Imbolc is coming up. Or maybe we should rather say Welnéya is coming up. Every year the Hamingja Foundation gets questions what this pastoral holiday is all about and how to celebrate it. Well, Imbolc is originally a feast in the honor of the god Wélṇos (later the Norse Ullr, the Greek Ouranos & the Vedic Varuna) celebrated from February 1 through sundown on the 2nd. We celebrate that nature is now ‘pregnant’ with new life.
Wélṇos stands between Heaven and Earth fighting Perkʷunos (Thor) to change the seasons. The name itself has to do with rain. In the Greek myth we see Kronos – time – fighting Ouranos (Wélnos/Ullr) and cutting off his genitalia (one could say that time isn’t on winter’s side) – i.e. separates heaven from earth, and his semen and blood flows down to fertilize Mother Earth this time a year.
We recommend you to listen to our podcast episode on Imbolc – you’ll find it here below, or where you normally listen to podcasts – to better understand what’s going on in nature right now, and how to celebrate Imbolc.
The Striker’s sacred grove
Once upon a time, in a quaint village on a windswept plain by the steel grey sea, there lived three
