Hello friends,
I’m writing this as dusk settles over Worcestershire, and there’s something proper magical happening in the sky tonight. The Snow Moon is rising (albeit behind the clouds), full and luminous, marking not just February’s arrival but something much older: the festival of Imbolc and St. Brigid’s Day. Three ancient markers of the turning year, all converging on this single evening.
Honestly? I love when the cosmos does this. When the calendar aligns in ways that feel less like coincidence and more like… well, like nature nudging us awake.
What’s Happening Tonight (And Why It Matters)
The Snow Moon reaches its fullest point around 10:00 PM this evening, shining in the constellation Leo. The name comes from North American Indigenous traditions, marking the time of year when snow lies deepest and hunting is hardest. Some called it the Hunger Moon for that very reason.
But here in the British Isles, we’ve layered other stories onto this moment.
Imbolc (pronounced “im-olk” or “em-bowlk” depending on who you ask) falls on February 1st or 2nd, right between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. It’s one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, and its name translates roughly as “in the belly”: the ewes are pregnant, milk is beginning to flow, and beneath the frozen ground, life is stirring. The ancient Celts recognised this as “the quickening”, that subtle shift from dormancy into motion.
And then there’s St. Brigid: a Christian saint whose feast day lands on February 1st, but whose roots reach much further back into pre-Christian goddess worship. Brigid (or Brigit, or Bríd) was the keeper of the sacred flame, patron of poets, healers, and smiths. Her crosses, woven from rushes, still hang in Irish homes as protective symbols. Some scholars reckon she’s the same figure as the earlier Celtic goddess Brigantia, simply given new clothes when Christianity arrived.
So tonight: one moon, three layers of meaning. All pointing toward the same thing.
The Return of Light (Even When It’s Still Bloody Freezing)
Look, I’ll be honest. Early February doesn’t feel like spring in Worcestershire. Often we’re still wearing two jumpers indoors and still scraping frost off the car some mornings. But if you pay attention, really pay attention, you’ll notice the light is changing. Sunrise comes earlier. Sunset lingers a bit longer. The garden (what’s left of it) shows tiny green shoots beneath last year’s dead stalks. Snowdrops have been out for a week or two now, those brave little things. Even the daffodils are making a strong appearance along the roadsides of White Ladies Aston.
This is what the old festivals understood: spring doesn’t arrive suddenly. It creeps in. The Snow Moon marks that transition, that moment when winter’s deep sleep begins to crack open.
Traditional Celtic wisdom saw Imbolc as a fire festival, a time to light candles and invite Brigid’s flame into the home. People would weave Brigid’s crosses, clean their houses thoroughly (the original spring clean?), and prepare the ground for planting. It was practical magic: acknowledging what needed to be released, what needed tending, what wanted to grow.
Sound familiar?
What the Snow Moon Asks of Us
I’ve been sitting with this question all week: what does it mean to honour the quickening in our own lives?
Because here’s the thing. We live in a culture obsessed with constant productivity, with maintaining the same pace year-round. But nature doesn’t work like that. Winter is meant for rest, for going inward, for composting old growth into rich soil. And late winter, this in-between time, is when we start to feel the first stirrings of new energy.
Not a sprint. A stirring.
The Snow Moon invites us to notice what’s beginning to move beneath the surface of our lives. What wants attention? What’s ready to be released? What tiny green shoot is pushing through frozen ground inside us, asking for space to grow?
Maybe it’s a creative project you’ve been thinking about since November. Maybe it’s a relationship that needs honest conversation. Maybe it’s simply admitting you’re tired and need proper rest before spring properly arrives.
Clearing Space: The “Let Go Within” Workshop
Speaking of releasing what no longer serves… I’m running a longer workshop on Sunday, February 8th that feels perfectly timed for this moment in the year.
Let Go Within is a 3.5-hour afternoon journey at Zenergy Wellness in Bromsgrove (12:30 PM to 4:00 PM). We’ll be working with Conscious Connected Breathwork to shift stuck energy, journalling to process what comes up, Ho’oponopono for forgiveness and release, and closing with a combined session of Yoga Nidra and a deeply relaxing sound bath.
Oh, and there’s cake. Obviously.
This workshop is about creating space. About acknowledging what we’ve been carrying through the winter months (or even years of winter months) and gently, consciously, letting it go. It’s intense work, but in the best possible way: you leave feeling lighter, clearer, ready for whatever wants to emerge.
Perfect for this Imbolc season, really.
Deep Rest for the In-Between Time
Of course, sometimes what the quickening requires isn’t dramatic clearing but simply… profound rest.
My monthly Sound Asleep session returns on Wednesday, February 18th (7:00 PM to 8:30 PM) at The Fold in Bransford. This is my signature 90-minute Nidra and Sound Bath experience, and it’s become something of a sanctuary for folks who need to properly switch off.
I designed Sound Asleep for people who struggle to rest deeply or switch off from a busy life. The combination of Yoga Nidra (conscious sleep) and Sound Bath creates this gorgeous liminal state where your nervous system can finally, finally let go. People often tell me they sleep better for days afterwards.
During this in-between season, when our bodies are still in winter mode but spring is whispering at the edges, deep rest becomes even more essential. We need that restoration to support whatever wants to grow.
Tending Your Own Flame
Here’s what I keep coming back to: Brigid’s flame never went out. In Kildare, Ireland, priestesses tended a perpetual fire for centuries, and even when Christianity arrived, the tradition continued with nuns. The fire became Christian, but it kept burning.
What’s your flame? What spark inside you needs tending through these late winter weeks?
Maybe it’s your creative energy. Maybe it’s your sense of purpose. Maybe it’s simply your capacity for joy, which can get buried under grey skies and endless to-do lists.
The Snow Moon and Imbolc remind us: you don’t need to blaze yet. You just need to keep the ember alive. Feed it gently. Protect it from the wind. Trust that when spring properly arrives, you’ll have the fuel to burn bright.
This Week’s Practice
If you want to work with this Snow Moon energy, here’s what I suggest:
Light a candle tonight (safely, obviously). Sit with it for a few minutes. Ask yourself:
- What am I ready to release from winter’s darkness?
- What tiny seed is beginning to stir inside me?
- How can I tend my inner flame through these next weeks?
Don’t force answers. Just sit with the questions. Notice what arises.
And if you fancy some company on this journey, you know where to find me: either at the Let Go Within workshop on the 8th or Sound Asleep on the 18th. Or both.
The light is returning, friends. Slowly, steadily, surely.
Happy Snow Moon. Happy Imbolc. Happy St. Brigid’s Day.
May your flame burn steady.
