Stirring in the Belly

February 2, 2008 · by Christine

Happy Feast of Imbolc, St. Brigid’s Day, Candlemas, and Groundhog Day!

Imbolc is a Celtic feast that is cross-quarter day, meaning it is the midway point between the winter solstice and spring equinox.  The sun marks the four Quarter Days of the year (the Solstices and Equinoxes) and the midpoints are the cross-quarter days.  In some cultures today is the official beginning of spring.

As the days slowly lengthen and the sun makes her way higher in the sky, the ground beneath our feet begins to thaw.  The earth softens and the seeds deep below stir in the darkness.  The word “imbolc” means “in the belly.”  The earth’s belly is beginning to awaken, new life is stirring, seeds are sprouting forth. 

Candlemas and Imbolc are traditionally a time to look forward.  With the season of Lent beginning this Wednesday in the Christian calendar, it seems an especially appropriate time to notice what the new life stirring within your own belly feels like. 

How might you give room for this new life to grow?  What practices would help you to cultivate more spaciousness?

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Here is a poem I posted last year that I still adore (by one of my favorite poets):

Groundhog Day

Celebrate this unlikely oracle,
this ball of fat and fur,
whom we so mysteriously endow
with the power to predict spring.
Let’s hear it for the improbable heroes who,
frightened at their own shadows,
nonetheless unwittingly work miracles.
Why shouldn’t we believe
this peculiar rodent holds power
over sun and seasons in his stubby paw?
Who says that God is all grandeur and glory?

Unnoticed in the earth, worms
are busily, brainlessly, tilling the soil.
Field mice, all unthinking, have scattered
seeds that will take root and grow.
Grape hyacinths, against all reason,
have been holding up green shoots beneath the snow.
How do you think spring arrives?
There is nothing quieter, nothing
more secret, miraculous, mundane.
Do you want to play your part
in bringing it to birth? Nothing simpler.
Find a spot not too far from the ground
and wait.

-Lynn Ungar, from Blessing the Bread

In the midst of signs of winter all around us, how might you give yourself some time today to just listen for spring’s quiet rising?

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Some additional recommended resources in preparation for Lent:

The staff of Earth Ministry, a wonderful organization based here in Seattle, are each posting to their blog the practices they are each committing to for the season of Lent.  The focus is on different ways of fasting for the environment.  Some great inspiration to be found there.

The Image Journal of Religion and the Arts has re-vamped their website and launched a new blog with a nice variety of artists contributing reflections on the intersection of art and faith.   They are also taking registrations for their next Glen Workshop which is in Santa Fe, NM July 27-August 3, 2008.  This is a marvelous week of workshops options (including poetry, fiction, spirititual writing, screenwriting, songwriting, drawing, photography, mixed media, and a seminar) and an incredible community of people who come, many year after year.  I have been twice before and both times were great experiences.  If you’re looking for some high quality engagement between art & writing and the Christian tradition, this is definitely a worthwhile event.  In their last email newsletter they also said they have scholarships available for those in need of assistance.

And finally Jan Richardson, who I have mentioned many times here since I am a big fan of her work also has a blog where she’ll be offering some of her reflections for Lent along with her beautiful art.  She will also be the focus of an upcoming Sacred Artist Interview later in February.

-Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts

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