Honouring the First Stirring of Spring
Written by Michelle Ringin, Western Medicinal Herbalist & Weight Management Practitioner (NHAA Member) | Date Published: August 1st 2026 | Last Reviewed: August 1st 2026 Reading time: 8 minutes
“Even beneath the coldest soil, life is already beginning to awaken.”
Date: Around 1st and 2nd August (Southern Hemisphere)
While winter still holds the land in its quiet embrace, something begins to change around the beginning of August. The days slowly lengthen, birds become more active, tiny green shoots emerge, and beneath the surface the Earth is preparing for a new season of growth.
This is Imbolc- the first of the spring festivals on the Wheel of the Year.
Whether you celebrate it as a sacred festival, a seasonal marker, or simply as a reminder that brighter days are ahead, Imbolc invites us to pause and notice the first whispers of renewal.
What You’ll Learn
In this article we’ll explore:
• What Imbolc is and where it sits on the Wheel of the Year.
• The ancient history of Imbolc and the traditions that surrounded it.
• The story of Brigid- goddess, saint, and guardian of healers and herbalists.
• What Imbolc means for us today, and how it unfolds in the Australian landscape.
• Herbal allies traditionally associated with this season of gentle awakening- and the fascinating folklore behind them.
• An Awakening Spring tea blend and a simple Imbolc ritual to enjoy at home.
• When it may be worth seeking personalised herbal support as the seasons change.
What is Imbolc?
Imbolc (pronounced IM-bolk or IM-bolg) is one of the four Celtic fire festivals, sitting midway between the Winter Solstice (Yule) and the Spring Equinox (Ostara).
Traditionally observed around 1st February in the Northern Hemisphere, it marks the earliest signs that winter is beginning to loosen its grip.
Here in Australia and throughout the Southern Hemisphere, we celebrate Imbolc around 1st August, aligning the festival with our own seasonal rhythms.
Rather than importing northern dates, celebrating according to our own landscape allows us to reconnect with the natural cycles unfolding around us.
The wattles begin to flower.
Lambs are born.
Native birds become busier.
The soil slowly warms.
Life begins to stir once again.
What is the History of Imbolc?
Imbolc has ancient Celtic origins dating back thousands of years.
Its name is thought to come from the Old Irish i mbolg, meaning “in the belly,” referring to the pregnancy of ewes and the promise of new life soon to arrive. Other interpretations connect the word to “ewe’s milk”- oimelc in some early texts- symbolising nourishment, abundance and fertility. Either way, the meaning is beautifully the same: life carried quietly within, not yet visible, but certain.
Imbolc is what is known as a cross-quarter day- one of the four great fire festivals of the Celtic year, alongside Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain- each falling at the midpoint between a solstice and an equinox. While the solstices and equinoxes mark the sun’s turning points, the fire festivals marked the turning points of daily life: lambing, sowing, harvest, and the bringing in of the herds.
The festival appears in some of the earliest Irish literature, mentioned in texts dating back over a thousand years as one of the key seasonal gatherings of the year. And its roots may reach back further still- at the Hill of Tara in Ireland, the ancient Mound of the Hostages, built around 5,000 years ago, is aligned so that the rising sun illuminates its inner chamber on the mornings of Imbolc and Samhain. Long before written records, it seems, this moment in the year mattered deeply to people.
For farming communities, Imbolc was an important turning point.
The harshest part of winter was often passing, food stores were beginning to stretch further, ewes were coming into milk ahead of lambing- a precious source of fresh nourishment after months of stored food- and there was renewed hope that spring would soon return.
It was also traditionally a time of weather-watching and gentle divination. In Scottish folklore, the Cailleach- the old woman of winter- was said to gather her firewood on this day. If the weather was bright and clear, it meant she intended to make winter last a good while longer; a grey, wet Imbolc was oddly welcome, as it meant winter was nearly done. If that sounds familiar, it should- this very tradition, carried across the Atlantic, became Groundhog Day.
With the spread of Christianity, many of Imbolc’s customs continued under new names. The festival became St Brigid’s Day on the 1st of February, followed by Candlemas on the 2nd- a day of candle blessings that carried the old festival’s themes of light and purification gently forward. In Ireland, the connection remains so strong that St Brigid’s Day was made a national public holiday in 2023- the first Irish public holiday named for a woman.
Long before modern calendars, people watched the land itself.
Imbolc was never simply a date.
It was a season of noticing.
Who is Brigid, Keeper of the Sacred Flame?
One of the most beloved figures associated with Imbolc is Brigid, the Celtic goddess of healing, poetry, fertility, creativity, inspiration and sacred wells.
In Irish mythology, Brigid was a daughter of the Dagda, one of the great figures of the old gods, and she was honoured as a triple goddess- patroness of healers, poets and smiths. Three crafts, one flame: the fire of the hearth, the fire of inspiration, and the fire of the forge. She is often depicted carrying a flame- a symbol of hope, wisdom and the returning light.
