Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
Winter’s Lessons of Silence: Putting the “Be” Back in Imbolc

Winter’s Lessons of Silence: Putting the “Be” Back in Imbolc

Last updated on: February 8, 2019 at 11:02 am by Heron Michelle

Winter’s Lessons of Silence: Putting the “Be” Back in Imbolc 2019-02-08T11:02:46-04:00 Heron Michelle

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

During the Imbolc-tide leading up to High Winter, I received a message from the dark earth below me. As I observed the yellow grass in my back-yard temple, and how it ceases to grow in winter… and the tulip poplar tree stands so still, stripped bare of his leaves, they reminded me about the importance of dormancy. As I glide down the post-Imbolc ebb, I find being-ness. Winter teaches me to shut-up and listen, observe, be present in the NOW. I am tasked to Be Silent. Silent like that “B” we don’t pronounce in Imbolc. (im’molk) <cackle>

Divine Guidance has such a sense of humor when They speak to me. Real comedians, that lot.

Put the “Be” back in Imbolc, they chide.
Be silent and still as the dormant Earth.
Rest in preparation for what is to come.
All potential begins in the dark pause.
Life is born of last year’s death,
so let it die away, let it decay,
to nourish these new seeds.

CC0 Creative Commons – Pixabay

Mysteries found in the Darkness

Which reminds me of the mythic tale of the descent of the Sumerian Goddess Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth, as she journeyed into the domain of her sister, Erishkigal, Queen of the Underworld. At each of seven gates, Inanna was stripped of all ornament, social trappings and hubris, layer by layer. She arrived naked and is killed, but she knew this would happen going in. Through ingenuity, humility and an understanding of these mysteries of life and death, she is restored. Only then could she ascend into her true power. These are the initiatory rites of Witchcraft. You must willingly die, in order to fully live.

“Only then did she know her true powers. Only then did she know the mysteries. Only then did she know the paradox of giving and receiving, the paradox of life and death, union and separation. Sacrificing herself to herself to learn the mysteries.” (1)

Witches learn these mysteries in the darkness. All of life’s cycles begin in the pause that hangs between, in the liminal spaces. Dark moon, winter, apogee, mutable, death…they aren’t the ending at all, but the transmutation into our renewal. Yet, so often we rush to skim through, or better yet, to skip over that “death” part altogether. That bit is unnerving. That bit scares us. If you’re stuck, chances are that you haven’t given death its due attention.

Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) [CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons

Witches Live Sideways

Some religions focus all their energies “upward,” on going to a heaven someday, or “downward” in trying to avoid a hell. Some focus “forward” on a next life, or “backward” to make reparations from a past life. I think the point of witchcraft is to live “sideways” right here on planet earth, right now. We should be “of the world” It’s the best part of witchcraft. Enjoying this life is the prize.

Our toes may dig deep in the underworld, our hair may be tangled with stars…the Otherworld is a place we can visit, but our magick is for the middle world. Our praxis creates within *this* incarnation with both reverence and mirth. To be an effective creator, means that we, too, must learn to die regularly, and with grace be reborn.

“For there are three great events in the life of man: Love, Death, and Resurrection in the new body; and Magick controls them all.” (2)

Naked Truth of Winter

Like my Tulip Poplar Tree, we must take our winters. Without apology, we draw within, drop the pretense, and dwell for a time in our naked truths; no lipstick, no earrings, no spanx, no f*cks to give that our crow’s feet deepen, and our silver burnishes the edges honed through experience.

In winter, witches revisit their personal underworld to let die whatever old version of themselves they’ve outgrown. Then, through the Turning of the Wheel, they are reborn anew.

So, put the Be back in Imbolc, enjoying simple presence within the winter silence. Rest hopefully within this death, like a seed awaiting spring. That which you seek this turning is already stirring within you. Nourish that seed this winter with the being-ness of self-love, and as the wheel turns toward Ostara, it will grow.

Heron’s Self-Love Affirmation:

I am that I am.
I am whole and complete.
I am a Perfect Child of the God/dess.
I am loving.
I am lovable.
I am love.

~Heron

1) Paraphrased from the myth of the Descent of the Goddess found in Christopher Penczak’s Living Temple of Witchcraft, Vol. 2. This version is an excerpt found within the Third Degree Rites of The Sojourner Tradition of Modern Witchcraft, written by Phoenix Echelon, founding High Priest.

2) Legend of the Descent of the Goddess, Figure 1. Living Temple of Witchcraft, Vol.1 by Christopher Penczak, Llewellyn Worldwide, Woodbury, MN, 2008, page 36.

Descent of the Goddess

About Heron Michelle

Heron Michelle is a witch, priestess, mom, artist and shopkeeper living in Greenville, North Carolina. Connect with her on Facebook: Witch on Fire: Heron Rising Services, and follow her on Twitter @HeronMichelle13. You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

February 4, 2019

Are You Prepared to Serve as High Priestess?

Next Post

February 11, 2019 When Love Is Not Enough: Making the Case for Divorce

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Arts, Crafts & Cooking Business Cermony and Liturgy Columns Comedy Community Death Elemental Witchcraft Health and Wellness Holidays Interfaith Life Love, Sex & Relationships Magic or Magick Nature Politics Prayers, Poems, Blessings & Stories Recipes Rites of Passage Ritual and Practice Science and Research Shopkeeper Saga Technology Theology, Ethics, Philosophy Uncategorized Witch on Fire

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 November 2025 September 2025 August 2025 May 2025 November 2024 September 2024 August 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 September 2023 August 2023 May 2023 February 2023 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 April 2022 March 2022 December 2021 November 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 December 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 August 2015 July 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In Revelation, how many elders sit on thrones around God's throne?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Seventy Twenty-four Seven Twelve