Happy Imbolc/Candlemas for those in the Southern hemisphere!

The traditional date for Imbolc is 1st February in the Northern Hemisphere, so we can translate that to 1st August here in Australia, though it’s debatable whether there’s ever been an Imbolc ‘tradition’ here in the Great South Land (though goddess knows, we have enough sheep!)  Astronomically this year, this celebration falls on the 7th August.   By paying attention to the tasks of each season, we optimise our growth and flow more easily with what’s arising.

Energy: Yin
Direction: South-East
Diurnal cycle: Early morning, 3am, a time of sleep, dreams and meditation
Lunar phase: Crescent Moon
Archetypal Season: beginning of Summer
Indigenous Season: Waring, Wombat Season

• Waring (Wombats) emerge to graze and bask in the sunshine
• Male Bulen-Bulen (Superb Lyrebirds) perform their courtship displays
• Hearts of kombadik (soft tree-ferns) are the major food when no fruits are available
• Cool rainy days follow misty mornings
• Days are short, nights are long
• Constellation of Sagittarius rises in the south-east after sunset, indicating the mid-point of cold weather (source)

Sabbat: Imbolc, the mid-point (cross-quarter) between the Winter Solstice (Yule) and the Spring Equinox (Ostara)
Life season: Birth, baby, young child
Fertility cycle: still bleeding/letting go, but also regenerating, the body busy rebuilding the functional layer of the endometrium

Themes: clearing, cleansing, infancy, innocence, dawn, initiative, innovation, hope, first shoots, light, new beginnings, purity, white, new growth, creativity, wisdom and learning.

Garden: trees budding, acacias flowering, bulbs just starting to flower, citrus fruiting, much of the garden still looking bare and perhaps ‘un-lovely.’

The Lunar-Solar Journal asks these questions:
What dreams and intentions are seeding within me?
What do I need in order to nurture this new growth? 

We anticipate the fullness of Spring and the tangible growth of all the seeds we are planting, both literal and metaphorical!  We await the warmth of the Sun…