Intuitive Writing: Winter Writing Ritual
Writing and the intuitive sense are intricately linked. Writing can be used to connect with our intuition. Writing requires observation, attention and listening, just as intuition does.
When we write, we are channeling, we are exploring possibility. When we write, we create something that wasn’t there before. Join us for this ongoing series of intuitive writing prompts with writer & poet Kate Belew.
Winter is a season of deep reflection, of pausing, and of death. As the external world falls to sleep, we similarly need to give ourselves more rest. After the days of the Winter Solstice, the longest night, the days begin to lengthen again. Spring is coming though it may feel far off. Celebrating Imbolc can help to find hope in the heart of winter.
The Sabbat celebration of Imbolc arrives in the days of early February, usually on February 1st or 2nd, in perfect balance in between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. Also known as Brigid’s Day or the Feast of Saint Brigid, Imbolc is deeply intertwined with the story of the Goddess Brigid, goddess of fire, healing waters, childbirth, poetry and metalworkers.
The air may still be cold, the plants still taking cover underground, and snow still blanketing the landscape of the Northern Hemisphere; we know that the most difficult days of winter are over. While our ancestors may have experienced a much different winter than we do in the modern world, our bodies are still rooted into the earth itself, and therefore the external seasons reflect our internal landscapes. If we come to stillness and learn to listen, we just may hear the first call of spring. We can ask ourselves, “What is beginning to awaken in ourselves too?”
There are Snowdrops meeting the sun for the first time.
Here are some small Imbolc winter rituals you can practice…
Journaling about projects that you’re currently dreaming about! Before the seeds are planted, the thought to plant them must be conceived. What are you preparing to plant into the earth to nourish and grow in the spring? Now is the time to explore…
Find ways to rest against urgency. While the external world may continue to move at a fast pace, in what ways can we honor the winter inside of ourselves? Sip a cup of tea, do nothing, sit in stillness, these are all winter rituals that can honor the sacred pause.
At Imbolc, go for a walk in nature. Do you see any signs that the world is waking up? Legends say that if you hear a Lark or Robin on Imbolc, spring is coming sooner than you may expect.
Grieve what has passed. Winter is the perfect opportunity to ritualize and honor what has come to pass and is now over. Examine the grief rituals in your life, and give them a new found spaciousness this winter.
Below is a seven-line prompt meant to help hold your hand in creating a poem based on the magic of Imbolc. Each line describes a different “move” in the poem that you, the writer, can make.
Some lines have sentences started for you.
Title: Balancing Winter _______
Line 1: “Whatever waits ______”
Line 2: “From the ________”
Line 3:”The kind of ______”
Line 4: Speak about a new beginning
Line 5:”Starts _______”
Line 6:”Underworld that __________”
Line 7:”And here, my own __________”
I wanted to share mine this month!
Balancing of Winter Changes
Whatever waits beyond the horizon
gestures back, branches.
I sow the kind of seedlings
that seek sun, a cycle of strangeness,
the turn of the seasons
starting here in the earth.
Underworld that I hold in my hands,
and here, my own roots, wandering down.
As you’re writing this month, complete the journey with this warming herbal infusion created with Sun Potion Ashwagandha Elixir.
