Large Fierce Mammal

This beautiful rendering is all over the Internet absent any accreditation. I use it here with every desire to learn, and credit, the Artist.

“It is Winter; the wind howls and Mother Nature lies sleeping, deep under a blanket of snow. Bare branches, stark against the slate gray sky, crack against each other like knucklebones, and when the winds really howl they snap, hitting the snow covered ground with a hushed thump.

“On the Great Wheel of the Year, this is the time of Imbolc. In the Celtic seasonal calendar, Imbolc marked the beginning of the lambing season. The ewes came into their milk and the first stirrings of Spring began.

“This is the ‘quickening of the year’; there is a spark hidden below the surface, like a new pregnancy, barely perceptible and yet urgently anticipated and holding great promise. The seed stirs in the belly of the Earth.” ~ Pagan Imbolc Stirs the Spirit, Shakes Off the Winter Blues

I was more than a little inspired to meditate on the time of Imbolc when Mrs. LFM and I were called upon last Thursday to put our skills to good ewes — a local sheep breeder had lambs due in mere days and needed electronic eyes and ears on her two very pregnant ladies. Here is the result, at least so far.

Hark to the Quickening.

Imbolc

By LFM

Hid beneath the frozen ground
The Maid of Imbolc stirs,
And stretching, yawns without a sound
To twitch the ear of Hare or Hound,
But nonetheless Her will resounds
In Everything that’s Hers.

Fiery Brigid casts Her light
On chambers deep and shallow,
Her children far and wide She calls,
Who creak and pop in lofty halls,
Or huddle deep in tiny balls,
That not a one lie fallow.