thawing ice🪄🔥🧊

leo full moon + imbolc 2026

growth begins before the conditions are ideal.

that is what imbolc reminds us.
that is what this full moon reminds us.

february 1st is an important turning of the wheel of the year, as it marks the halfway point between winter solstice and spring equinox. also known as the celtic fire fest, imbolc. although we are deeply in the heart of aquarius season and winter, astrologer and botanist Dr. J. Lee Lehman reminds us that this is the moment when spring biologically begins. in the heart of winter. underneath it all. unseen. unwitnessed. unknown to those who aren’t quietly listening, the promise of a big, bright bloom is being birthed under the slow thaw of winter’s hardened ice.

and this is the moment when the thaw really begins.

in celtic mythology, there are a handful of days in the heart of winter, the heart of aquarius season, that warm just enough to allow brigid (goddess of the hearth and forge, spring, smithcraft, healing) to take power back from the cailleach (divine hag and primordial goddess) who presides over winter. depending on the myth you read, these two are either in a constant battle where brigid takes power at imbolc (feb 1) as we prepare for spring and the callieach takes power at lughnasadh (aug 1) as we prepare for fall OR they are the same goddess dancing between crone and maiden. either way, one thing is certain. the wheel will always turn. a reminder for all as we sit one month into this wheel of fortune year.

and so i ask you, star babe, how does this leo full moon shine into your heart, asking you to listen to what is growing, despite external conditions? what fire is brigid trying to kindle in you?

*an important note: this is my first year walking through imbolc with reverence for and commitment to brigid. i am new to this tradition and i'm still finding my footing in the mythologies. if the celtic festivals resonate with you, i highly recommend reading ✧ Altar of Stars ✧ Teagan West breakdown of this full moon and imbolc, and doing your own research through reputable celtic sources. if you are looking for a starting point i can highly recommend the irish pagan school.

the leo full moon arrives at 3:09 pm MST on sunday, february 1st, opposite a FAT aquarius stack in the sky that involves the sun, mercury, venus, vesta, mars and pluto.

this is happening at 13° which puts us in the second decan of leo, meaning this lunation is ruled by both the sun AND jupiter.

since the sun entered aquarius on january 19th it has been INTENSE. venus, mercury, the sun and mars have all had a meet cute with pluto these last few weeks. pluto rules our subterrenean and reveals what lies in our collective and personal dark, underworld caverns. a tour of the underbelly. and without getting deeply into the details of current events, you can see how deeply plutonian our last few weeks have been.

the second decan of leo correlates to the 6 of wands, a card of success and triumph. this feels deeply aligned to the january 30th strike and walkout - the people (aqaurius) finding a stage (leo) for their voices. hundreds of thousands of americans protested, closed their buinesses, donated to mutal aid funds. The people showing up to show who they are NOT (aquarius) in the face of the king (leo).

POWER OF THE PEOPLE IN THE FACE OF THE HORRORS.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE THAWING ICE.

noooow, coming back to the fact that his lunation is co-ruled by jupiter…who is currently retrograde in cancer. there is some sense of nostalgia here. perhaps nostalgia for what you thought america to be. perhaps nostalgia for your ancestors view of the world. perhaps longing for a version of yourself before the machine swallowed us all.

retrograde jupiter in cancer brings a tender ache to the surface.

and this is where brigid enters our full moon chat again. she was the first person to keen - a mournful wailing for those who have died. sitting in her grief after the passing of her son, she wailed so deeply that she gave voice to something that had never been named before.

brigid isn’t simply a goddess of spring and birth. she also midwifes death. she tends grief. so if you’re feeling the ache of what’s been lost under this full moon, that’s brigid too. allow the keening.

another reflection of the duality of brigid holding hands with both birth and death is what’s happening with pluto + neptune. these two will be dancing through a sextile until 2032. which means, these heavy-hitting outer planets will be supporting one another (and us?🤞🏽) through this next stretch of time…

with pluto in aqaurius exposing where the people have been wronged by power being hoarded, neptune in aries joins up with a radical question: what if imagination became our most dangerous weapon? what if through our grief we find the space for rebirth? what if we birthed our most fiery dreams?

soooooo under this full moon, you're being asked to grieve and to dream.

now before we part ways… seems like both brigid and the leo full moon point us toward a ritual to MELT ICE.


MELTING ICE: A Banishing Spell

What you need:

• A bowl

• 3-4 ice cubes

• salt

• paper and a pen

• ideally 6 candles, as few as 2 can work

• matches or a lighter

• some time to sit with the ice melting to visualize

Write “ICE” on a strip of paper. add ice to your bowl and then arrange the 6 candles around your bowl, feeling yourself and the collective represented in these candles as you light them. sprinkle the ice with salt. as it dissolves, visualize ICE itself dissovling with it. watch it break apart. see the families reuniting. feel the harm being lifted, the future shifting.

when the ice has melted completely, tear the paper with “ICE” written on it into pieces into the puddle of now salt water. take this to flush down the toilet as you recite:

ice has melted
i have felt it
all harmed are free
never again shall ice reign supreme
so mote it be

thanks for hanging out in my lil corner of the internet. lmk if you do this spell, power in numbers baybeee. also icymi my books are open with limited availability through march. xo, lily