Recipes for a Feast of Light: Reviving the Magical Foods of Imbolc (2024)

I love the ancient feast days that once celebrated the turn of the “wheel of the year”. Marking celestial alignments such as solstices, equinoxes, and cross-quarter days, they followed the old wisdom of “as above, so below”, meaning these ‘holy days’ offered moments of propitious timing during which life-enhancing magic can be worked. And still can!

Take the upcoming old Celtic holiday Imbolc one of my personal favorites. The first recipes I ever created for Gather were in honor of the beautiful Celtic spring “feis” (feast or festival) known as Imbolc, Imbolg, or Brigid’s Feast of Fire – and it was celebrated long before St. Brigids Daywas fixed to Feb.1st on the Gregorian calendar.

Recipes for a Feast of Light: Reviving the Magical Foods of Imbolc (1)

For the Celts, this onset of spring fell on the cross-quarter day (the midpoint between the winter solstice and spring equinox) and was personified in the form of the goddess Brigid (Brigit, Brighid, Bride, Bridget, Bridgit, Bríde) who descends to earth in her maiden form as the sun. This moving feast shifts each year according to celestial alignments and is marked on earth by a shaft of light that illuminates the megalithic chambers of the Irish Hill of Tara (and many others) on the days just before, during, and after, the cross-quarter day. See more here.

Recipes for a Feast of Light: Reviving the Magical Foods of Imbolc (2)

Spreading her green cloak across the land, Brigid revives the earth from her winter slumber. And in a time when food stores began to run thin, the first appearance of her swelling buds and green shoots was a time to celebrate the return of the season of plenty.

All forms of light were sacred to her and so to ensure fertility and abundance in the coming spring, bonfires were set in fields, hearths blazed at home and candles were lit in windows. Feasting on all kinds of bread, cakes, custard pies, cheeses, and libations made with ingredients associated with the powers of the sun (such as egg yolk, cream, fresh cheese, butter, and honey) ensured Brigid’s blessing of fertility, health, and abundance to the land, animals and the people.

Recipes for a Feast of Light: Reviving the Magical Foods of Imbolc (3)

Today a decade later, I remain utterly enchanted by the sacred foods that once graced Brigid’s Feasting Table. Over the years I’ve baked seeded cakes, braided bread, oat bannocks, and barley pies, I’ve fried golden pancakes, made fresh cheeses, savory soups, and side dishes, and concocted creamy libations, all inspired by the “Bright” or “Exalted” one and her Feast of Light. Whether we’re talking creamy dairy and rich butter, toasty oats and barley, honey, eggs, wild berries, wild greens, or aromatic sun herbs – not mention a splash of red ale and a wee bit of whiskey, each year my appreciation for Irish cuisine deepens!

So here is my round-up of some of the most magical foods of Imbolc – with links to some of my favorite recipes.

Recipes for a Feast of Light: Reviving the Magical Foods of Imbolc (4)

Let’s begin with dairy, called bánbhia, white food or white meats, which were the mainstay of the Irish diet before the potato arrived in the sixteenth century. Consumed fresh, cultured into buttermilk cream, curds, cheese, and butter, bánbhia are some of the most important foods for the Imbolc feast.

The word Imbolc is said to derive from the Old Irish Imbolg meaning in the belly, a time when pregnant ewes began to provide the first of the seasons’ milk, known as “Oilmec” or “new milk”. Symbolizing purity, rebirth, and renewal, this first milk was offered to Brigid by pouring it upon the earth, nourishing, purifying, and preparing for the new life to come. It was made into special cheeses and featured in milk dishes and drinks for the feast.

Recipes for a Feast of Light: Reviving the Magical Foods of Imbolc (5)

Butter was another important ritual food. According to Kevin Danaher, in The Year in Ireland, butter served on Brigid’s Feast Day had to be churned on the same day. This may have been because, accordingto this wonderful source of Imbolc folklore and history, the churning of butter with a dash (a staff or plunger) was necessary for the fertilization of the Brídeóg (a doll or effigy of Brigid). See more on the Bridey Doll here. In some areas, an effigy of Brigit was made out of a butter churn handle and taken from house to house.

