In the Milk, February 2, 2012, Ukiah, CA
Performance and Photographs
The ancient Pagan holiday Imbolc falls around February 2nd each year. It is the feast of the Gaelic Goddess Brigid, a Celtic triple goddess ruling healing, poetry, and smithcraft. Imbolc is celebrated as the half-way point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox- it is the return of the Light. It is when the seeds begin to awaken under the earth, things are beginning, being initiated, awoken out of winter's slumber. This time of year is deep in lambing season, and all of the ewes are with milk.
I love this holiday, and this year I did an art performance/ritual in Ukiah, CA. Following tradition, I offered milk to the earth. I 'planted' seeds, the intentions I would like to see take root and grow this year, in the form of mustard seeds (faith). I also did a performance around unwinding the grip of time. At a mossy bank of rocks I installed several delicate paper cut outs of English Clocks from a vintage book. Then next to each one I placed a white candle with a red ribbon tied around it. Red and White are the colors of Imbolc and of Brigid. I lit each of the 13 candles from one to another. This was like an altar, a visual and energetic space of meditation about our relationship to time. I then burned each paper clock in it's respective candle. I placed the charred paper on the earth, where it merged with the leafy ground, visually becoming one. What was left were candles, dripped wax, and mossy stones. The transition of fixed perspectives and limitations into pure light (consciousness). It is also an offering to the Goddess Brigid, who is associated with fire, creativity, birth and alchemy.
