Teatime and Dancing with the Dogs

Restoration. Coming forth. Being. Alive. Dance. Word associations are fun to play with sometimes and in that playful outlook I begin by referencing Shelia Foster and her current interest in "What's in your belly, gestating, waiting for the right time to emerge?" I pose this question to myself as the celebration of Imbolc (pronounced"im-olk") approaches on February 2nd, also known as Groundhog Day or Candlemas. All are defined by ritual and lore and give us opportunities to mark the seasonal progression from the darkest days until the light lengthens staying with us longer and longer. This year my belly is protruding and quickening as I continue the process of finding out what it is, now, I am to do, here in the world. I left behind the role of teacher and find I am a student of many things. Lauryn your special gift of taking me to the stone labyrinth at Land's End has inspired me to create a labyrinth of stones in my backyard. A project I have asked my friends and family to help me with by contributing stones. Later in March, I will have a Labyrinth Blessing Party for all those who want to come. So I have been studying labyrinth designs and working on learning a special walking meditation. In my very part time job as a children's art instructor, I am more student than teacher as I share my explorations with the children, about how the lines come together and create shapes, learning about shading and color. I am also learning about dancing with my dogs and tea time with a spoon-dip of honey.

What needs to be spoken? Deep in the belly a kind of longing persists. As I discover parts of my personality through being a student of the enneagram, I learn my basic fear is loss of self. What is "myself"? How can I lose myself? Who am I? For so many years the definition of myself was a wife...a mother...a teacher...and at times the order of importance of that definition shifted and changed. Imbolc means, literally, "in the belly" (of the mother). The Goddess Brigit is depicted as a maiden, one who symbolizes purity, growth, and renewal, fertility and the dispensing of the old and making way for the new, so it resonates with me as I go about this birthing process of finding my new work. Celebrations mark relationships and define us. I plan on celebrating this February 2nd as a tribute to my ancestors who so long ago, at this time of returning spring, lit bonfires and candles to rejoice at the rebirth of the land. As I continue to reflect, I sense a new awareness of how important connection to a community is for me and look for ways to put myself out there in hopes of finding new dimensions of who I am. Building the labyrinth is a part of this journey undertaken here at midwinter. So I leave you with bright blessings at this time in which the earth is quickening and returning to fertility and new life. May the Goddess Brigit give her blessings to you this season as well.

nine with a one wing