maddiviner:

Imbolc is approaching, and I wanted to wish everyone who celebrates it a beautiful and fruitful holiday. To my Thelemite brethren, this is known as Feast of the Stars, and I’ve experienced some interesting and potent rituals held in its honor in the past when I was able to visit my then-local Thelemic temple. 

To Wiccans and many others, though, it’s known as Imbolc and celebrates the cross-quarter, marking the time between solstice and equinox and reminding us that winter can’t last forever. While I don’t typically celebrate, I’m using this month and the next as a time of reflection on my own path and beliefs about the universe. 

I made the above image, inspired by memories from long ago. The text in the background is a poem by Rumi that I once overheard being sung by a choir after wandering into a Unitarian church, and the overall style and mood of the image recalls an experience I had attending, briefly, an Imbolc celebration held in a Quaker church in Pittsburgh by a Wiccan coven. Both were beautiful to behold, though I don’t consider myself an adherent of either path. 

I’m not one of those people who believes there’s beauty in every drop of life, but I think the key to being a happy person is to recognize beauty when you do see it. I feel like I’ve seen a lot of beautiful things in my life. Maybe that’s why, despite the smog choking Krakow right now, the freezing temperatures and long hours of darkness, I’m still optimistic and happy to be where I am.