Stolen from: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/7209/imbolic.html

IMBOLC

East: O Air, I call to the Eastern tower Stir fresh new winds of mental power. Sweep clear our minds of past debris Blow forth new thoughts of clarity. Guardian of the Eastern sphere Now we seek your presence here. Come, East, come! Be here this night! Blessed Be.

South: O Fire, I call to the Southern tower Burn bright the flames of spirit power. Charge us with your energy Inspired will, intensity. Guardian of the Southern sphere Now we seek your presence here. Come, South, come! Be here this night! Blessed Be.

West: O Water, I call to the Western tower Wash into our soul with waves of power Cleanse and heal us, help us know Our path of truth within your flow. Guardian of the Western sphere New we seek your presence here. Come, West, come! Be here tonight! Blessed Be.

North: O Earth, I call to the Northern tower, Protect us with your strength and power. As your seedlings sprout, we see and know How our new plans must form and grow. Guardian of the Northern sphere Now we seek your presence here. Come, North, come! Be here this night! Blessed Be.

Center: The Wheel of the year continues to turn bringing us to and from each season, and from and to another. What will be is. What was will be. We pause briefly to watch the wheel turn, and we gather tonight so that we might celebrate this season of Imbolc. As it was and ever shall be, we wish to give thanks and to feel ourselves a part of the relentlessly turning wheel. Blessed be the light which warms, blessed be the God Blessed be the wheel which turns, blessed be the Goddess

CHANT: We Are a Circle

Introduction: All religions, probably since cave women called out to the First Mother for strength during childbirth, have drawn on those that have gone before. Each new sect will adopt and adapt those ideas they agree with and vilify those they abandon. Eventually it becomes difficult to identify the source and the result.

Early February is celebrated with many folk customs and remnants of earlier religions. Americans celebrate Groundhog Day with the groundhog, as a thinly disguised representative of Mother Earth, waking up and trying to decide if it is really worth getting up or if he can hit the snooze button once more.

The Irish celebrate St. Bridget's Day, a Christianization of the Goddess Brigid. The French celebrate the Feast of St. Blaize, another version of Brigid.

Romans dedicated the season to Venus. The Greeks honored Diana. Nordic tradition celebrated Disting-tid, a time to ritually prepare the earth for planting. The month of February is named for the Goddess Februa, Goddess of Fresh Starts.

Catholics celebrate the Feast of the Purification at this time of the year. Traditionally, it is when Mary went to the temple to be purified after the birth of Jesus.

"What will be is. What was will be."

This is the day when Mother earth wakes herself up, dusts herself off, and gets back to work.

So let's pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and do a chain dance.

WE ARE THE FLOW AND WE ARE THE EBB

We're going to do some more spring cleaning. Form a circle around the altar facing outward.

Imagine the Sun shining up above the altar. He's not very strong yet. He's still quite young. He wants to push His way in, but there is too much "stuff" in the way. We need to clear it out to let Him in. Picture yourself inside yourself. Start up in the "attic" at the top of your brain, and dust and clean every corner and crevice. Clean out all those little grooves in the brain so that you can think more clearly. Polish up your optic nerves so that you can see more clearly. So that you can see not only what is there, but what is behind and within what is there. Clear your ears and get all the dust off your ear drums so that you can hear what is said and also what is meant. Clean out the sinuses. Spring is coming. You want to smell the delicate scent of the new flowers. To smell the scent of the rain on the breeze. To savor the rich musty odor of freshly turned soil. Clean your throat, your vocal cords, your tongue so that you may speak clearly and speak truth. Continue cleaning down through your throat, your shoulders. Don't forget to go down to the ends of your arms, all the way to the tips of your fingers. It might help if you raise your arms and shake down the dust and dirt as you clean. Shake out all the dust and stale air of the winter. Gather up the sticky cobwebs that have been slowing you down. As you go through the house that is your body, open the windows to let the Sun come in. Let Him fill the clean fresh rooms with His light and His power. Clean down through your chest, your belly, your groin, your legs.

