Imbolc: In the Belly of Wonder

February 2^nd traditionally signals Imbolc, the return of the Light. As a harbinger of Spring, it's one of the most powerful portals on the Wheel of the Year: the exact midpoint between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. A time to honor and go deep with the natural world.

Stephen Buhner's Plant Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm is a Mystery School disguised as a book; a work that opens the doors of perception with wisdom and humor. On p. 301, this piece by William Stafford sang to my Spirit as an ideal invocation for the Return of the Light in your soul:

If you don't know what kind if person I am

and I don't know what kind of person you are

a pattern that others made may prevail in the world

and following the wrong god home we may miss our star.

For there is many a small betrayal in the mind,

a shrug that lets the fragile sequence break

sending with shouts the horrible errors of childhood

storming out to play through the broken dike.

And as elephants parade holding each elephant's tail,

but if one wanders, the circus won't find the park,

I call it cruel and maybe the root of all cruelty

to know what occurs but not recognize the fact.

And so I appeal to a voice, to something shadowy,

a remote important region in all who talk:

though we could fool each other, we should consider —

lest the parade of our mutual life get lost in the dark.

For it is important that awake people be awake,

or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep;

the signals we give — yes or no, or maybe —

should be clear; the darkness around us is deep.