Imbolc - February 1st
It’s late winter, and Mama Gaia is heavily pregnant, waiting for the dawning of Spring to bring forth new life. There is an air of anticipation filled with hope for the light to come.
Women, during the last stages of pregnancy, are often overwhelmed by the urge to nest. Preparations for the coming baby take center stage as the mother-to-be cleans and organizes and decorates, preparing her home for new life. This is the energy of Imbolc. Preparation.
Archetypes
Astrological Sign: Aquarius
As the water-bearer, Aquarius is often thought of as cool and collected, in control emotionally. The water (emotions) is skillfully carried without the bearer getting wet (emotionally out of control or biased). However, water also refers to consciousness. In this context, Aquarius is the bearer of souls, much like the stork.
Balanced, Aquarius is just that – emotionally balanced. Original, unique, and broad-minded are some of Aquarius’ best characteristics. Imbalanced, cool and collected turns into cold and aloof, unable to connect emotionally. Sarcasm and mockery become the weapons of choice in conversation as Aquarius’ persuasive abilities erode under the inability to empathize with their “adversary.”
Chakra: Soul Star
Most energy anatomy systems recognize seven chakras. However, there are many more “higher” chakras that exist outside the body. The soul star chakra resides approximately an arm’s length above the head. Here is the seat of your Higher Self.
Working with this chakra enables you to access the Akashic Records, your Soul Contract, and all the information and experiences from your previous lives. This chakra can also provide a protected sacred space for energy work.
This chakra can be likened to Aquarius as the bearer of your soul.
Because this chakra exists outside of the physical plane and your incarnate state, it is always in a state of perfect balance.
Tarot: The Star
This is considered a very benefic card to receive in a tarot reading. Filled with positivity and inspiration coupled with renewal, The Star offers the hope of a new dawn. It is the anticipation and joy a soon-to-be mother feels as she prepares her home for a new baby. This is the essence of late winter. Although still in the night, the promise of the coming light provides the sustenance and encouragement needed to persevere.
Exercises
Body: Adaptogen Herbs
Depending on your personal constitution, you may either be needing to rest and rejuvenate from the cold or pull yourself out of the dullness and lethargy of winter. Fortunately, there is a group of herbs that can help regardless of which category you fall into: adaptogens! These amazing little herbs do exactly what their name implies, they adapt to provide whatever you body needs. Particularly, they aid with the stress response in the body.
A healthy stress response is crucial for preventing chronic fatigue and maintaining overall health in the body. Adaptogens are easy to take because dosage is generally not a concern due to their mild actions. This delicious chai tea uses Chaga mushrooms, a wonderful adaptogenic herb that also boosts immunity and energy, to create a soothing winter drink to restore the body in any way it needs!
Emotions: Spiral of Progress
After the winter’s deep dive into the shadow and emotional traumas, it’s time to take a step back. Maybe you’ve found some resolution for emotional triggers or an understanding that your emotional responses are not you. Now is the time to gauge your progress from a detached perspective, embracing the cool and collected emotional landscape of Aquarius and his ability to carry the emotions without getting stuck in them.
Your life and growth take place on a spiral. You start out on what feels like a hamster wheel, stuck in a trigger unable to move past it. Then you gain awareness and the tools to help you heal. And you get off the hamster wheel and on an upward trajectory, until you encounter the same trigger all over again. You think, “Wait a minute, I’ve already been here, done that. This thing was supposed to be behind me and healed! What did I do wrong?” The answer is nothing! What you are experiencing is a normal part of the growth process. You’ve healed one aspect of the trauma and have ascended the spiral.
Being a spiral, though, it ultimately will bring you back to revisit the same trauma again and again, but from a new perspective. Like a higher octave in music, this is a higher octave of your trauma. And how deep the trauma runs will determine how many levels you will need to heal. Triggers popping back up after a long time is not a sign of regression, but just the opposite. You are growing!
Journal Entry:
Find a quiet place where you will not be disturbed for some time. Get out your journal and begin to record the emotional work you have been doing the past 12 months. Record the specific triggers that you have been working on and the progress you have made. If you haven’t begun this work yet, note the emotional work you hope to do in the coming year. Be specific! Now is not the time for generalizations. Write down a specific scenario that happened recently where you either recognized you made a different choice when triggered, you weren’t triggered by something that normally sets you off, or an example of a time you were triggered that you hope to work on in the coming year.
Mind: Knowing
All winter, you’ve been making plans and laying the mental groundwork for Spring action. Now, as springtime approaches all that is left that you need to manifest your dreams is to cultivate KNOWING. Knowing that the promise of a new dawn is not a lie or a trick or only a possibility. It is a surety. That same conviction is what is needed to turn your plans into reality.
If you are struggling to feel that conviction in your dreams, take some time to consider why. Do you not think they are “realistic?” Are you still struggling with an unresolved belief system that is holding you back? What are the consequences of your dreams manifesting? Will another suffer or be trampled on for you to achieve your goals? This last one is important to determine. Are you stepping on someone else in order to give yourself a boost? Or do you believe there is only a finite amount of abundance in the world and for you to receive means another will lose? A selfish dream might manifest, but it won’t bring you the satisfaction and joy you seek. And a limiting belief about abundance and scarcity will always hold you back.
Spirit: Embrace Your Soul Contract
When your soul decided to incarnate on this planet, it had a very specific goal in mind for this life. That goal is your soul contract, that special role you are to play in this life – the lessons, the skills, the actions that impact the world, the people around you, and your own soul’s growth. It’s that special song you came to sing with your unique set of skills and experiences.
Circumstances were set up for you to gain those specific tools, we often call them traumas. Your traumas are your biggest teachers and greatest assets…once you heal them. They enable you to step up and fulfill your path. The magic of free will is you don’t have to. You can stay on the hamster wheel as long as you like, forever even. Nothing and nobody can force you to change. That is up to you.
Going with the flow of life will inevitably bring you to your life path. It’s when you resist that you find yourself lost, off course, and unsure of what to do next. If you find yourself in that position right now, it’s time to let go. If you’ve done this entire course up to this point, you’ve done a lot of work on Trust. Trust means knowing that the Universe and your Higher Self will give you exactly what you need not what you think you need.
Discover your life path: What are you passionate about? I’m not talking career here. This is WAY bigger than “making money” and “earning a living.” This is your soul’s song.
I spent years struggling with what to do with my life. I have a million different interests and I was at a loss for how they fit together. It was exhausting trying to figure it out for myself. In complete desperation and exhaustion, I finally threw my hands up. I couldn’t do it anymore, I couldn’t figure it out. I didn’t know what I was supposed to be doing, all I knew was that I wanted to help Mama Gaia. And in that moment, it crystallized, my Soul Contract revealed itself to me. I was here to serve Mama Gaia, plain and simple. How I would serve her would be revealed to me each and every day. Opportunities would present themselves, ideas and inspiration would come to me, and I would be provided with everything I needed to serve the earth, plants, and animals that I so dearly love.
Desperation and rock-bottom are those moments of darkness right before the light bursts forth. “It’s always darkest before the dawn.” And if you recall, you have been promised a new dawn. So if you find yourself stuck, unsure of your life’s path, unable to figure it out yourself, just let go and let the universe reveal it to you!
