Celebrating Imbolc

I took the weekend to celebrate Imbolc properly with my fur babies and it was amazing! To begin with, I cleansed the house with some Palo Santo and lit incense to Hekate. The entire house was covered in candles and everything smelled so good! Glade has 2 limited edition candles out right now that I highly recommend because they made every room they were lit in smell like heaven; Bamboo Bliss Song and Sultry Spiced Rhythm. Not sure how those are scents because they sound like music? But they smelled amazing!

From there, I had some amazing pho (because I don’t eat out very often and I wanted to celebrate) and I dropped by a Greek bakery to pick up dessert! I got a pina colada mousse for the first day and a turtle cheesecake for the second day. Absolutely worth it…. Texas has a GREAT Middle Eastern influence and their markets, restaurants, and bakeries are all delicious! And I topped it all off with several cups of peppermint tea!

Imbolc is about making it through winter and getting ready to welcome in the spring! It is about growth and new beginnings! So what better way to celebrate properly than to do a little bit of gardening! My snake plant is starting to get a bit crazy so I decided to try something I had never done before: divide it. Dividing the plant has to do when it begins to grow too many new stalks and it becomes too small for the pot it is in. Some plants can be divided from the new plants that are beginning to grow! I originally got my snake plant because I wanted to improve the air quality in my home and since I change my filters monthly, I can tell it is working!

For more on snake plants, check out their article!

First you must remove the plant from the pot. I did this all inside so I did it over a cardboard box. It is really better to do it outside but I know the kitties like being involved in gardening and it is so easy to sweep up the mess, so I just do it inside.

Gently pull apart by grabbing a section of the thick leaves close to the base and gently tug as much as you can. Pulling it apart will help give you a good visual of where you can cut apart some of the thicker roots. Have a sharp garden knife ready to sever the section from its neighbor.  I used a giant kitchen knife I no longer use in the kitchen. It is very sharp and did the job nicely! Put your new sections into new pots with a well draining potting mix. 

I wound up separating 2 new sections and potting them so now I have snake plants in 2 rooms of my house! I hope to continue to grow them and spread them around to continue to improve the air quality of my home. The kitties like sitting near them too. I think it makes them feel like they are fierce predators in a jungle. Spoiler alert: they aren’t.

The Romans named the month February after a word signifying purification, as this was the time when ritual cleansing would prepare a person for a fresh start. I purified my home, but I also took a meditative and cleansing shower. It felt amazing. I thought of all the things I wanted to cast off and all of the ways I wanted to improve myself. When I left the shower, I felt renewed.

I also blessed my kitties and gave them a big celebratory wet dinner. They were most excited. Imbolc is a great time to give blessings to those furry little creatures that make your even more of an adventure.

From there, I also did a lot of spring cleaning. If you guys know anything about me, it is that I love to clean. I was NEVER this into it when I was growing up I can assure you. My mom would be lucky if she didn’t have to yell a good 20 times to get me to do my chores! I think living with roommates who were so disgusting and unsanitary along with working in the medical profession (infection control anyone?), it has just become a part of who I am even though I live alone now. It felt so good to clean the house super thoroughly and that mixed with the amazingly scented candles, left me feeling very proud of my home!

Finally, I also took the time to go hiking. Health has always been important to me and unfortunately, a new medication I am on has caused me to gain about 15 lbs. My eating is quite healthy so clearly, I need to increase exercise to combat this issue. I went for an amazing 4.5 mile hike which left me with such a nature high that the rest of my day was blissful without even trying! The park ranger told me that there are oftentimes fossils along the trail I was taking and I kept an eye out, but sadly, no fossils were found!

I hope that every single one of you had an amazing Imbolc and an amazing weekend! Holidays are all about enjoying life, welcoming in new experiences, and spending time with loved ones! I did all those things and so I would call it a glorious success! The only thing I didn’t do was create a new Brigid’s wheel or a corn dollie, but that’s ok because I did so much else, that I still consider all a success. I am ready to go back to work tomorrow feeling renewed and happy!

From our altar to yours, with love from the sea,