Welcoming Chickweed, and More
The quiet introspection of winter is suddenly over, and the imperative of new life in our yards signals that the denizens of those spaces are responding to longer days and growing warmth. In the world outside plants are waking from cold dreams and press up unseen, under the fallen leaves in farmlands and backyards alike. My motherwort has returned with vital hardiness, and dock dots my fence line; while new henbit across the lawn is food for returning birds. The chickweed is back in every cool, shady corner, succulent green; and my rose of sharon thrives. Throughout the prairie, some animals started birthing in December, and other species will give birth as spring goes on. (I have to wonder how our urban fox is doing….!)
Where January held an energy of renewal and commitment, February is when the new beginnings start to take root. It is a time to make firm and visible the intentions we set at Solstice. In the northern hemisphere early February marks the approximate halfway point between the shortest day of the year and time when day and night are equal. Throughout the ancient world, fire festivals were held to mark the victory of the sun over the dark cold of winter, and the regeneration of life on the land. The joy was no-doubt real and laced with relief, as the sun, and with it the plants that were medicine and food, returned.
In current times, those returning to the rhythms and patterns of the land often attune to the Irish earth-based holy days as we know them now, to internalize how we connect to those rhythms. This is not merely wistfulness for a distant, romanticized, ancestral place. It is an expression of a collective and personal heart’s longing to drink again the wisdom imparted by this way of marking time in a world where we are indelibly connected to, and informed by, all the life around us.
Ancient Knowing
On February 2nd the Irish will celebrate the holy day of St Brigid, known as the Goddess Brighid in ancient times. Brighid is keeper of the sacred waters of healing, 
and of fire. The wisdom of the Goddess Brighid can be understood through her role as keeper of the Three Fires: The fire of the hearth, that represents both food and community; the fire of the forge that shapes and transforms, and the fire of Spirit, of Inspiration — spiraling breath, bringing in the Source Essence that gives rise to our wisdom, greatest knowing, and creative outpouring in the world.
Tonight our sacred time begins at sunset, when we will take down the last of the winter garlands, and let the fire take the old, that is gone. I feel connected to all those who celebrate, as I do, the passage of time in concert with the awakening of the earth in latest winter. Earth’s rhythms are anchors in a world-life that is transforming, and consciously connecting to them aligns our energy with the power of the Gaiafield. In tuning in to Earth’s cycles, we tune to the greater being that we are a part of, not only spiritually, but in very physical ways that it is dangerous to ignore.
A Simple Connection
If you are greeting the returning warmth and plants you love, here is a practice that may help you:
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- Focus on your heart and take several slow breaths.
- Feel your body relax as you breath in and out slowly, as you focus your attention on your heart.
- As you breathe in and out while focusing on your heart center, bring to mind a feeling of love or gratitude for someone you care for. Keep breathing, as you allow yourself to experience that love.
- Sense your own light within you, or see the light of the sun pouring through the top of your head into your heart center.
- Infuse that light with the feeling love or gratitude you are holding in your heat as you breathe.
- See that light shining out as love to the creatures, land and plants that are part of your world, and see their love returning to you, as light.
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Don’t underestimate the power of this connection to help you come into alignment with the natural world. The more you do it, the stronger the alignment can be. In the days that follow, notice the natural world around you: It’s creatures, plants, weather, light, and the feel of the air. What new things can you notice each day? What new sounds, smells, or green unfurlings?
Early February is also a day of initiation in some faiths. To celebrate Imbolc, Brighid’s day I will be teaching a chakra clearing and self blessing that can serve you all year long, as well as three herbs that are excellent for prayer, meditation, and your own expansion. Learn more here!
I hope you will join me!
Wishing you Joy in this sweet month of new green.
Joan
If you would like to learn more about herbal lifestyles and reweaving your connections with earth rhythms, click here to visit Joan’s events page, and be sure to sign up for her newsletter. She will be adding more events soon!
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