As Christianity spread through Celtic lands, Brigid became honoured as Saint Brigid of Kildare, and many of the traditions continued under a different name. At her monastery in Kildare, a perpetual sacred flame was said to be tended by nineteen women, never allowed to go out- a practice that reportedly continued for centuries until the sixteenth century. In 1993, the Brigidine Sisters relit the flame in Kildare’s town square, where it burns to this day.
On the eve of St Brigid’s Day, families across Ireland wove Brigid’s crosses from fresh rushes- a distinctive four-armed woven cross- and hung them above doorways to bless and protect the home for the year ahead. Many Irish homes still do.
There was also the lovely tradition of the Brat Bríde- Brigid’s mantle. A piece of cloth or ribbon was left outside overnight on Imbolc eve, in the belief that Brigid passed over the land as people slept and blessed it as she went. The cloth was then kept through the year and used for healing- laid on the sick, wrapped around sore heads and labouring mothers. A simple piece of cloth, made sacred by a night under the winter sky.
Across Ireland, people lit candles, tended hearth fires, blessed their homes and wells, and asked for protection and good health for the coming year.
Today, Brigid continues to represent:
• Healing
• New beginnings
• Creativity
• Compassion
• Midwifery
• Herbal medicine
• Inspiration
• The sacred feminine
For herbalists especially, Brigid has long been regarded as a guardian of healing traditions and those who work with the plants. Her sacred wells- many of which still exist across Ireland and are visited to this day- were places where water, prayer and plant medicine met. It is no accident that the festival of the first stirrings of spring belongs to a healer.
What Does Imbolc Mean Today?
Modern life rarely allows us to notice the subtle changes happening around us.
Imbolc gently reminds us that transformation often begins quietly.
The first signs of growth are rarely dramatic.
A little more energy.
A fresh idea.
The motivation to tidy a neglected space.
The first glimpse of hope after a difficult season.
Just as seeds spend months preparing beneath the soil before emerging into the light, we too often begin growing long before anyone else can see it.
This is a beautiful time to ask yourself:
• What within me is beginning to awaken?
• What have I outgrown over winter?
• What seeds am I ready to nurture this spring?
• What do I want to create over the coming months?
What Does Imbolc Look Like in Australia?
One of the beautiful things about celebrating the Wheel of the Year in the Southern Hemisphere is that we begin to notice the subtle rhythms of our own landscape.
Imbolc doesn’t always arrive with dramatic signs. Instead, it often whispers its presence.
Here in Australia, winter is still very much with us, yet the Earth begins to hint at what is to come. The daylight lingers just a little longer each evening. The first wattles begin to burst into their brilliant golden bloom, bringing welcome colour to the winter landscape. Birds become noticeably busier, gathering nesting material and filling the mornings with renewed song. Tiny buds appear on shrubs and fruit trees, while fresh green shoots begin to emerge through the cool soil.
These quiet changes remind us that nature is always moving, even when growth isn’t immediately obvious.
Imbolc invites us to slow down and notice these moments. Take a walk through your garden or a nearby bush track. Pause beneath a flowering wattle, listen to the birds, or simply feel the warmth of the afternoon sun lingering a little longer than it did a few weeks ago.
By observing the land around us, we reconnect with something our ancestors understood well- that the seasons are our greatest teachers. They remind us when to rest, when to prepare, and when it is time to begin growing again.
Just as the Australian landscape awakens in its own unique way, we too can honour our own pace, trusting that even the smallest signs of growth are worth celebrating.
Which Herbs Support the Body at Imbolc?
As nature slowly awakens, this is a lovely time to begin gently supporting the body as it transitions from winter into spring.
Rather than dramatic cleanses, think of Imbolc as a season of gentle nourishment and renewal.
These are herbs of the hedgerow and the early garden- humble, generous plants that our ancestors reached for at exactly this time of year. Each carries centuries of tradition, and more than a little folklore, alongside its place in modern practice.
Nettle (Urtica dioica)
Rich in minerals including iron, calcium and magnesium, nettle offers deep nourishment after winter and supports vitality as energy begins to return.
Nettle has walked beside humanity for a very long time. Across Ireland and Scotland, the first tender nettle tops of the season were traditionally gathered for nettle soup and nettle broth- one of the first fresh green foods available after a long winter of stored provisions, and eaten in early spring almost as a folk tonic in itself. Beyond the kitchen, nettle fibre was spun into cloth for thousands of years, and the herb appears throughout traditional European medicine as a nourishing, strengthening ally for the blood. Few plants embody Imbolc’s promise- nourishment rising quietly from cold ground- quite like nettle.
