Art by Jarosław Datta
We’re in the belly.
Always attending the curve of an ever-turning wheel, in the Northern hemisphere we dance in a liminal space betwixt Winter and Spring.
This time of year is named “Imbolc,” meaning “in the belly.” This term originally referred to the plumping tummies of ewes, swelling with lamb babies.
As the hibernating earth begins to rouse from her slumber, the early part of this month brings celebrations of fertility and feast. In Celtic tradition, pagans give homage to Brigid, the Triple Goddess. Whatever divinity traditions you regard, place your hand upon the belly of the Earth and sense for the waking shoots warming beneath the topsoil. New life prepares to burst forth. This is the quickening time.