February 13th: GOG'S IMBOLC RITUAL

21 attended the rite, despite three feet of snow. We celebrated the Goddess Brigid in her role as midwife by entering the ritual one by one through red cloth and a braided Brigid's Girdle. We were anointed and welcomed, and the ritual centered around the idea of midwives and mentors in our lives. There were nine small and nine large candles lighting the darkened room. Nora was Druid-in-Charge and led us in a beautiful, smoothly flowing ritual. Jenniforensic, our bard, invoked Brigid as muse, and Tiffany invoked Her as our gatekeeper. All the invocations were powerful and on target. Nora in white, Tricia in red, and Josh in black drew Her in the main invocation. Jack drew her on paper during the ritual, in what has become a longtime GOG tradition. (Click here) Nora and Norma sang Isaac Bonewits "Hymn to Brigid" in English and Gaelic while the omen readers took our omen, which was: the Maze (as the chaos of winter that seems like it will never end), Chuhulainn (whose sword and shield give us the tools we need and the help we need to get through), and Spring (which is exactly what we are heading toward!) A good, simple omen! We had lots of tremendous food (and in addition to all that, Alex sent us a box of beet bread, beet cake, and Brigid's Porter beer). There was a lot of crafting going on-- spinning yarn, making Brigid's crosses, and we went outside to offer up the Brigid's dolly that was made just before the rite (traditionally made by the first people to arrive). Photos: Ed, Bob, Tricia.