imbolc

the groundwork has been laid

we make our grief into good soil

lay it all into Earth

our ancestral magic

of rebirth

here, our work does not end

to all we’ve planted we must tend

we have entered the borderland where the Cailleach and Brighid dwell and dance

their duality paradoxically emerges from the land, the water, the wind

you can see these two goddesses in the very concept of a winter iris

their essence is in the artic oceanic rainbow sung in by ancestral sun songs

look to the skies. tilt your chin to the chill of the winds rising from the east

they will answer your call in earnest

for days, the blanket above has been a deep grey of great tumultuous gaiety through which the Dagda springs

The Cailleach whips my hair around my eyes, Brighid brings me petals to put to my lips.

it’s all so sweetly astonishing, to exist in this presence that is as ancient and old as winter

fresh and new as spring