🦁Happy Full Moon in Leo, St Vincent's Day and Imbolc🌱
✨Read on for the link to join my Moontime Tribe with £50 off! Early Bird doors close at midnight tonight⌛
Dear friend,
Welcome to the first of this year’s eight free editions of this newsletter in line with the Pagan Sabbats of the Wheel of the Year.
The Wheel of the Year has turned once again which means that this newsletter edition is open to everyone, with seven more scheduled for the year ahead. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to receive all of the editions by clicking the button below. Thank you.
First things first. You may know that as well as writing this cyclical newsletter, I also host online circles and courses curated around the seasons, plants and the moon. Doors to join my Moontime Tribe close on Friday 2nd February but TONIGHT is the last opportunity to enrol at the Early Bird price of £225!
This 5-month course offers a monthly deep dive into herbal remedies, ancient myths and powerful rituals to empower women through the moon cycle. Community is key to this course and we will meet in circle online each month on the New Moon with our next circle on Friday 9th February at 8-9pm GMT.
Here are some seasonal dates for the fortnight ahead to ground you on this first Full Moon of 2024:
25 January 17:54 GMT: Full Wolf Moon in Leo, Burns Night and St Paul the Apostle’s Day
26-28 January: RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch
1-2 February: Imbolc (Pagan)
2 February: Candlemas (Christian)
Sun remains in Aquarius (until 18 February)
Now, onto the themes of this newsletter: the Leo Full Moon, St Vincent’s Day and the first sabbat of 2024: Imbolc!
🦁Leo Full Moon
At 17:53 GMT today the Wolf Moon of January and February will become Full in the fiery Leo. This is also the Snow, Ice and Storm Moon which gives us some good indications of the types of weather we can expect in the Northern Hemisphere at this time of year! More on this subject later.
With the Sun in Aquarius and the Moon in Leo, you have an opportunity to align with your truth and seek community that allows you to embody your values. Use Leo’s playful, courageous energy to move forward to step into your power and honour your authentic intentions.
✨Under this creative Full Moon, consider what do I need to let go of in order to experience more joy and allow myself to play?✨
⛈️🌈🌦️St Vincent’s Day
‘Remember on St Vincent’s Day, if the sun his beams display,/’tis a token bright and clear, of prosperous weather all the year.’
Source: countrylife.co.uk
On Monday 22 January, vinters across European wine regions would have gathered to celebrate their patron saint: St Vincent of Saragossa.
Legend suggests that the reason this particular Spanish Saint is linked to wine and vinegar is from when he stopped by a vineyard one Spring day to talk with the vintner. St Vincent’s donkey grazed some of the vine shoots (effectively pruning them) which then led to an excellent grape harvest later that year.1 When researching this feast day it reminded me of the tradition of Wassailing practiced by cider and apple-juice-makers in the UK on 17 January which you can read more about here:
St Vincent is also linked to weather lore with the weather on 22 January indicating the weather we can expect for the year ahead. A similar (but more in depth) Hispanic tradition, a method known as Las cabañuelas, records the weather on the first 12 days of January with each day representing the weather to expect for each of the 12 months of the Gregorian calendar year.
❄️Imbolc
Imbolc is a liminal time of year. As we emerge from the depths of January we begin to see glimmers of birth and renewal in the more-than-human world as February unfolds. Daffodils, crocuses and, of course, snowdrops are all signs of the promise of Spring, yet there’s still a chance of snow, and we find ourselves in this in-between place. The word Imbolc is often translated as ‘in the belly’ - signifying the pregnant pause taken by the more-than-human world before bursting into life in Spring.
In Christian tradition the festival of Candlemas falls 40 days after Christmas on 2 February. Some Christians will fast on 1 February then feast on Candlemas itself which falls on 2 February, as well as making the journey to their local church to have their candles blessed. Pancakes are a common feature at the feast table - an excuse to have pancakes for tea twice in 1 month with Shrove Tuesday falling on 13 February this year!
As with some of the feasts we’ve looked at over the last few months, such as the feast of St Martin and St Lucy, Candlemas has its own deity: Goddess or Saint Bridgid. She is known by many names and in Celtic languages her name translates as ‘the fiery one’ - a true solar Goddess. She is the patroness of healers, poets, blacksmiths and the saint of holy wells. She is often represented by a Bridgid’s cross woven from reeds and hung above the lintels, thought to ward off evil, fire and hunger.
If reading about Imbolc has lit a spark of curiosity within you, and you would like to weave more awareness of these seasonal celebrations into 2024, I’d love you to join my Moontime Tribe before doors close on 2 February. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions: hello@foxfirelearning.com
That’s all from me for this first free edition of 2024. Please consider sharing this publication with anyone who you think would like it. Your reciprocity is greatly appreciated 🙏
The next edition of this newsletter comes out on the next New Moon on 9 February January 2024 and full access will be for paid subscribers only. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber for less than the price of a good coffee each month (£3.50) or £35 a year. I’m freezing the subscription price for 2024 to honour the devotion of my regular readers.
Thank you so much and Full Moon blessings,
Love,
Charly x
https://simplychampagne.co/saint-vincent-patron-saint-of-winemakers/