy compound. Do not add the second tablespoon of glycerin if it feels like it would be too much,causing the incense to be too “wet.” Now add your essential oils and whisk.Add your myrrh, coltsfoot, and bay laurel. Mix thoroughly. Wait for at least a day for the compound to settle before you sprinkle it on hot coals.

On Imbolc, we celebrate the first new growth of spring with poetry and song, and we plant psychic "seeds" for fulfillment in our relationships and lifework. Imbolc is a time of new beginnings, of making plans and dedicating ourselves to our goals. This is an excellent time to dedicate yourselves to the Goddess and God, to hold an initiation ceremony, or to renew relationship vows. To prepare for this festival, decide what (if any) dedications you want to include in the ritual.


Blessed Be