Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard

tional to hang on your tree. If you have a fireplace,

you can decorate and burn a special Yule log. As you

light it, make pledges for new projects you wish to

give birth to.

Fix up your altar with a Santa Claus figure, rein-

deer, and little decorations in the shapes of animals,

trees, presents, snowflakes, icicles, and all the rest.

Use a red and green altar cloth, or put a sheet of

cotton down for an altar cloth that looks like snow.

Burn lots of green and red candles. And most impor-

tant, make special gifts for your loved ones. These

can be artwork, crafts, projects, or collages. Give Yule

presents to the birds and faeries by hanging orna-

ments of fruits, nuts, seeds, and berries on the

branches of outdoor trees. Strings of popcorn and

cranberries are fun to make, and the wild creatures

will love them! You can make them for your own in-

side tree first, then take them outside later.

Lesson 9. Oimelc,

Imbolc, Brigantia

With candles all aglowing

There comes the Imbolc maid.

With milk and honey flowing

Our Winter’s hunger’s laid.

The Apple in sweet flower

Shows mystery five-fold.

The fire of Brigid’s power

Will break the Winter’s hold.

—Leigh Ann Hussey

Oimelc and Imbolc are variants of the

name for the Cross-Quarter Sabbat tradition-

ally celebrated on February 2, but falling as-

trologically several days later, at 15° Aquarius.

Oimelc (EE-melk) means “ewe’s milk” and Imbolc

means “in the belly,” referring to this as a festival

of pregnancy, birth, and lactation (“Got milk?”). It

is the celebration of the bursting of the locks of

frost, and the bursting of waters as the sacred sets of

Twins lower in the womb of the Earth Mother. This is

a festival of light and fertility, once marked with huge

blazes, torches, candles, and fire in every form.

The Celtic Festival of Waxing Light, it is also

called Brigantia and dedicated to Brigid, Irish god-

dess of fire, the forge, inspiration, herbal healing, po-

etry, and midwifery. Customs of this festival include

making a Brigit’s Bed and Brigit Doll to sleep in it. Her

festival marks the beginning of both the lambing and

plowing season. Opposite the men’s festival of

Lughnasadh, Oimelc is celebrated with women’s mys-

teries, and rites of passage into womanhood. It is a

time of Dianic initiation and celebration of sisterhood.

Called Lady Day in some Wiccan traditions, Oimelc

has been Christianized as Candlemas or Candelaria,

and popularized as Ground Hog’s Day.

At Annwfn & Raven Haven

Brigit fires up the forge and leads us to each craft

talismans in token of our pledges to complete some

creative project during the year. The goddesses reign,

and two priestesses may take the parts of the Red and

Green Maids. At the Brigit Bardic in front of the cozy

hearthfire we pass around a horn of mead and share

poetry, songs, and stories attributed to Her inspira-

tion, and dedicated to Her. In honor of Brigit’s heal-

ing arts, we give each other massages and foot rubs,

and drink good herbal teas.

At Your House

The fires of Brigit represent our own illumination

and inspiration as much as light and warmth. The

primary magickal tool of this Sabbat is the candle.

Invite your friends and family to a Bardic Circle in

honor of Brigit. Ask them each

to bring poetry,

songs,

short sto-

ries, and

even jokes

to tell—best,

of course, if

they have written

these themselves!

If you have a fire-

place in your house,

you should light the

fire and some red

candles, and turn out all

other lights. Fill a drink-

ing horn or chalice with

apple juice, and pass it

around the Circle deosil. As

the juice comes to each per-

son and they drink, they must

share something they’ve written,

or at least tell a joke.

Fix up your altar to Brigit; use a

red and white altar cloth and candles.

Fill your chalice or a bowl with milk. A

besom and cauldron would be suitable

to display. A very traditional Brigit doll

can be made with nothing more than a simple old-

fashioned clothespin wrapped in red cloth for a gown.

A traditional Brigit Bed is just a small box lid with a

little pillow, mattress, and blanket made from scraps

of cloth. You can make little “feet” for the bed with

pushpins. If there is snow outside, fill your chalice

with it, set it on your altar, and let it melt to hasten the

end of Winter and the beginning of Spring. Sweep

out your temple with the besom: “sweeping out the

old” so there’ll be room for the new.

Course Four: Rites 195

Corrected pages 3rd printing.2.p65 21 6/10/2004, 4:02 PM