Imbolc Prayer

The following prayer was written at dawn on Imbolc 2010, as the sun was rising and the snow was falling simultaneously. For a while the early morning glow was enhanced by the snow and the clumps of snowdrops beneath the huge ancient beech trees at the edge of our garden became a sanctuary of Brigit, before a blizzard struck and the sunlight was temporarily gone.

Imbolc, ancient festival of the sacred fire of Brigid lies right in the middle of this cold winter season. And once we reach this sacred time paradoxically Spring has already begun to poke her head above the soil under the bare winter trees. Snowdrops suddenly appear marking the Imbolc feast, and we may gather round the Hearth Fires with the saintly patron of poetry at our side.

Above: Brigid by Paul Atlas-Saunders

Imbolc Prayer

As the snowdrops rise from the frozen earth
And the snow falls from the steely frosty leaden sky
The waxing sun rises o'er the eastern snowy hills
Casting light onto a new day.
As we sit by the warming hearth
Contemplating the ancient fires of Brigit
The rising sun and the sacred flame become as one
And the Fiery Goddess of the dawn
Reaches out and touches each of us
Warming, loving, healing,
Her solar rays reaching out
Spreading across the earth
Seeking all who need the ancient
Sanctity of Her healing rays from
Deep within Her ancient well and
The sacred oak ringed spring by the eternal flame
Which lights the way to
The earth's stirring womb of creation.
Be at our side Brigit
Guide us and show us your holy light and
Lead us to your sacred sanctuary
Where we can safely and quietly contemplate
Life's strange mysteries.

Above: Tredethy Imbolc Sunrise