Recipes for a Feast of Light: Reviving the Magical Foods of Imbolc (6)

Recipes for a Feast of Light: Reviving the Magical Foods of Imbolc (7)

Bees and honey were sacred to Brigid. Honey was golden and filled with the power of the sun, and was always included with fresh bread and butter on the Imbolc table. Seeded cakes, bread, and buns were also on the Imbolc menu as seeds symbolized the growth of new life. During Imbolc, ancient grains such as oats and barley (grown in Ireland since the Neolithic) were made into round bread, cakes, and desserts, which often featured sacred foods such as butter, milk, and eggs baked inside, such as the recipes below.

Recipes for a Feast of Light: Reviving the Magical Foods of Imbolc (8)
Recipes for a Feast of Light: Reviving the Magical Foods of Imbolc (9)
Recipes for a Feast of Light: Reviving the Magical Foods of Imbolc (10)

The Bonnach Bride (in Ireland) or Bannock of Bride (in Scotland) was a kind of unleavened oatcake left out Imbolc Eve as an offering to Brigid and to gain her blessings of fertility, prosperity, and good health. Bannocks were also eaten in the fields so that a piece could be thrown over the shoulder to honor Brigid and nourish the land.

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It was also common to save the last piece in a cupboard to ensure there would be enough flour to last out the year. And it was possible to avert any bad omens or bad luck by serving the cake with plenty of butter to your guests ‘without the asking.”

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Pancakes were another common food eaten because they were round and golden as the sun. This promised an abundant harvest of wheat and saving the last pancake in the cupboard ensured there would be enough flour to last out the year. Wishes were made while flipping a pancake in the air and trinkets were also placed into pancake batter as a way to divine one’s prospects for the forthcoming year.

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Pancakes and crepes are also an official food of the Christian Feast of St. Brigid, a fantastically popular figure in the Middle Ages. During Candlemas Feb.2nd a“mass” of candles is held – hence the name Candlemas. Much of Brigid’s mythology (and her pancakes) was absorbed into St. Brigid. As the patron saint of the dairy St. Brigid wanders the land Imbolc Eve, blessing houses and barns and creating countless “food miracles”. St. Brigid turns water into ale and stones into salt; cows give double their usual yield, dairy churnings are increased to fill many vessels with butter, one sack of malt makes eighteen vats of ale, and the bread supply is always sufficient for guests.

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Interestingly, these foods (ale, bread, cakes, milk etc.) were once long-standing offerings to the great goddesses of antiquity (and pre-antiquity). So do these food miracles link St. Brigit with a mother goddess of plenty and fertility? According to Kerry Noonan, author of “Got Milk?: The Food Miracles of St. Brigid of Kildare”, St, Brigid is an “embodiment of the supernatural cauldron of plenty, a common motif in Celtic literature and legend.” Fascinating!

St. Brigid was believed to be a healer and teacher of ‘herbcraft” so many plants and flowers sacred to her and the sun (such as sage, heather, chamomile, bay, and rosemary) have become part of the Imbolc Feast. Each has its magical purpose, rosemary, and sage, for example, brought their powers of purification and cleansing, so ritually important at this time of new beginnings. Heather brought good luck and healing.

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It’s also probable that the new greens and early spring herbs were also part of Brigid’s Feast. Wild garlic has been used as a herb since the days of the Celts. According to this amazing book, nettles, chickweed, burdock, sheep sorrel, wood sorrel, yarrow, wild mustards, and winter cress were common potherbs consumed in the UK in spring pottages and stews. This hearty wild onion soup (pictured below) is inspired by Brotchan Foltchep considered the most traditional of all Irish soups and the key element was usually oatmeal. Foltchep is a word for leeks but before they were cultivated wild leeks and wild onions were used -so my version is inspired by our local version of wild onion – Allium vineale.

