Something is Rising :The Portal of Imbolc and Tending the Flame

Dear Friends

As the great wheel turns we find ourselves slowly re-emerging in the portal of Imbolc. The first stirrings of nature can be seen and heard, sensed and felt.

Something is rising…

I can vividly remember writing about Imbolc last year - we had just hosted our first Moon Medicine gathering and were preparing to take over the Pillar Room of The Rotunda Hospital to honour Brigid as the Patroness of Midwifery and Childbirth. Our Moon Medicine pilgrimage has changed my life in so many ways. It is a true honour to walk alongside the hundreds of trailblazing women who show up every month to support themselves, each other and this planet we call home. The team at Totally Dublin magazine recently asked me to share the inspiration behind Moon Medicine…

"Kathy Scott wants to provide a space for women to process their trauma. I saw there was an upsurge from events like #Repeal, #MeToo and #Ibelieveher where women had really put their lives on the line and we needed a place to come and be minded and lean into our greatness. We all need space to lean into our own empowerment whatever that looks like. On an individual and collective level some parts of our identity is frozen and when something like the Tuam Babies comes into the open - it takes a community to heal it. Moon Medicine is a place to process, reflect, form bonds and collaborate with other inspiring women. Moon Medicine is social as much as spiritual. For all the talk about the cosmos, cycles and spiritual awareness the connections drawn from women gathering together may be the most powerful map of them all.."

And now a year later Moon Medicine has spread its wings globally. A host of incredible women from all over the world have answered our call and enrolled in our online Moon Medicine Academy training programme. I can feel the power and potency of this global sisterhood and am thrilled to lead it along with my co-captain Cyntha Gonzalez and our inspirational guest luminaries.

Something is rising….

In the ancient Celtic tradition there is a celebration of the relationship between the dualistic forces of light and darkness, between what is seen and unseen. These principles move in cycles - not only in day and night but also in life and death, in every decrease and increase, even the waxing and waning of the moon. Nature sleeps during winter and awakens during summer. It is the interplay between these two states that the Celts saw as essential to the continuation of the cycle of life upon the land. The Celtic year is divided into two halves, Summer and Winter and is understood be an opposition/cooperation between these two divine powers or principles. The ‘summer experience’ is known as Samos and the ‘winter experience’ as Giamos.

Alexei Kondratiev the great author, linguist, and teacher of Celtic languages, Celtic folklore and Celtic culture explained Samos and Giamos as cosmic ‘principles’ that exist in ‘a complementary duality’. He describes polarity between Samos and Giamos as “the primary guiding concepts of the Celtic worldview”.

Samos represents the summer, daylight, Upper World, the celestial heavens, life, ordered cosmos, the tribe, and the profane.
Giamos is winter, night time, Lower World, the deep darkness, death, cosmos in chaos, the wilderness, and magic.

For our pagan ancestors the Giamos half of the year has its midpoint at Imbolc, this is the point at which ‘decrease’ turns to ‘increase’. So, we celebrate Imbolc as a point of seasonal and psychic transformation as winter starts to give way to summer.

Fiery Brigid

Imbolc celebrations took the form of a festival in honour of the Celtic Goddess Brigid and in Ireland this day is known as Lá Fhéile Bríde. Brigid is one of the most venerated deities in the Pagan Irish pantheon. The name Brigid means exalted one, while her most ancient Gaelic name, Breo-Saighead, means fiery power or fiery arrow. As a solar goddess, she embodies the element of fire and is commonly depicted with rays of light or fire emanating from her head. Worshippers sometimes call Brigid the ‘Triple Goddess’ for her fires of the hearth, inspiration and the forge. She is a powerful being and through her fires, she is also the patroness of healing arts, fertility, poetry, music, prophecy, agriculture, and smith craft.

Brigid started as the Great Goddess, and although the Church rewrote her story, they were never able to completely do a makeover on the fiery goddess. She is recorded as founding her first religious, settlement at Kildare. In this monastery, there was a perpetual fire that was guarded by nineteen virgins and no man could approach her shrine. She reportedly died in her monastery in about 525 AD and the flame was maintained until it was ordered extinguished during the reign of King Henry VIII. Today, a new flame has been kindled at Kildare and it has been passed all around the world.

☾✩☽ February Moon Medicine Gathering ☾✩☽

Tending the Flame takes place with host Kathy Scott and guest luminary Carol McInerney {Women’s Wisdom Keeper, Movement Therapist and Dance Teacher and Creator of ‘The Moving Body’} at St. Kevins Hall, Bloomfield Avenue, Portobello. For many moons, Carol has been creating ritual dance practices to nourish and strengthen the female body at potent times of the lunar cycle. As we cross the threshold into Imbolc we connect with the powers of the great Creatrix and Craftswoman Brigid. This Full Moon gathering weaves a range of potent teachings with movement, meditation, ritual music, storytelling and nourishing self care practices. You can buy your tickets here

Making February 01st a National Holiday

Brigid is one of the few Pagan deities to make a smooth transition from goddess to Christian Saint. She is also known in Ireland as St. Brigid and in popularity is second only to St. Patrick. She is out matron Saint and our friends over at HerStory have launched a petition to make February 01st a national holiday.

In light of the many astounding achievements of women in Irish society and in our nation’s history, we believe it is time to honour Brigid, Ireland's triple goddess and matron Saint, by making February 1st a national holiday.

You can sign the petition here

Blessings to you all.

We look forward to blazing bright trails with you in the near future.

onwards

Kathy xox

PS: To receive your copy of A Trailblazer's Guide to the Universe click here

Resources

Bones, Bloody. “Worldview: Samos, Giamos, and the Seasons.” Nemeton Nigromanticos,

Kirkey Jason. The Salmon in the Spring: The Ecology of Celtic Spirituality

Koch, John T. Celtic Culture: a Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO,

Kondratiev, Alexei. The Apple Branch: a Path to Celtic Ritual. Citadel,

Mac Mathúna, Liam. “Irish Perceptions of the Cosmos.” Celtica