{"id":46931613,"date":"2022-01-11T14:01:12","date_gmt":"2022-01-11T14:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/?p=46931613"},"modified":"2022-01-11T14:01:12","modified_gmt":"2022-01-11T14:01:12","slug":"the-illuminating-spark-imbolc-countdown-week-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/?p=46931613","title":{"rendered":"The Illuminating Spark: Imbolc Countdown Week 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

A seasonal poem based inspired by the weather.<\/h2>
<\/figure>

(Image description: A photo of a green frog resting on the watery shore. Short, green plants grow from the mud.) Credit: Photo by Chris Hunter<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p>

In early days of religious development for humans and our relationship with deities, we asked for aid in survival related issues, such as protection, healing, food security, and so on. Animals must persevere to survive the unpredictability of life, as humans once did and still do. While I can\u2019t know the mental processes of animals, attempting to see things from their perspective provides insight to how we developed through our connection to nature.<\/p>

Imbolc and the arrival of spring doesn\u2019t mean things will be easy, but conditions are suitable for supporting life again. With the task of surviving, that\u2019s probably where the first prayers to the earliest spirits or deities began. Observing a few animals after rainy weather inspired this poem.<\/p>

Prayers After the Rain<\/h3>

After the rain<\/p>

the world is still<\/p>

yet actively bright.<\/p>

Pines glowing, verdant<\/p>

against the overcast sky<\/p>

A worm inching across a stepping stone<\/p>

seeking refuge<\/p>

Birds singing<\/p>

for mates and the next meal<\/p>

Frogs croaking<\/p>

for a date across the pond<\/p>

Before the next chill,<\/p>

tiny prayers rise<\/p>

as Spring meanders Her way<\/p>

between warmth and cold,<\/p>

each life searching and bold.<\/p>

Heavy, gray clouds<\/p>

Cloaking the sky, and ground<\/p>

with enigmatic mist<\/p>

Hinting of Brighid\u2019s return<\/p>

from the Otherworld<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A seasonal poem based inspired by the weather.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46931613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46931613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46931613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46931613\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46931613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46931613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46931613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}