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Imbolc Full Moon - Tending the Inner Flame
A reflection on release, renewal, and what we choose to nourish as the light returns
This Sunday, 1 February, we stand at a powerful threshold.
It is both Imbolc and the full moon - a rare and potent meeting of energies.
Imbolc is an ancient pre-Christian festival marking the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. Traditionally, it is a time of farewell to the deep stillness of winter and a gentle turning toward the returning light. A moment to clear, to bless, and to create space for what wants to grow.
As Heather Ensworth explores in a recent video, Imbolc has long been associated with the goddess Bríd (or Brigid) - honoured for over 6,000 years as guardian of the hearth, sacred wells, purification, and fire. She is also the goddess of thresholds and transitions, making her presence especially resonant at this turning point in the year.
It is hard not to feel the wider echo of this energy right now.
Collectively, we are living through a profound transition. Old ‘power over’ systems are cracking. Across the world, people are finding their voices, challenging structures that no longer serve, and insisting on something more just, more humane, more alive.
On a personal level, this season has mirrored my own inner landscape.
Since mid-October, I have been in a deep and deliberate retreat here in our little forest nest in the Dordogne. A time of profound healing and nervous system recalibration after an intense transition last year . A time of coming back into right relationship with my values, my body, and my authentic self.
As the wheel of the year turns, I can feel something shifting. A quiet but unmistakable stirring. A sense that after months of hibernation, I am ready to step back out into the world again.
Imbolc: The Maiden Awakens by Annie Louvaine
The natural world around us here seems to agree! The snowdrops have appeared and the daffodils are almost open. New buds appear daily. The birds are singing louder and longer, as if the forest itself is celebrating the return of the light.
As we move into Imbolc and honour Bríd this weekend, it feels like a powerful moment to pause and ask ourselves:
❤️🔥What is the sacred flame I want to tend and keep alive inside me - both for my own healing and for the healing of the world?
For me, the answer has been arriving all week, loud and clear.
Joy
Joy is the flame I want to tend. Not as bypassing. Not as denial. But as devotion.
In times like these, when so much suffering is visible - human and planetary - it can feel almost wrong to allow joy. We can easily fall into the story of, How can I feel joyful when there is so much pain in the world?
And yet, it is precisely because there is so much pain that joy matters.
Joy is not indulgence. It is resilience. It is medicine. It is a counterbalance to despair and an antidote to numbness. When joy is tended consciously, it becomes something that radiates outward - nourishing not just us, but the wider field we are part of.
As I prepare for this Imbolc full moon, I am committing to reconnecting with joy. Throughout February, my creative work will be shaped by this inquiry:
🌙 What is joy, really?
🌙 What causes my heart to soar?
🌙 How does joy live and move in my body?
🌙 How can I experience joy more consciously?
🌙 How might joy become something I offer into the world?
❤️🔥A simple Imbolc full moon ritual
To support this turning point, I’ve created a simple Imbolc full moon fire ritual that you can take into your own weekend in a way that feels grounded and personal.
The ritual focuses on:
❤️🔥 releasing what no longer serves
❤️🔥 clearing what dims your inner flame
❤️🔥 consciously tending what you want to nourish as the light returns
❤️🔥Ways to explore joy with me
If you feel drawn to explore this further, there are three gentle ways to do so:
❤️🔥 Join me for a 90-minute live Zoom workshop on JOY
Tuesday 17 February, 2026
7.30–9.00pm CEST | 6.30–8.00pm GMT | 1.30–3.00pm ET | 12.30–2.00pm CT | 10.30am–12.00pm PT
This is a small, unpublicised gathering and will only go ahead if there is enough interest. If you’d like to know more, simply drop me an email BEFORE Friday 13 February 2026. The cost will be €40.
❤️🔥Follow along and join the chat on Substack, where I’ll be sharing reflections and practices throughout February.
❤️🔥 Subscribe to my YouTube channel, where this theme will also be explored in video form.
❤️🔥 Join my mailing list to receive more gentle reflections and support directly to your inbox.