Cleavers (Galium aparine)
One of spring’s great lymphatic herbs, cleavers traditionally supports healthy lymphatic flow and the body’s natural elimination processes. It reflects the fresh, cleansing energy of the season.
You may know cleavers by its many affectionate country names- goosegrass, sticky willy, catchweed- earned by its habit of clinging cheerfully to anyone who brushes past, and by the geese who were traditionally fed on it. In English and Irish hedgerow medicine, the fresh spring herb was drunk as a “spring drink” or cold infusion, taken over several weeks as winter turned- one of the classic tonics of the traditional spring-cleansing season. Its gentle, moving nature made it a mainstay of the village herbalist’s early-spring repertoire.
Calendula (Calendula officinalis)
Bright as the returning sun, calendula has long been used to support healthy skin, lymphatic function and gentle tissue repair while bringing warmth and colour after the muted tones of winter.
Known traditionally as pot marigold, calendula has been grown in monastery physic gardens since the Middle Ages, where its golden petals were valued in salves and washes for the skin. In the kitchen, its petals coloured butters, broths and rice so reliably that it earned the name “poor man’s saffron.” Its reputation as a wound herb endured for centuries- calendula preparations were even used in field dressings during the First World War. A flower that follows the sun, used at the festival of the returning light- it could hardly be more fitting.
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
If any plant belongs to this festival, it is the humble dandelion. In Irish folk tradition the dandelion is known as Bearnán Bríde- “Brigid’s little notched one”- and was considered one of the first flowers of the saint’s season, its bright golden face a small sun returning to the cold ground.
Herbalists have long valued dandelion as a gentle bitter tonic. Its leaves were eaten as early spring greens, and its root has a centuries-long tradition of use to support healthy digestion and liver function- the very systems traditional herbalists sought to gently awaken as winter eased. Generous, resilient, and quietly everywhere, dandelion reminds us that some of the most valuable medicine grows underfoot.
Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)
As activity begins to increase, lemon balm helps maintain calm and balance. Traditionally used to support the nervous system and ease tension, it reminds us that growth doesn’t need to happen in haste.
Lemon balm’s botanical name, Melissa, is the Greek word for honeybee- a nod to the plant’s long partnership with bees, who adore its flowers just as spring activity resumes in the hive. It was a treasured herb of the medieval monastery garden, and from the fourteenth century onwards formed the heart of the famous Carmelite water, a lemon balm preparation made by Carmelite nuns and taken for the nerves and the heart. Paracelsus called it the “elixir of life.” High praise for such a gentle, unassuming herb.
Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus)
Associated with remembrance, clarity and mental vitality, rosemary encourages focus and fresh inspiration. It has been treasured for centuries as both a culinary and medicinal herb.
Rosemary’s association with memory runs deep- scholars in ancient Greece were said to wear sprigs of it while studying, and Shakespeare’s Ophelia speaks the line that has followed the herb ever since: rosemary, for remembrance. It was burned and strewn as a purifying herb in homes and sickrooms- a tradition that sits beautifully alongside Imbolc’s themes of cleansing the hearth and welcoming new light. (A small note for fellow plant lovers: botanists have reclassified rosemary from Rosmarinus officinalis into the sage family’s genus, so you’ll now see it written as Salvia rosmarinus.)
Safety Note: Herbal medicines may interact with medications or existing health conditions. Always seek advice from a qualified practitioner before beginning new herbal preparations, particularly if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or managing a chronic illness.
How to Make an Imbolc Tea Blend
Awakening Spring Tea
A gently nourishing blend to support the body’s quiet transition from winter into spring.
Ingredients (dried herbs):
• Nettle - 2 parts
• Lemon Balm - 2 parts
• Calendula - 1 part
• Peppermint - 1 part
• Optional: a little dried lemon peel
Method: Combine herbs thoroughly and store in an airtight glass jar. Steep 1–2 teaspoons in freshly boiled water for around 10 minutes, covered. Strain and sip slowly.
Why this blend works:
• Nettle → deep mineral nourishment and gentle vitality after winter
• Lemon Balm → calm, balanced energy as activity begins to increase
• Calendula → sunny lymphatic and skin support for the season of renewal
• Peppermint + lemon peel → brightness, freshness and gentle digestive lift
As you enjoy your tea, take a few quiet moments to reflect on what you would like to cultivate during the coming season.
What Are Some Simple Rituals for Imbolc?
You don’t need elaborate ceremonies to honour the changing seasons.
Sometimes the simplest rituals become the most meaningful.
On the evening of Imbolc:
• Light a white candle to welcome the returning light.
• Open a window or step outside and take three slow breaths.
• Write down three things you wish to invite into your life this spring.
• Plant a few seeds, tend your favourite houseplant, or spend a little time in your garden.
• Brew yourself a nourishing herbal tea and enjoy it without distraction.
