Imbolc Incoming

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Imbolc is my favourite time of year. As a poet and metalsmith I am devoted to Brigid. Today I went out to the Peedie Sea near my house to say hello to the swans—sacred to Brigid, and to feed a little hoodie crow I have befriended.

In this missive:

• Source of Wonder: The Ballachulish Goddess Figure
• What I’m Reading: Ovid’s Metamorphosis as a bed time story
• What I’m Listenting to: Nurse With Wound’s trance-like ode to a ghost ship
• What I’m Planning: the IMBOLC WRITING HOUR this Sunday for paid subscribers!

Wonder

As I prepare the writing prompts for this weekend’s Imbolc Writing Hour, [see below for more info!] I’ve been thinking a lot about the Ballachulish Goddess. She’s an ancient, life-sized figure of a woman carved in wood and preserved in a bog in the spectacular valley of Ballchulish near Glen Coe. In the National Museums of Scotland, she is displayed inclosed in a woven basket, much like I imagine were made for Brigid on Imbolc. This figure has taken on the persona of Brigid and the Cailleach in my mind. It’s said that if it’s rainy on Imbolc, the Cailleach is sleeping and winter is almost over. I’m thinking of the power of chthonic things at this time of year, and how we make space for them, offer them a place at our hearth/in our hearts and how they reward us for this in so many ways.

Reading

When I feel most lost, I go back to work I love. This is something we discussed in the last writing workshop—returning to work the feeds you. One of those texts is Ovid’s Metamorphosis, specifically the Rolfe Humphries’ translation with its conversational, ten beat lines. It is a a seamless work of tale telling, synthesis and transformation. It continues to teach me so much.

Listening

I spoke about this hour long Nurse With Wound single in the recent online writing workshop, but misattributed it! It has been my writing companion again of late.

Planning

Imbolc Writing Hour

Online, Sunday, 4th of February, 7pm.

To find your time zone, go here.

A writing hour to kick off the Wolf Month of February. Winter lingers in the Northern Hemisphere; stores of hope and resourcefulness can run low, but there are signs of new life manifesting if we look for them. Every year these appear just as miraculous to me as the last. In this writing hour I’ll hold space for your process as well as have some prompts to get us thinking about cracking the ice of stasis and kindling the fire of new work.

The zoom link is for paid subscribers under the cut. Become a paid subscriber and join us!