Letter from Cressida Pryor
January 30, 2022
FOI Imbolc Letter 2022
Dear FOI Friends,
With blessings for this season...as the light begins to return and the earth awakens...
I mentioned in one of last year’s letters that in May last year we inherited a couple of chickens from a neighbour who was moving away to a bird free new home...
So this has been our first winter looking after two almost prehistoric feathered creatures...up until the beginning of December we were rewarded with a torpedo shaped egg delivered daily...
And then daylight length dimmed...
And there came a point before the Solstice when we realised there hadn’t been any eggs for a few days and we acknowledged that ‘the old girls’ had earned a well deserved rest. And we got used to this barren time...the girl’s feathers seemed that little bit brighter, they looked a little plumper and we appreciated their wanderings in the garden scratched out moss from the lawn and grubs from the borders...
We were resigned to our ‘old girls’ seeing out their final days without laying any more eggs...
And then a few days ago...a miracle! A beautifully formed, silken shelled egg was there waiting for us...treasure that is inexplicably ordinary and at the same time so special.
It brightened my day considerably. Evidence of the cycle of life which is easy in these pandemic times to become separated from...getting sucked into ‘supply chain problems’, new variants, lockdown rules being flouted...and so many other distractions...
So to be reminded of the basic miracle of life...the egg, which is the start of all our lives...gives hope and helps us appreciate the generous wonder of nature...the great abundance of the Goddess in all her glory...
In Her name
May we cradle a humble egg in the palm of our hand and give thanks for its form and beauty
May the song of the feisty robin lead us to really listen to this Divine expression
And may we step out onto this wondrous earth with care, generosity and joy
Leading others with us to share the sacred ground on which we all stand...
The Blessings of Imbolc be with you and with all who you love and cherish,
Cressida, FOI Steward