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In the late 16th century (when the potato first arrived in Ireland) a dish called Colcannon made of mashed potato, cabbage, herbs, greens, butter, and wild onion was added to the list of now traditional Imbolc dishes. And it was customary for the whole family to be involved in the mashing!

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Recipes for a Feast of Light: Reviving the Magical Foods of Imbolc (18)

Dandelion is another plant associated with Imbolc. In Gaelic Irish, dandelion is called lus Bhríd (Brigid’s plant) or Bearnán Bríd (indented one of Brigid) where “lus” is the Irish equivalent of the English “wort,” or “plant.”[1] She was also known as the Flame of Brigid, no doubt due to her sun-like corona of golden flowers. I used the first tender leaves for these savory and serpentine pastry spirals.

Recipes for a Feast of Light: Reviving the Magical Foods of Imbolc (19)Bridgets Dandelion Spirals, see recipe here.

Blackberries were sacred to Brigid and used in both protection and prosperity magic, and luckily I had loads in the freezer. Back in the day, they were probably used dried or infused in spirits to preserve them.

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Recipes for a Feast of Light: Reviving the Magical Foods of Imbolc (21)

Saint Brigid is said to have founded the famed monastery in Ireland called Kildare. Kildare, or Cill Dara, means ‘Church of the Oaks suggesting it was once a pre-Christian sanctuary. Legend tells that in ancient times Brigid’s eternal flame was once tended by 19 priestesses and dedicated to women’s mysteries, forbidden to men. In the Middle Ages, the churchman Gerald of Wales visited Kildare and wrote “The nuns and holy women have so carefully and diligently kept and fed it with enough material, that through all the years from the time of the virgin saint, it has never been extinguished.2

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Today whether it’s in honor of the old Goddess or the Saint ( or some combination of both!) women in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, still light candles in their windows so that Brigid can find her way to their door and prepare her sacred foods on Imbolc Eve. They set a place at the table for Brigid and place an oatcake on the doorstep in thanksgiving for the plenteous crop and good luck during the following year.

I cannot tell you how much these old food customs delight me. While I have no Irish blood (of which I am aware) the Celts migrated from France (particularly Brittany) home to many of my ancestors. I’m deeply inspired by the rolling green hills, rocky outcroppings, and mild moist climate of Vancouver Island -which share many similarities to the island of Ireland. So while the rest of Canada may be buried under snow here, as in Ireland, the first shimmering of new life and spring appears just in time for Imbolc.

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The idea of food magic may seem strange, but for our ancestors, it was anact of faith in blessings to come. That’s what I love about these old-world rituals. In sympathetic magic “like begets like” so fires create warmth, light increases light, golden round pancakes bring on the sun and feasting begets more feasting! A cause for culinary celebration indeed!

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So here’s to the coming of the light. Raise a toast to the sun, bake a golden cake, and welcome the arrival of the Goddess of Spring! Then sit back and enjoy – let your blessings roll in!

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Recipes for a Feast of Light:  Reviving the Magical Foods of Imbolc (2024)

FAQs

What do you eat during Imbolc? ›

Some of the most prominent known foods for this festival include milk, breads, cream, root vegetables, and cured meats.

What food was offering to Brigid? ›

Feasting on all kinds of bread, cakes, custard pies, cheeses, and libations made with ingredients associated with the powers of the sun (such as egg yolk, cream, fresh cheese, butter, and honey) ensured Brigid's blessing of fertility, health, and abundance to the land, animals and the people.

What to drink at Imbolc? ›

Blackberry Rose Coffee Concoction

With blackberry's association with the goddess Brigid (one of the goddesses celebrated at this time), and cream being an Imbolc ingredient favorite, this Blackberry rose drink also makes a great Imbolc recipe.

