It’s time for Imbolc and the weather is following suit.
It’s frozen here, maybe where you are too.
The temperatures have been in the single digits, threatening survival.
So, we do the work to survive.
The weather isn’t the only thing threatening survival these days.
There’s a danger in our social climate that many of us, witches and wheel walkers included, remember in our bones.
At Imbolc we ritualize survival, committing to keeping our chi alive.
As you’ll read in the 2026 Darkwood Almanac, we are “reality makers” this year.
Our Imbolc vows are the first step in creating realities– ones that we aren’t simply lucky to survive.
Imbolc is Feb 1 and 2.
It’s the midpoint between winter solstice and spring equinox, and the beginning of “Priestess season”; a way to walk through late winter with reverence.
Here’s a check list and a little ritual to help you honor Imbolc and start Priestess season off with potency.
1. have some Priestess anointing oil on hand
2. set aside some time for ritual or contemplation, ideally at dawn. Design a ritual that might include the Year Ahead oracle spread, vows, purification, channeling with the divine, or taking in deep nourishment.
3. create an Imbolc altar with items that represent Priestess and Imbolc themes.
4. prepare the vows that you’ll be taking.
5. have the Priestess playlist ready, if music will support your ritual
6. use the following invocation to prepare your space and psyche for a potent ritual.
Face the East.
Say: Beloved east, we call to you and your Priestesses. We call the initiates, the ones who revere beginnings. We call Beginner’s Mind and the ones who tend its temples. We call the indigo light of dawn and the breath as it enters the body. When we face east, we welcome this wisdom and honor it within ourselves.
Face the South
Say: Beloved south, we call to you and your Priestesses. We call the inner flame, the pilot light that’s kept us alive through the Dreaming of the year. We call life force and chi, and the drive to devote it with solemn vows. We call the strike of the match, and the hiss of the wick as our candles light. When we face the south, we welcome this wisdom and honor it within ourselves.
Face the West
Say: Beloved west, we call to you and your Priestesses. We call the holy waters and wells, reflecting the sky but not to becoming it. We call the depths of The Mystery and the divine. When we face the west, we welcome this wisdom and honor it within ourselves.
Face the North
Say: Beloved North, we call to you and your Priestesses. We call sacred ground, the caverns and caves that hold space for silence and rest. We call the temple itself, solid sanctuaries in any form. We call the stability of vows and devotion. When we face the north, we welcome this wisdom and honor it within ourselves.
Face Center
Say: Beloved center, temple within, we honor you. You, altar where the inner flame burns bright, where prayer beads await; you, where smoke of incense and sacred herb unfurls. Beloved center, shelter for the little lamb, seat of the sacred, we welcome and honor your wisdom.
love and Imbolc,
xo
kv
PS: this is my “holy well”, frozen but still flowing from the warm heart of the mountain.
