The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum

So, I'm doing preparations for Imbolc ritual, and I've noticed that the setup that I'm working with calls for some snowdrop flowers.  Now, as best as I can tell, snowdrops are fairly common in Britain, but not so much on my side of the pond. As such, I'm looking into a substitution of somewhat more 'local' flavor, but am running into issues of, I can't seem to find anything that flowers in this area in early February. (Perhaps not surprising, given the latitude and local climate.) So, now I'm not sure what to do. Having a living symbol of the changing season feels important, but if the seasonally-appropriate one isn't local and the local ones aren't seasonal...

snowdrops aren't that uncommon here - though there's no way they're blooming this month!  but I grow them every year.  first flowers of spring and all that.

 
dang it, I hit the wrong button the first time and now I can't edit.  Note to mods - the "light" version of the software does have a few issues. :p  anyhoo, sorry, I'm in the penalty box, mea culpa.

Pinecone? (Somewhat more accessible in this season than some things).

One other one I've seen is something grown from bulbs that can be started indoors and then planted outside when the weather gets better.

 
Yeah, I tend to get bulbs-in-pots around this time of year to keep on my altar for a few weeks. What type would depend on your climate, though. I usually do hyacinths, as they last longer than daffodils.

Bulb plants may be an option. I'll see what's on this year's garden schedule.

Bulbs tend to bloom first, here we have paperwhites up, and various related things. But it has been unseasonably warm.

Perhaps find something that is representative of the season as it currently IS where you live. If you are still dormant, even a dormant bulb or corm might be an appropriate marker of the season.

As for pinecones, the large ones you see are really more like the fruit of last year's work. New cones are tiny, and can be difficult to spot. If you know your pine species you can look up images online to get you started. You might be able to find the medium-sized green ones from last year that will be mature by the end of this summer. Some species of evergreen need fire to drop cones, but most just drop off after they release their seeds to squirrels and birds or the wind. If your pines are making their little male pollen machines, you are at the right time to find the new female cones. But the pines in my area don't do that for a month or so yet, so I doubt yours are.

As far as I see, with plants (and living things in general) it is difficult to pinpoint where renewal begins or ends, so symbolically I would feel comfortable working with anything that gave me a connection to my local life cycle. Whether that was digging up a bulb or harvesting some seeds, or pinching spruce tips, or even taking a green cutting of dormant wood off a tree. Even a handful of soil is full of life and has excellent symbolic meaning for growth and renewal. You could also try to contact someone familiar with your native plant's life cycles, like your local native plant society, and ask if there was a plant that is actively growing at this time of year. However if the flower symbolism is particularly important to you (and you need a flower in the next couple days), you can buy lovely near-season bulbs that are already ready to bloom in stores and certainly nurseries this time of year.

I'm sort of spoiled with my local climate, we always have something in bloom.

So, I'm doing preparations for Imbolc ritual, and ... I can't seem to find anything that flowers in this area in early February.

I often wonder whether it really makes sense to celebrate the British seasonal festivals all over the world. I mean, I've got daisies all over the lawn, but Idaho?!

Similarly, I've been looking at the calendar of a certain organisation which says "devotees in the southern hemisphere celebrate these holidays as noted for the northern hemisphere". I tried to picture Australians celebrating midwinter when it's over 100F outside: turn the air-conditioning right up?

That does seem exceedingly odd; everything I've read suggests that folks in the southern hemisphere rotate the festival dates by six months. Which causes complications of its own in an international forum, but I suppose no solution is perfect.

 
I'm currently struggling with both the suggested offerings for the rituals (I've never seen a snowdrop in my life) and the timing (we probably won't be seeing flowers until mid March here).  I'm considering moving Samhain, Imbolc, Beltain, and Lughnasadh to more meaningful times for their intended purpose.  But I also celebrate the solstices and equinoxes, and having the other holidays between these seems a little more balanced.  I haven't decided yet, so I'll probably celebrate Imbolc on Saturday until I decide.

Given the time of year and foot of snow we're about to receive, I think I'll be offering a spruce twig I found on the ground that has a pinecone attached to the end.

Good luck with your substitution, a bulb sounds like a lovely idea.

I'm currently struggling with both the suggested offerings for the rituals (I've never seen a snowdrop in my life) and the timing (we probably won't be seeing flowers until mid March here).  I'm considering moving Samhain, Imbolc, Beltain, and Lughnasadh to more meaningful times for their intended purpose.  But I also celebrate the solstices and equinoxes, and having the other holidays between these seems a little more balanced.  I haven't decided yet, so I'll probably celebrate Imbolc on Saturday until I decide.

Given the time of year and foot of snow we're about to receive, I think I'll be offering a spruce twig I found on the ground that has a pinecone attached to the end.

Good luck with your substitution, a bulb sounds like a lovely idea.

In the Middle Ages, it was taken over by the church as Candlemas. As the name suggests, the emphasis was on lights in the ceremony. If you take Imbolc as celebrating the promise of spring, rather than its arrival, then lots of lights and buds (if available) in lieu of flowers would be meaningful, or an indoor bulb. Even in Britain, there are plenty of places that won't be seeing any snowdrops for a few weeks, and it was colder in the Middle Ages.

I often wonder whether it really makes sense to celebrate the British seasonal festivals all over the world. I mean, I've got daisies all over the lawn, but Idaho?!

 
For me, it's about adapting the purpose of the seasonal rituals to fit the local clime.  We have lots of summer and lots of winter here, but don't see much spring or fall.  I adapt spring rituals that celebrate the outer signs of spring to what is hoped for, or more inner representations of spring - rebirth, purification, renewal.  Just because my back yard is currently blanketed in snow rather than snow drops doesn't mean the there isn't something seasonal happening that can be celebrated; and it doesn't stop me from doing a spring cleaning or honoring Brigid, my two biggest Imbolc traditions.