Many years ago I was part of a spiritually focused women’s group; we called ourselves WINGS (Women Inspired to Nurture and Grow Spiritually). It was a key factor that catapulted me fully onto the spiritual path.
We were a small group, just the four of us meeting monthly in the San Francisco Bay Area. We bonded deeply and are still close (in spirit, though we live far apart) over thirty years later.
So what made me think of WINGS today? It was seeing the image above and remembering how — thanks to my friend, Hanna — we celebrated the ancient Celtic spring festival of Imbolc.
Imbolc is the time when the first stirrings of spring are felt. It is “the promise of renewal, of hidden potential, of earth awakening and life-force stirring.”
I’ve recently been feeling an awareness of that here in the rural community where I live. I can see the barest hint of buds and of plants just beginning to push up through the ground. And even though it’s still cold and the days are still pretty short, you can sense the pulse of the earth picking up and feel the increasing hope that spring really is on its way.
I think we’re beginning to feel it in our lives as well. I’m beginning to sense that the projects that have sometimes seemed like nothing’s happening…that there’s nothing to show for all the work…that it’s taking too long…that those very projects are beginning to quicken. That the growth is happening, even though it’s not showing yet. There’s a rightness to the process that is as old as time and this reassures me and I feel hopeful again.
You can read more about Imbolc here.