Expecting Spring: A Celtic Perspective

In the midst of snow, spring is coming into existence.

February 1^st is a major day in Celtic folklore and spirituality. It is Imbolc, one of the four fire festivals that celebrate the start of a season (more about that in a moment). It is Brigid’s Day, a holy day that commemorates the pan-Celtic goddess of fire and the feast day of St. Brigid, the co-patron saint of Ireland. Finally, on the Celtic calendar, February first marks the start of spring.

Spring? I know, I know. You’re wearing three layers of clothes, cradling a cup of hot cocoa to keep your hands warm, and looking out the window at piles of snow. Millions of people here in the U.S. got hit with ice and snowstorms last week. This weekend, another round of "arctic” cold hit, bringing more snow and even blizzards. Spring! Am I nuts? Nope.

Imbolc: Spring is Present, yet Hidden

The Celtic fire festival of Imbolc celebrates the first day of spring. But perhaps it would be better to say that it’s about expecting spring. Does that mean it’s about a hope that the ice will thaw, the snow will melt, the sun may peek out from behind the gray storm clouds again? Yes, but it’s also about more than that.

If you read my previous post, “Sinister Yet Helpful: A Celtic Tree Paradox,” you’ll know that the Celtic perspective is that creation is complex and that many things are present yet hidden. And that is an important aspect of Imbolc: Spring exists beneath all that snow. Now, I realize that sounds philosophical, abstract, and maybe a bit ditzy. But it’s not.

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Here is a concrete way to understand this real yet unseen concept. Imbolc means “in the belly,” meaning “pregnant.” For the most part, that refers to the lambing season. Around the time of Imbolc, the ewes are pregnant and soon, adorable little lambs will burst forth into the world. That’s a wonderful fact. And one you can extrapolate from to understand the above idea that spring is present but still hidden.

When a mother is pregnant, the baby isn’t visible (especially in the early stages), but it very much exists. The world just has to wait a bit before this new life makes its presence more palpable. In the meantime, the parents are said to be “expecting.” At Imbolc, the earth is pregnant with the new life that will be named “Spring.”

What Are We Waiting For?

When the world is cloaked in greyness, and the cold air chills your bones, you can curl up with a lap blanket and a nice cup of tea (or Bailey’s, Jameson, or a bit of Glenlivet), and watch the snow fall softly outside your window. At the start of winter, that’s a cozy way to spend time. After months of grey skies, dirty snow, and ice-covered windshields, it gets old. You yearn for color. Not just green grass, but for the vibrant reds, purples, and yellows of spring flowers. And you wonder wistfully When will the world be warm again?

According to American folklore, a little groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil has the answer. Every year, on February 2^nd, he comes out of his hole in a small town in Pennsylvania to make his prediction. If he stays out, it means the end’s in sight. If he sees his shadow and returns to his hole, bad news. Winter will hang around for another six weeks. This year, he saw his shadow. And he might be right. Since he came out, there’s been another nasty winter storm.

I like Phil. After all, the weather isn’t his fault. He’s just a forecaster. However, the Scottish folklore way of determining how much longer winter will last is more fun. The story is this. The Cailleach, goddess of winter, is actively involved in preventing the return of the sun and the coming of spring. Having started winter in the first place, she goes out on Brigid’s Day (Feb. 1^st) to collect more firewood to keep herself warm. According to both Scottish and Irish folklore, if the weather is fine on Brigid’s Day, winter will persist. But if the weather is bad (snowstorms and the like), it means she overslept, and the cold weather will soon end.

Each year, Brigid, the Celtic goddess of fire, battles with the Cailleach, goddess of winter, to bring light and warmth back to the world.

Now, why she can’t go out on February 2^nd to get some fuel for her fire—or why she can’t just light her fireplace without gathering wood, I don’t know. She is a goddess, after all. But it may have to do with another bit of lore. Both Irish and Scottish folklore connect the Cailleach and Brigid. Some versions say they are different aspects of the same triple goddess. The Cailleach is an old crone, and Brigid is a maiden. In another version, Brigid is the Cailleach’s daughter-in-law. The second one makes a lot of sense because the folklore also tells of the bi-annual battle between the crone and maiden.

Sometime between Samhain (November 1^st) and the winter solstice (around Dec. 21^st),, the Cailleach prevails over Brigid and plunges the world into the cold, dark half of the year. Then Brigid overcomes the crone sometime between Brigid’s Day and the spring equinox (around March 20^th). When she does, winter thaws, the sun returns, and warmth and vibrancy fill the world. This prepares the way for Beltane (May 1^st), the return of the light half of the year, and the joyous promise of summer.  

So, there you have it. According to folklore, we’re stuck with winter until Brigid persuades her mother-in-law to “Stop it with the snow already!”

It’s a fun story, but there is so much more depth and magic to Imbolc, Brigid, and this liminal time of the year. Samhain (the Celtic origin of Halloween) is well-known for its association with the supernatural. Imbolc doesn’t share fame with its sister celebrations, Samhain and Beltane. Even Lughnasa (the start of autumn) is better known than the Celtic celebration of the start of spring. But Imbolc deserves more attention. It is a liminal time, mystical and magical.

A Liminal Celebration: A Magical Threshold

At Imbolc, we stand at the threshold of spring.

So, if Imbolc is liminal, what does that mean? Often, the word liminal is used to mean something almost imperceptible. But it also refers to a time, place, or state that is transitional, a bridge between here and there or the space between what is and what is just about to be. At its root, the word means a threshold.

Imbolc is exactly that. On this major day of the Celtic year, we are stepping out of winter and into spring. We still feel the icy winds, but we’re moving into the warmth. Similarly, Imbolc is a bridge between Samhain and Beltane. Imbolc is still in the dark half of the year—but it’s moving towards the light.

If you’ve read my posts on Samhain, you’ll know that in-betweens are powerfully magical places / spaces. In an in-between, you can encounter the supernatural. You can glimpse or even fall into the Otherworld. You might even touch the divine. And that’s the space we’ve entered. Imbolc and the time following up until Beltane (May 1^st) is a huge in-between. It may be a time of waiting—for signs of spring, for warmth to return, for new life to emerge—but it is also a time of magic, promise, and hidden potential.

Are you ready to use its potency?

That’s not a rhetorical question. The Celts recognized the need to prepare for the gifts of new life and renewal this time brings. They did this through ritual purification and cleansing. An Imbolc folk custom that endures to today, especially in Ireland, is to visit holy wells and wash one’s hands. Celts also used to bring some of the water home with them. They poured a little in the barn to protect the animals from disease and used it throughout the year to bless sick family members.

Another Imbolc tradition that has continued into modern times is cleaning the house. This spring cleaning is familiar to most of us (we’ve at least heard of it, even if we don’t practice it). It’s an excellent activity in terms of cleanliness and health. Even more, it is exactly on point with the preparation I mentioned above. Don’t just clean; get rid of stuff. Let go of the old to make room for the new. That is an Imbolc mindset. How can you have new growth if there’s no room for it?

So, you can see that this spring cleaning doesn’t need to be physical. It can be a decluttering of our minds, a reorganizing of our perspectives, a letting-go of past hurts and resentments.

Are you ready? How can the potency of this time bring about renewal, new growth, and new life for you?

Ready to do some spring cleaning? Mind: no half-hearted efforts. Get in with both hands!

If you’d like to explore the folklore and traditions of Imbolc more fully, click here to read my post, “

To learn more about Brigid the goddess as well as St. Brigid of Kildare (and whether or not they’re one and the same), click here.

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    All artwork for this post (except for the Ukrainian flag and the GIF) by Christine Dorman via Bing Image Creator.

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