Imbolc

Imbolc (pronounced i-molk or i-molg), also called Brigid’s Day or St Brighid’s Day), is a Celtic/Gaelic festival marking the end of winter and beginning of spring. As the Celtic year was based on both lunar and solar cycles, the festival would probably have been celebrated on the full moon nearest the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox, which this year falls on the 3rd February. The astrological point of Imbolc, when the sun reaches 15 degrees of Aquarius, falls on the 4th - but most people tend to celebrate on the 1st-2nd - or, if you’re living in the southern hemisphere, you’ll celebrate this anywhere between the 1st andnd 4th of August!

The name ‘Imbolc’ comes from the old Irish “i mbolg”, meaning “in the belly”, referring to the time of year when sheep and goats are pregnant, carrying their young.   Other etymology includes “oimelc”, meaning “ewe’s milk”, a reference to the onset of lactation in ewes about to give birth. Fire and purification have played important roles in this festival throughout the ages, with celebrations involving hearth fires, bonfires and the lighting of candles to represent the return of light and warmth to the land. It’s also traditionally a time of weather divination, with people watching for serpents or badgers (or groundhogs!) emerging from their winter dens.

For me, the most potent sign of this time of year is the emergence of the snowdrops – that sight always lifts my heart, and gives me a sense of hope.  One of the first things I do when I move somewhere new is to ensure that I plant snowdrops in the autumn so that I have this to look forward to during those short dark days.  The card in the tarot that symbolizes that hope and optimism is, of course, The Star – the card that’s linked, astrologically, to the sign of Aquarius (which we entered on the 20^th January this year).

The Wildwood Tarot  connects strongly to the Wheel of the Year, and starts its ‘journey’ at Imbolc, so it feels appropriate to look at the cards they assign to this festival – the Ancestor (5) and the Pole Star (17). Both cards, then, are linked to beginnings and to the “guidance systems” we have available to us – the Ancestor representing our inner ones, the Pole Star the outer.  In some ways, the Wildwood’s accompanying book’s description of the Pole Star (a symbol of “universal law, spiritual knowledge and power”) is not unlike the way I think about the traditional Hierophant. What brings it back to the traditional meaning of the Star, for me, is the idea of universal knowledge being a web – a very Aquarian concept!  (Hop back to my Aquarius post)

Ancestor: Wildwood Tarot

Pole Star: Wildwood Tarot

Haindl Tarot

The Haindl Tarot’s Daughter of Cups is represented by Brigid. Talk about being hit over the head by the cards!  This really speaks to what it is within me that longs to do – to allow my creativity and intuition greater freedom to explore...  And I have the wisdom I’ve gained from past experience (the Ancestor) and the guiding light with which I can navigate into the future (the Pole Star) to help me with this birth. The birth of hope and optimism, and the reminder not to be so cynical and jaded about the state of the world!  

Haindl Tarot created by Hermann Haindl, published by US Games Systems, Inc.

Wildwood Tarot created by Mark Ryan and John Matthews, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections

 

Aquarius in the Major Arcana - The Star

'Ganymede' (juzzodiac.tmblr.com)

Let’s continue our exploration of Aquarius in the tarot with the Major Arcana. We already know that it combines the element of air with fixed energy, making it a very ‘in your head’ sign.   It’s associated with ideology and reform, humanitarianism and working with community and groups.  In Greek mythology, Ganymede was the cup-bearer to the gods, serving them with the nectar or ambrosia which gave them immortality – and was placed in the heavens as the constellation Aquarius as his reward.  The contents of that cup were life-sustaining – and what is it that sustains us, more often than not? Hope. And what card in the Major Arcana could we connect with hope? The Star!

Sharman-Caselli Tarot

Traditional depictions of The Star show us a young, naked woman with two pitchers of water – a water carrier.  Her youth is said to symbolize renewal, while her nakedness represents truth for all to see.  In the Sharman-Caselli version, she has one foot on land (past) and the other in water (the future), linking the two - and perhaps also linking the conscious and unconscious.  The foot in water also links us to the Pool of Memory, allowing us to remember events that give us hope, that sustain us.  Her two water jugs sustain both the land and the pool. See too how the water on the land separates into five streams, symbolizing our five senses, before returning to the pool.  Aquarius may be detached, but it can certainly feed us, providing us with hope and optimism – the promise of a new day (dawn).  The card carries the number 17, 1 + 7: there is one large star in the dawn sky, surrounded by seven smaller ones, adding up to eight, the number of re-birth and regeneration – more promise of hope.  

Shadowscapes Tarot

The Shadowscapes Tarot gives us a more ethereal figure. She's not a water carrier in the strictest sense of the word, although both water and air (remember we're talking about Aquarius here) are present in the image - her feet dance in water while the rest of her dances in the air against a backdrop of the Milky Way, representing perhaps the fixedness of this sign (yes, there are some stars that are referred to as 'fixed'!).  According to the creator, in the accompanying Shadowscapes Companion (see details below), "she dances the dance that the stars have choreographed...their silent homage to the burning spirit they have witnessed." So although in reality stars shine with their own light, you could say these ones are reflecting the hope that each person carries!

Wildwood Tarot

Sailors used to, perhaps still do, navigate by the stars at night. The Pole Star is one of the (apparently) ‘fixed’ star in the sky, making it particularly useful in celestial navigation – and therefore a symbol of hope in its own right.   In the Wildwood Tarot, the Pole Star is referred to as a symbol of “universal law, spiritual knowledge and power”. What brings it back to the traditional meaning of the Star, for me, is the idea of universal knowledge being a web – a very Aquarian concept!  

Thoth Tarot

The Thoth uses the Egyptian sky goddess Nuit (also known as Nu, Nut, and Nuith) to depict the water carrier.  Here we get more of a sense of the ideological aspects of Aquarius – Nuit receives inspiration from the universe and allows it to flow through her, passing it on to humanity, or the greater good.  The card represents clarity of vision, which we could associate with the ‘airiness’ of Aquarius, while Nuit appears to be grounded, representing the ‘fixedness’ of the sign.

No surprise that Imbolc occurs during our sojourn in Aquarius – first signs of spring bringing forth hope.The  Imbolc Tarot Blog Hop takes place on 2^nd February – watch this space!

Shadowscapes Tarot created by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law and Barbara Moore, published by Llewellyn

Sharman-Caselli Tarot created by Juliet Sharman-Burke, illustrated by Giovanni Caselli, published by Connections

Thoth Tarot created by Aleister Crowley, illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris, published by US Games Systems, Inc.

Wildwood Tarot created by Mark Ryan and John Matthews, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections