Today, 10 traditional Imbolc customs.
1. Spring Cleaning: Traditionally so that when Brigid visited the house would be clean. Cleaning the fireplace, the centre of the home, was especially important. Floors would be swept with a birch branch. This done, a small dish of butter was placed on a windowsill and a fire lit in the hearth.
2. Lighting candles: In some places, people would place a lighted candle in every window of the house, beginning at sunset on Imbolc Eve, and allow them to burn until sunrise. In others, candles would be given as gifts, or, once Christianity arrived, lit in church.
3. Making a Brideog: A Brideog is an effigy of Brigid made from straw or rushes, dressed in a white cloth or white dolls' clothes, and decorated with greenery, flowers, shells and pebbles. Traditionally, this effigy would be built by the men, and when complete, sprinkled with sacred water.
4. Making Brigit's Crosses: Using straw, ideally soaked in water for a couple of days, the crosses can be as simple or elaborate as desired. With a sprinkling of sacred water and an invocation to Brigid, they served to protect the home and those who lived there, especially from fire or lightning. People would hang them over their front doors and in any outbuildings, traditionally a barn; for people celebrating today, probably a garage or shed! They would be left there all year, so part of the ritual was taking down last year's cross and hanging it in the attic.
5. Divination: Faroese girls would leave a mixture of egg-white and water on their window sills overnight; the shapes formed are symbols which would give them clues about who they were destined to marry.
6. Weather predictions: Seeing a Hedgehog, Snake or Badger was a good sign – it meant the weather would improve, but if the animal came out and went straight back into its burrow, winter was not over yet.
7. Imbolc Feast: Families or communities would gather for a feast. When all was ready, those who made the Brideog placed her on an outside wall near an open front door. The men knelt before the doll and said, "Go on your knees, open your eyes, and admit Brigid!" The people inside answered, "Welcome! Welcome! Welcome to the holy woman!" The Brideog was carried into the house and leaned against a leg of the table. The family would say a prayer of thanks and then tuck in to the feast.
8. Hoping for a Goddess visit: At the end of the party, left over straw would be gathered to make a basket, or bed to put the Brideog in, with a birch wand. Ashes from the fire would be scraped smooth. In the morning, if there were marks or footprints on the hearth it meant Brigid had dropped by during the night. If not, it was assumed Brigid was offended and it would be necessary to make an offering to appease her - which could be anything from burning a little incense to slaughtering a chicken!
9. Blessing of pieces of cloth: Women would leave a piece of cloth on a bush outside the house, the idea being that the goddess Brigid would touch the cloth and bless it as she passed. In the morning, the cloth would either be torn into small pieces and each woman and child in the house given a piece to carry as a protection charm; or it would be kept whole and placed over the back of pregnant cows to ensure safe birth of their calves and lots of milk.
10. A day off work: In Ireland, on this day, people didn't work, but would visit holy wells to worship the Saint/Goddess instead. At the very least they would not take part in any work involving ploughing, smith work, and anything that involved turning wheels such as spinning, carting, milling, and sewing machines (presumably if this was adhered to now, all the roads would be empty, too).
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