• If you feel drawn to older traditions, leave a ribbon or small cloth outside overnight- your own Brat Bríde and keep it somewhere special through the year.
Allow yourself to simply notice.
The changing light.
The fresh air.
The birds.
The first blossoms.
Nature is already moving forward.
Perhaps you are too.
When Should You Seek Professional Herbal Support?
The transition from winter into spring is a natural time to take stock of your health and gently rebuild after the colder months.
If you are noticing lingering winter fatigue, low mood that hasn’t lifted with the lengthening days, recurring illness, sluggish digestion, or a general sense of heaviness as the season turns, these are worthwhile signs to explore with a qualified practitioner.
A personalised herbal consultation can help:
• Assess your energy and vitality as you emerge from winter
• Identify any underlying deficiencies (such as iron, vitamin D, or thyroid function)
• Tailor gentle herbal and nutritional support to your individual constitution and needs
• Develop a spring wellness plan that supports steady, sustainable renewal
For personalised support for your wellbeing journey, book here.
Living with the Seasons
One of the greatest gifts of celebrating the Wheel of the Year is that it encourages us to slow down enough to notice the subtle rhythms of nature.
We begin to understand that life isn’t meant to exist in constant productivity.
There are seasons for resting.
Seasons for dreaming.
Seasons for growth.
And seasons for flourishing.
Imbolc reminds us that every bloom begins beneath the soil, unseen but already becoming.
If winter has felt heavy, trust that change is already underway.
Like the first green shoots emerging through cool earth, your own next season may be closer than you realise.
At Inner Peace Holistic Herbal Therapy, I believe that true wellness comes from living in harmony with the rhythms of nature. The changing seasons offer gentle reminders that there is a time to rest, a time to nourish, a time to grow, and a time to flourish.
Imbolc teaches us that healing doesn’t always begin with dramatic change. Often, it starts quietly- like the first green shoot pushing through cool soil or the lengthening of the days after winter. Small, consistent steps, supported with care, patience, and the wisdom of nature, can lead to profound transformation over time.
As you welcome the first stirrings of spring, may you find inspiration in the world around you and trust in your own unfolding journey. Whether that means planting seeds in your garden, brewing a nourishing cup of herbal tea, or simply taking a quiet moment to breathe in the fresh winter air, may this season remind you that new beginnings are already taking root.
May this Imbolc bring gentle hope, renewed energy, and the quiet confidence to nurture whatever is beginning to awaken within you.
From my heart to yours, I wish you a peaceful, hope-filled Imbolc and a beautiful beginning to the season ahead.
Blessed Imbolc.
Michelle 🌿
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Imbolc in the Southern Hemisphere?
In Australia and throughout the Southern Hemisphere, Imbolc is celebrated around 1st August- the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. In the Northern Hemisphere it falls around 1st February.
What does the word Imbolc mean?
Imbolc is thought to come from the Old Irish i mbolg, meaning “in the belly,” referring to the pregnancy of ewes ahead of lambing. Other interpretations link it to “ewe’s milk,” symbolising nourishment and the promise of new life.
Who is Brigid and why is she associated with Imbolc?
Brigid is the Celtic goddess of healing, poetry, fertility and sacred wells, later honoured as Saint Brigid of Kildare. Imbolc is her festival, and she has long been regarded as a guardian of healers, midwives and herbalists. Traditions such as weaving Brigid’s crosses and leaving out the Brat Bríde (Brigid’s mantle) continue in Ireland to this day.
How is Imbolc different from the Spring Equinox (Ostara)?
Imbolc marks the first stirrings of spring while winter is still present- a festival of quiet beginnings. The Spring Equinox, around six weeks later, marks the point of balance when day and night are equal and spring is fully underway.
What herbs are traditionally associated with Imbolc and early spring?
Gently nourishing and cleansing herbs suit this season- nettle for mineral-rich nourishment, cleavers for lymphatic support, calendula for skin and renewal, dandelion (known in Irish folklore as Brigid’s flower) as a gentle bitter tonic, lemon balm for calm balance, and rosemary for clarity and fresh inspiration. Always consult a qualified herbalist before starting new herbal preparations.
How can I celebrate Imbolc simply at home?
Light a white candle at dusk, brew a nourishing herbal tea, write down what you’d like to cultivate this spring, plant a few seeds, or take a mindful walk and notice the early signs of the season- lengthening light, flowering wattle and busier birdsong.
References
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Ó Catháin, S. (1995). The Festival of Brigit: Celtic Goddess and Holy Woman. DBA Publications.
Grieve, M. (1931). A Modern Herbal. Dover Publications.
Mabey, R. (1996). Flora Britannica. Sinclair-Stevenson.
Chevallier, A. (2016). Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine (3rd ed.). DK Publishing.
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