Imbolc Retreat 2026 at Lionstar Manor

"Oh - I guess it was Imbolc this weekend?"

I couldn't guess how many times I've said this over the years in my time as a solitary practitioner. It's much more difficult - at least for me - to put much effort into really making sacred the Sabbats, when I'm the only one in the circle.

Perhaps that's why the conclave of three branches of the Spiral Tree tradition all gathering in our home and covenstead this weekend was so powerful. It isn't just the eight people, or the combined century of magickal practice, and it isn't just the unifying tradition with its common ritual elements and lore. What was clear to me from the first gathering on Friday night is that there is a deep and true reason that we had all come together, a reason beyond names like Wicca and Imbolc.

That reason is described by our shared nature: We bear a great and deep love of the natural world, the place where we most clearly hear the voice of divinity. We value compassion and respect for ourselves and each other. And we absolutely insist on expressing ourselves exactly as we are. That recognition of spiritual kinship, and the intention of perfect love and perfect trust - that is what makes us family. That is what turns a typical holiday into a transformative magickal experience worth putting in the work for.

And it is work, no doubt. The weeks of preparation and deep cleaning in the fleeting moments of spare time as the December holidays turn into the January doldrums. The food shopping and prep in the days before. Buying new furniture where needed, making beds, hauling this and that again and again, all these things that are much heavier than they were when I had a twenty-eight year old body. Last-minute oven repairs. Life insisting on taking its share of time and energy, and always just a little more, to make Lionstar Manor suitably ready to welcome sacred family and to do sacred work.

And the work is worth it - no doubt.

Magic is always deepened within community. And the willing spirit of many practitioners who know and trust one another makes possible such vulnerability and such love. Possibility comes into view, and intention is worked into magick. We support each other in our chosen becoming. This is the essence of coven work within the Craft.

The Wheel turns. What will we see, I wonder, when we reunite at Lammas? I only know that it does not matter. I look forward to that day just to be among my magickal family once more. Just to be present and to see.