What does Imbolc mean in English? ›

The celebration of Imbolc originates from the Celts. Imbolc symbolizes the halfway point between the winter solstice (Yule) and the spring equinox (Ostara). The word "imbolc" means "in the belly of the Mother," because the seeds of spring are beginning to stir in the belly of Mother Earth.

What are the colors of Imbolc? ›

Imbolc Colours: White and silver for purity, green for the fresh burst of life. Blackberry: Sacred to Brigid, the leaves and berries are used to attract prosperity and healing.

What flowers do you use to celebrate Imbolc? ›

The herbs of Imbolc are Angelica, Basil, Bay Laurel, Blackberry, Celandine, Colts-foot, Heather, Iris, Myrrh, Tansy, Violets, and all white or yellow flowers. Symbolic trees of the festival are rowan and willow. Rowan represents protection and inspiration.

What is the traditional food for St Brigid's Day? ›

My research into St Brigid, mentioned not only dairy but also honey and the tradition of eating a big plate of floury boiled potatoes slathered in rich homemade butter on St Brigid’s Day or St Brigid’s Eve.

How do you celebrate Imbolc Day? ›

Traditional Imbolc celebrations often include a festive feast, embracing the abundance that lies beneath the surface. Prepare a meal using seasonal ingredients like dairy products, grains, and early spring vegetables.

What tree is sacred to Brigid? ›

The Silver Birch is one of the most sacred trees in Celtic Mythology, symbolising new beginnings and protection. This association derives from ancient times, before the written word, when the sacred Silver Birch was associated with the Celtic goddess Brigid.

What are Imbolc traditions? ›

In recent centuries, its traditions have included weaving Brigid's crosses, hung over doors and windows to protect against fire, illness, and evil spirits. People also made a doll of Brigid (a Brídeóg), which was paraded around the community by girls, sometimes accompanied by 'strawboys'.

What wine is used in Imbolc? ›

Produced using the méthode ancestral, pét-nat is the oldest form of sparkling wine. The carbonation comes from bottling the wine while fermentation is still active, resulting in a naturally bubbly offbeat wine that would have been right at home at an ancient Imbolc bonfire.

What do you do in Imbolc? ›

Ancient Imbolc

The effigy was placed in a dress and put in a basket overnight. The day of Imbolc was celebrated by rituals including burning lamps and lighting bonfires in tribute to Brigid.

Who is the god of Imbolc? ›

Imbolc is most closely associated with the Celtic Goddess Brigid, who was celebrated as the goddess of learning, healing, the smitharts/craftsman and fertility. Unlike many Celtic deities who were worshipped on a more local level, Brigid was widely followed by the Irish-Celtic people.

How long does Imbolc last? ›

A pagan celebration called Imbolc is observed from February 1 to sunset on February 2 which marks the beginning of the end of winter or, more specifically, the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.

How do you celebrate Imbolc day? ›

Traditional Imbolc celebrations often include a festive feast, embracing the abundance that lies beneath the surface. Prepare a meal using seasonal ingredients like dairy products, grains, and early spring vegetables.

How do you celebrate Imbolc for the first time? ›

Ways to Celebrate Imbolc
  1. Create meals with intention for what you want to accomplish in the coming year.
  2. Create authentic medieval fare such as roasted meats, hearty breads and old fashion desserts.
  3. Have a romantic dinner for two or a special dinner for a few of your favorite people.

How do people celebrate Imbolc? ›

Some of the most common Imbolc traditions are celebrating St Brigid with offerings, feasts, and bonfires, crafting Brigid Dolls or Crosses, preparing the garden to plant, doing some spring cleaning, and planting the seeds of your future–both literally and figuratively.

What is the ritual of Imbolc? ›

Ancient Imbolc

The effigy was placed in a dress and put in a basket overnight. The day of Imbolc was celebrated by rituals including burning lamps and lighting bonfires in tribute to Brigid.

References

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