Stirring in the Belly
February 1, 2010 · by Christine
Monastic practice offers me the gift of paying attention to the seasons of the day and the year. February 1st is a potent time. On the Celtic wheel of the year it is Imbolc (meaning “stirring in the belly”) which is one of the cross-quarter days falling between the Solstice and the Equinox. Imbolc marks the first day of spring, the time when the very beginning of earth’s stirrings and awakenings from winter can be seen. In Christian tradition it is the Feast of St. Brigid (an Irish Saint who is associated with fire) and on February 2nd is Candlemas which is the day traditionally when priests would bless the beeswax candles for the year ahead. In secular society February 2nd is Groundhog Day when the groundhog emerges from his burrow to see if there will be six more weeks of winter. On Saturday it was the Jewish feast of Tu B’Shevat, the new year of trees which marks the time when the sap begins to rise and winter’s waning. Earth and fire are the sacred elements of this threshold time when many cultures and traditions honor the first stirrings of the earth’s belly.
Yesterday I led a group of women in retreat. We tended to the stirrings in our own bellies and listened to the world around us for whispers of how creation invites us into blossoming. As we began, I invited them to put their hands on their bellies – that tender and vulnerable place – and sit for a few moments in stillness listening.
You might pause right now and try this:
Connect to your body, hand on your belly, breathe deeply, and pay attention to what you notice stirring in you.
What feelings, images, memories are moving in you?
After savoring these, listen for the invitation you are sensing.
How does what you are experiencing speak to what wants to sprout forth from the fertile soil of your soul in the months ahead?
Take these invitations for a walk with you and see how the world around you helps to ripen your sense of what is stirring.
How does creation call forth what is just beginning to burgeon within you?
The photos below were taken in Ireland last autumn at the site of St. Bridgid’s holy well, a place of pilgrimage and reflection. The ribbons on the trees are prayers left by pilgrims seeking solace and inspiration. It is incredibly moving to witness this gathering of prayers, this sacred site holding people’s deepest desires. The green ribbon is the one I left for Bridget, carrying my own longings into winter’s incubation. The next couple of days I will listen to how this prayer uttered in my heart several months ago is now being transformed in the earth of my being into an offering for the world.
If you were to tie a ribbon on Bridgid’s tree today, what would your prayer be?
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© Christine Valters Paintner at Abbey of the Arts:
Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts
Posted in Cycles and Seasons | 14 Comments »
February 1st, 2010 at 7:09 am
What a wonderful and beautiful tradition!
February 1st, 2010 at 8:15 am
Dear Christene,
As I read and and followed your invitation to do the exercise, I experienced something deeply beautiful.
Your images, as always are meaningful and beautiful.
With Gratitude and Joy for the Blessings you bestow, I will go into my day.
Vielen Dank.
Andrea
February 1st, 2010 at 10:03 am
gives new meaning to the phrase “to tie one on!”
February 1st, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Thank you for prompting me to wish for a sprouting forth in my life in the coming months and allegorically to tie a ribbon to Bride’s tree. It is the right time, isn’t it?
Thank you as well for the images you conjure up — winter’s incubation — the womb of my soul in a way…
February 1st, 2010 at 12:54 pm
Last July along with 22 other pilgrims in our group, I tied a ribbon to the tree at Bridget’s well in Kildare for my sister Marge who is dying. In 2006 I did the same, in gratitude for the birth of a long-hoped-for granddaughter. And in 1998 for the first time at Herself’s well, for blessing of a major life change.
I continue to look for the thin places, like Bridget’s well, where grace seems more available, particularly on this day, February 1st. Thanks, Christene reminding us.
February 1st, 2010 at 1:00 pm
This is amazing. When this post came to my inbox, I was in the process of putting all the second chakra (belly) exercises I’ve found into one document, to incorporate into my combined celebration of Tu Bish’vat, Imbolc, and Candlemas over today and tomorrow.
Thank you for this lovely addition to my celebration!
February 2nd, 2010 at 2:55 am
what beautiful imagery of ribbons of prayers waving in the wind
i think i should like to start a prayer tree on my property
a nice addition to the painted prayers walk already there
February 2nd, 2010 at 9:34 am
Your photos transport me back to that sacred place as your words remind me to pause and listen for what is stirring. Blessings.
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:03 am
Dear Christine,
I was delighted to see that someone honours this wonderful feast and St. Brigid. I have led three Celtic Pilgrimages to Ireland and Scotland and one of our favourite places is the well of St. Brigid in Kildare. We always tie our prayer ribbons to the tree there, and at other holy wells as well. I am Irish and I know the power of the holy places to connect one to the sacred. Thank you for the meditation exercise . The reminder to connect to my own body and to listen to what is stirring within is so healing.
Go raibh mile maith agat (A million thanks)
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:29 am
At first I resisted the message of your letter, because it is still deep mid-winter here in Central Alberta. As I look out the window, the morning’s ice fog has lifted, replaced by snow flurries. Both sky and ground are white, punctuated by grey and black in buildings and trees. There is very little colour. Nothing is stirring — whether in the belly or without. Then I remember: in February, the lambing and kidding will be starting at neighbouring farms. In February, I am hanging new suet balls on my trees to feed the over-wintering birds. New life, nurturing life — this is my mid-winter connection to the sacred.
February 2nd, 2010 at 12:03 pm
I sit in my study looking out at Puget Sound, noticing the glassy water
reflecting the greening trees.
I go outside and notice the tulips and daffodils pushing their green leaves
up through the soil and the early rhododenron buds about to burst.
My husband is in the greenhouse happily planting the first seeds for this
new year of blossoming
Much is being born.
February 2nd, 2010 at 3:40 pm
I love reading each of your responses and reflections, I feel connected to this wide web of beautiful souls each seeking the new stirring. It feels incredibly hopeful and vital. With much gratitude!
February 2nd, 2010 at 6:28 pm
A whole new experience worth being with.
Thanks
February 4th, 2010 at 10:04 am
Ahhhh…thank you, Christine, for this lovely, stirring post…for fire and Brigid and holy wells. I love the days of St. Brigid’s Feast and Candlemas and am grateful for your words and images and invitations. I celebrated the days in Minnesota, where my sweetheart and I were invited to lead a St. Brigid’s Feast Day celebration. It was amazing to enter into those days in a wintry landscape (vs. here in Florida!). Blessings and gratitude to you in this turning of seasons.