Eventually all the dust and dirt will be swept down to your toes. I will come around the circle with the cleansing, healing willow broom and sweep it all away and out of the circle.

Allow a few moments for the Sun to fill the freshly cleaned rooms of your body with His warmth and power before you sit down again.

Now that we've cleaned everything out, let's take a few moments to take stock of our spiritual and emotional closets. Is there something you ran short of last year? Is there something that is worn out that needs to be replaced? Maybe you found your ability to center yourself got a bit shaky. Do you need to ground yourself better? Maybe you found yourself running short of emotional energy. Do you need to build your links with the energies of nature?

I'm not going to ask you to talk about your needs, but I want you to think about them and the immense energy in the circle available to help you. I want us to hold hands to pass our energy to the person holding the candle. The people on either side of the candle holder can put their hands on her shoulders. When you have the candle, introduce yourself, see the energy of the light, feel the energy of the circle, and know your needs can be met.

THE CIRCLE SHAPES US, BODY AND SOUL, HEART AND MIND ARE ONE

Psychic energy is very helpful, but we need physical energy as well.

For our food sharing tonight, I have tea and bread made with herbs. Not only would throwing out our excess be wasteful, but there is the age-old tradition of the Spring tonic. Our bodies would be deficient in many nutrients after a long winter. Herb teas would be a good way to rebuild some of them.

As you eat the bread and drink the tea, visualize the full cycle of processes that went into them: plowing up the dark rich soil, spreading the fertile seed, the sun and rain nourishing the crops, the harvest when they're filled with the most power, drying and storing to preserve that power, mixing baking and brewing to release it again. And round the wheel of the year until we are ready to plow again.

"Planting": Imbolc is the celebration of the first planting. We have prepared ourselves by cleansing the fields of our bodies and minds. We have cleared away the weeds of our spiritual and emotional needs. We have fertilized the soil with food and companionship. Now we need to plant the seeds for the new crop.

Inside each envelope is a card on which you can write what you hope to accomplish this coming year. Make it something possible - world peace or intelligent government may be a bit much to hope for in one season.

Put the card back in the envelope and seal it. Tomorrow night is a very special night. It is the first of two blue moons this year. (The other will be the second full moon in March.) A full moon is full of power and a blue moon, being rare, is even more powerful. Sometime tomorrow night, let the moonlight fall of the envelope to infuse it with her power. Then, if your goal is something you want to vanish, bury your card, preferably somewhere that the moonlight will shine on. If it is something you want to grow, wait until the 16th so the waxing moon will add strength to your project.

Reading: Finally we need to apply our energy to the world as a whole. Since holding hands and papers at the same time is difficult, I want you to put your right arm around the waist of the person next to you so you can hold the paper in your left hand. Let's read this together slowly and with feeling.

We join with the earth and with each other to bring new life to the land, to restore the waters, to refresh the air.

We join with the earth and with each other to renew the forests, to care for the plants, to protect the creatures.

We join with the earth and with each other to celebrate the seas, to rejoice in the sunlight, to sing the song of the stars.

We join with the earth and with each other to recreate the human community, to promote justice and peace, to remember our children.

We join with the earth and with each other. We join together as many and diverse expressions of one loving mystery for the healing of the earth and the renewal of all life. So mote it be.

CENTER: Mother of Life, of fire and inspiration, we thank you for your love and vision. Young Lord of Light and vibrant energy, we thank you for the renewal of all our bright hopes within. Blessed Be.

EAST: You've swept away our past debris And brought fresh winds of clarity Power of Air, our thanks to thee Blessed Be.

SOUTH: You've charged us with your energy Inspired will, intensity Power of Fire our thanks to thee Blessed Be.

WEST: You've cleansed us, healed us, helped us to know Our path of truth within your flow. Power if Water, our thanks to thee Blessed Be.

NORTH: As your seedlings sprout, we'll see and know How our new plans must form and grow. Power of Earth, our thanks to thee Blessed Be.