Celebration of NEW beginnings
Celebrated as: as a time of new beginnings and the awakening of the natural world after the dark winter months.
This Sabbat (August 1st - Imbolc in Southern Hemisphere) marks the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox and is associated with new beginnings and the first stirrings of spring. It is a time to light candles, plant seeds, and set intentions for the coming year. This is followed by Ostara on the Wheel of life, which falls around September 21st and celebrates the spring equinox.
We are so blessed by nature’s gifts in every way. Feeling the gratitude for all that we have in relation to an infinite abundance of nourishment during this transition is a wonderful practice. How can you open sacred space to allow more of this natural abundance into your life?
I can think of many ways including:
creating an altar outside to celebrate the rising Spring energies
attuning to the gentle solar rays of the sun to embrace the Yang forces
planting seeds in your ‘garden’ representing your own Spring intentions
begin to imagine yourself emerging from ‘winter’s cocoon’ with renewed vitality
identify what you need to release in the final death stages of Winter decay
Like the rising morning sun, our energy rises as well. We can feel the gentle yet visceral changes in our bodies as we attune to the subtle shift from the deep restorative Yin energies of the night and early morning into the light and activating Yang energies of the emerging day. Ultimately Spring arrives every day as we experience an opportunity for renewal and transformation with each setting and rising sun.
How deep we go with our intentions and connections to these elemental ways of being is up to us. I know that when I embrace a simple yet potent intention, it manifests and blooms in my life in unexpected ways. The magical force field that we connect with intentionally is a living ecosystem providing loving support and amplifying ‘latent potential’ based on our focus and heart centred connection.
As we begin to plant these intentional seeds, the practice of deep listening serves us well. We can begin to hone our intentions and prioritise meaningful purpose and self-love in balanced ways. Spring brings new life so as we allow the Winter Water element to flow through us in these final days, imagine this period of regeneration through death and decay coming to a gentle close and making space for fertile soil to nourish our seeds.
How can we honour this shift and give thanks for this ending and beginning?
I’m making space to cultivate my seeds in a new garden that is currently wild and over-grown. The vision has arrived, now for the inspired action to co-create with the land. Excited to be in sacred and playful relationship with the land and really dropping into the Spring season clearing and renewal!
Much love
Gina x
