Imbolc from Across the Sea
When an Cailleach & Brigid Meet
An audio recording is included as an invitation to experience the sacredness held within the voice (and tradition) of oral storytelling. If it resonates, please enjoy at your leisure - maybe curled up with a warm cuppa tea or held within the wild embrace of the magical natural world that surrounds you.
Mo ghrá go léir / All my love,
Erica
[Experience the hearth of this story, titled A Vision of Imbolc, at 10:06 of the audio recording]
I am courage, power and inner strength, flowering staff of freedom. Your unbowed head, Your rock, your shield, your struggle. I am the sweet soil of independence, tilled by many hands, the land which nourishes your roots. I am your tears shed for the brave, your rainbow dreams, your sovereign state, And your arms which reach to the stars. - Sovereignty Cailleach, Jane Brideson [Wisdom of the Cailleach Oracle Deck].
A Call for Our Mná: To Our Wise Mothers and Grandmothers
Imbolc seedlings stir and bloom, from the midnight embrace of Samhain.
The snowy landscapes of an Cailleach give way for the waters of Brigid.
For new life to spring forth, we need the Earth Mother to hold within her a time of seasonal and sacred darkness.
Those of us in our Imbolc season, need our mná feasa (our wise women) to guide, to hold, and to instruct us on how to navigate these times and our inner world; so that, when we’re called into our own Cailleach season, we are ready to bravely take the helm.
Mothers, Aunties, Grandmothers; Our Wisdom Keepers; Our Seers; In body And spirit; Be with us. Meet us. Hold us. Witness us. Show us the way, so that we may not only bloom; But know the rituals of tending to the fires in our bellies; And the wisdom of our wombs. Stand steady at our sides, So that our roots may be so Grounded in the earth We are unwavering - such as you. When we doubt ourselves. Believe in the wisdom that we carry. As we become our knowing. Support us through the midwifing of our rising, So that we may stand together. With your gentle words. With your steady hands. Show us how to be Wise Mothers of [ourselves and of] the Land.
Imbolc from Across the Sea
“The grandmothers give us strength; they hold us and guide us at times when we feel bereft or alone. They whisper in our ears. The grandmothers remind us of our nature and interconnectedness with the land… There is a continuity in us that goes back to the beginning. We carry that within our DNA… We have a circle of grandmother who are there to remind us of our stories and our songs and of the ancient wisdom. In this place, they help us to retrieve that information and bring it forth again. As we grow on in life, we can feel them close to us and can choose, if we wish, to allow them to work through us, to share the information that is needed for all of us to hear.”
Amantha Murphy with Orla O’Connell, ‘The Way of the Seabhean: An Irish Shamanic Path’ [p.106-7]
In the north of Turtle Island, the presence of an Cailleach often lingers longer than the beginning of Imbolc season (usually marked and celebrated around the first of February).
Today, here in Ottawa, upon the traditional and unceded land of the Algonquin Anishinabeg People, the embrace of an Cailleach is still very much felt in the city.
For me, Imbolc has felt like being ‘in the belly’ (the translation of this season’s name). Many times I have attempted to emerge, to move more, to lift creative projects up onto their feet (or at least the page). I’ve attempted to lay the foundations for a daily communion with my Otherworldly guides; and each time I was told: “not yet; rest”.
Of the past 10-12 weeks, I’ve probably spent six of those weeks resting, sleeping, coughing, and sneezing, navigating the best I could through cold and flu season.
Yet, with the Spring Equinox approaching, and more light upon us, only now does my body, spirit, and mind feel ready to anchor in the callings of this year.
“From the void, we move into the place of birth with Brigit.”
Amantha Murphy with Orla O’Connell, ‘The Way of the Seabhean: An Irish Shamanic Path’ [p.109]
During this past Samhain, I attended a virtual gathering titled Purpose & Power: A Women’s Retreat - facilitated by The Foundation of the Sacred Stream and (one of my teacher’s) Isa Gucciardi, PhD.
During one of our inner journey’s, I received the insight that my dán is woven alongside the phrase ‘ancient ways in modern days’.
Over the past several years, I’ve learnt that the way I move through the world is deeply rooted within my Irish heritage. Feeling particularly called to the ways of the mná chaointe [the keening women] and the mná ghlúine [the women on their hunches or midwives], I’m beginning to understand why I was drawn to a path of service that supports others as the navigate between worlds.
