Candlemas thoughts and ideas

Candlemas, or Imbolc as it is more commonly called, is a pagan festival of light. Themes of purification, initiation, and virginity dominate this sabbat. In the wheel of the year myth, the Goddess is recovering from her birth and seeing the “light at the end of the tunnel” at last, and the God is a child. It’s a layered holiday, and the themes I’ve most related to have shifted as I’ve aged.

When I first dedicated myself to Wicca, it was all about the virginity. I loved that there was a sabbat that celebrated the power of a young celibate person, particularly as I had little interest in dating.

In the years that followed, I fasted for the week before, thinking that consuming nothing but water would purify me; when it actually just left me sick and weak, too tired to perform my ritual on the last day. I expected to feel light, instead, I could barely function. Yet I persisted, figuring I needed to do something to balance out my diet. At that point in my life there often wasn’t any food and an official fast wasn’t much different to a regular day, but when there was food I was living off canned spaghetti sandwiches, sausages, tea and biscuits. In Canada that turned into pierogies, hot dogs, tea and biscuits. 

Then I found myself pregnant. Even if my body could’ve coped with skipping meals, I wouldn’t have done that to my foetus. Plus I was over the appeal of deliberately making myself feel like crap. I’d moved past the urge to punish myself.

Dairy became prominent during the shift and through my first two pregnancies. I’d always replaced the ritual wine with milk for Candlemas, but now I drank two litres of the stuff a day. I cooked with butter, cheese, or yoghurt in every meal, and went out of my way to make massive dairy-based feasts and lamb roasts for the holiday. It made sense, the sheep and cows had just had their babies—somewhere out in the country—and I was lactating too. I felt a kinship with them and the land. I felt the hope that comes with small children and the start of spring. 

That was before I realised those mothers would have their babies torn away from them, often considered waste products. Before I knew what my dairy addiction was doing to the earth I proposed to revere. Before I recognised the toll breeding had taken on my own body, and found sympathy for these animals that are treated like machines. Impregnated over and over until their bodies fall apart. Before I acknowledged that I was eating another mother’s baby. But hey, I got there in the end.

With all the energies of restlessness and change swirling around at this time of the year, it isn’t any wonder that it was between Imbolc and Eostre that Deer Heart and I made the commitment to bring up our children plant-based. Something neither of us had ever wanted or envisioned had suddenly become the only way forward. 

Candlemas weekend is when we plant our garden, and it’s a time when we germinate new ideas, too. The way the earth feels speaks to me. These days my milk comes from magic beans, but I still enjoy creamy dishes that take me back to my breastfeeding days, and salads begin making an appearance in my meal rotations again as the days get warmer.

Below is a handy list of things you can do to celebrate and harness the energies of this sabbat, outside of a circle. Let me know down in the comments or on social media what your favourite cruelty-free ways to celebrate Candlemas are.

May the light shine in us, always.

Miriam Cumming is a witch, author, and full-time mum. She’s on Facebook talking about parenting and books, and Instagram talking about Wicca and planning. Or she’s at the local coffee shop, praying to Caffiena to get her through this day. Come say hi!