Yule and Imbolc

Well, apparently this may be the year for exploring.

I've been interested in the pagan or Wiccan observations of different...holidays? Feast days? Whichever. But I've been interested in them for a few years now. It's now to the point where I'm curious to explore Wicca or pagan traditions or even witchcraft itself. I've been interested in tarot cards for the past few weeks as well. Why? I'm not entirely sure. I'd have to put pen to paper for that. (What am I doing right now? Oh, yeah. Digital pen to paper, really.)

I had a bit of an epiphany yesterday while reading about Imbolc, the feast day that falls around Groundhog Day. Yule, which falls on the winter solstice, is a time to celebrate the returning of light. It's also a time to take stock in the past year, evaluate it and see how it went. As it turns out, Imbolc is the time to plan for the upcoming year and start acting on those plans.

For years, I've looked at Yule (not just the day, but what I consider the time between the solstice and the end of the year) as a time to do both. It always felt a bit rushed, incomplete. In fact, I don't think I've ever completed both in all the years I've taken this on as a project. And now, it makes sense not to do both at the same time. Take January as a time to rest, do little, let the light begin to return slowly, let thoughts and ideas filter into the brain slowly, without forcing them. In Denver, there is not even one hour more light on Imbolc than on Yule. That's how slowly the light returns. And in my mind, we should act in tandem with this. In contrast, more than two hours of light return between Imbolc and Ostara, the spring equinox. It makes sense to start to act with more intention at that point.

So. From here forward, Yule will be the time to look backward. January will be the time to rest. And Imbolc will be the time to look ahead.