So, while hearing that my soul’s purpose is threaded within the framework of ‘ancient ways in modern days’ made logistical sense, there was a part of me the felt overwhelmed at the task - thinking: but how do I do that?
“Brigit holds this space, the place of birth and beginnings… This is a time to look at all that lies within the seed and all that can grow from it… This is the place of beginning, of birth, of new things coming into our lives. We need to be open to that. Brigit midwives things into being. She is the one we call on when we want to give brith, both physical birth and creations of the mind.”
Amantha Murphy with Orla O’Connell, ‘The Way of the Seabhean: An Irish Shamanic Path’ [p.109]
Looking towards the year ahead, already there are many magical happenings stirring before me:
Being invited by
to be KnotWork’s 2025 Storyteller in Residence.Committing to bringing De thír mo mháithreacha: Of the Land of My Mothers to the page and stage, while being held by the Authors’ Knot community. With this project, I’ll also be travelling to County Kerry (as part of an artistic residency) to connect with the land and the voice(s) of this story.
Bringing the stories of the Irish witches to the page and stage.
Each of these wondrous workings is no small task, beckoning for time to be nurtured, nourished, and encouraged. Each of them have spirits across the veil asking for their stories to be told.
So, while a cold may simply be just that - a cold. I also feel I was held within the belly of Imbolc season to rest; in order to create more space within myself, more alignment within my being, for these stories to have a rooted space to land.
And while some may think ‘Erica, your body simply came into contact with seasonal germs and you just needed to see it through’; frankly, I’ve lived enough life to have learnt of the mystical and intricate connections between the physical and spiritual body.
So, maybe a cold can be a cold; but also a threshold?
Either way, I am grateful to be held by wise women of the physical and spiritual realm (including an Cailleach and Brigid) as I navigate this unfolding path.
I am grateful for you and your company along the way.
And I look forward to learning more deeply what is called to move through me as an offering for ‘ancient ways in modern days’.
A Vision of Imbolc
Experience the hearth of this story starting at 10:06 in our audio recording.
Throughout Imbolc season, I have wondered:
What might a meeting of an Cailleach and Brigid be like?
What might be witnessed at the seasonal threshold of Samhain and Imbolc?
What might be found in the passing of wisdom from grandmother to mother?
And while I didn’t receive a linear story, I did witness a beautiful moment - that I’ve woven here to share with you. Calling it the hearth of a story felt more fitting than ‘a part of’ a story.
At the same time, I’ve felt drawn to speak into the collective creative ethers a calling for a visual to accompany this moment in liminal time.
I am not a visual artist in the slightest - though I often find myself wishing that I was; as a means of offering the tangibility of the Otherworld in a visual way.
This is where I would like to place an invitation in your hands. If something in this share resonates within you and you feel called to visually capture it on a page for the physical eye to see, I would love to share it alongside this piece. Please feel welcome to email me or share it in the comments.
And now…
Let’s take a journey together.
Being of Irish and French ancestry, I continue to be reverently grateful to the traditional spirits and keepers of the land [past, present, and forth-coming] of the unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinabeg People; where I was born and currently reside.
Culture, language, and stories run within the rivers and are held within the stones of landscapes. Míle buíochas, a thousand thanks, for the opportunity to live, create, share stories, and walk alongside you.
I would love for Weavings of the Wise & Embodied to be an opportunity for us to connect in shared story. A homecoming of souls around the hearth, held within this sacred liminal space.
Please feel welcome to contribute or share by leaving a comment below. It would be wonderful to hear from you.
Until we meet in circle again, may grace and ease continue to find you.
Le dea ghuí / With good wishes,
Erica
Interested in more information on 1:1 supportive offerings or Erica’s approach to sacred storytelling?
Please visit Into the Circle with Erica O’Reilly for more information.
If this is your first experience held within our corner of the Substack realm, I would love for you to continue the journey with us - and invite a friend to come along as well!
Oh, here's to the cold and a cold being a threshold, and here's to ancient ways in modern days, and here's to the magic we've already woven and will weave in the year to come! 💚✨🌀🌱
Stunning!