ALL ABOUT BRIGID
A Message for Imbolc
by Rel Davis, Minister, Unitarian Fellowship of South Florida
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Mexico, there are two "patron saints." The first, and foremost, with a
holiday on December 12, is Guadalupe, called variously St. Guadalupe and Our
Lady of Guadalupe. The Church now says this is the Virgin Mary who made an
appearance before a young man named Juan Diego in December 1531. She looked
like an Indian maiden and she appeared on Tepeyac Hill near Mexico City.
Although she is assumed to be the Virgin Mary, she is nonetheless called the
"patron saint" of Mexico. She is most likely nothing but the ancient Aztec
goddess Coatlique, whose holy day also happened to have been December 12.
The other saint you hear about a lot in Mexico is the mysterious "San Juan de
los Lagos," Saint John of the Lakes. There never has been such a person, of
course. It was obviously an ancient lake god, presumably the patron saint of
Mexico City, which was built on top of Lake Texcoco. He could have been
Tpoztecatl, ancient god of agriculture, or even Huitzilopchtli, sun god of the
Aztecs.
All over the world, in Roman Catholic countries, you will find "patron saints"
who never existed. They are the early pagan gods and goddesses converted to
Christianity for public relations purposes.
The earliest recorded "conversion" of a pagan goddess was Saint Sophia in Asia
Minor. Very early, Christians had a hard time converting the populace of Greece
and the Hellenic cultures of the region because the people were quite happy with
their goddess, Minerva, also known as Pallas Athena, the patron deity of the
city of Athens.
The word "pallas" is the ancient Greek term for a maiden. Athena is thought (by
Robert Graves and others) to be a version of Anatha, the Sumerian Queen of
Heaven. With the title of Pallas, she would have been the ancient Goddess in
her maiden aspect.
Minerva was universally called Sophia -- wisdom. So a "Saint Sophia" was
invented, and churches all over Asia Minor were built in her honor. She was
even said to have had three daughters -- St. Faith, St. Hope and St. Charity!
The entire region converted to Christianity as soon as the church declared the
region's favorite goddess to be a Christian saint.
So it really wasn't the inherent stupidity of the Irish, as some scholars
allege, that allowed them to be converted in a similar way.
They reacted like people all over the world did. Make my god a Christian saint
and I'll become a Christian.
Interestingly, the Irish goddess converted to Christianity was the same as
Pallas Athena, it was the maiden aspect of the Goddess. Where in continental
Europe, the Mother aspect was chosen -- witness all the cathedrals built to the
Virgin Mary, Mother of God -- in Ireland, as in Asia Minor, it was the maiden
goddess honored.
The Irish goddess was called Brigid (pronounced "breed") or Brigit. She was a
triple goddess (some said all three were named Brigid!) and she was the goddess
of wisdom (like her Asia Minor counterpart). Her sisters were the goddesses of
healing and smithcraft respectively.
At Kildare there was a temple to Brigid, with a perpetual fire kept by 19
priestesses. The number 19 was used because there are 19 years in the Celtic
"great year," when the solar and lunar calendars coincide. Brigid was always
called "The Three Blessed Ladies of Britain" or "The Three Mothers" and she was
identified with the moon and the three phases of the moon. (As such, she is
also identical to the ancient earth goddess, Hecate.) It was common for the
ancients to accept their goddess as being three people. This is where the
Christians got their concept of the trinity.
Actually, Brigid can be traced back to Illyricum, the ancient land now occupied
by Croatia (and extending over Serbia, Bulgaria, and Austria). Her shrine was
in the city of Brigeto and she was called Brigantes, accepted by the Romans as
identical to Juno Regina, Queen of Heaven. Her followers were often called
Brigands, or outlaws, and Robin Hood was most likely the title of a leader of
"brigands" fighting against the Christian conquerors.
The Gaelic Celts brought Brigid with them when they left their original home in
Galatia -- in Asia Minor, no less, and moved across Europe to settle in what is
now Ireland.
In Ireland, the Church could not talk the people into giving up the worship of
Brigid, so they "converted" her to St. Bridget, claiming she was a nun who
founded a convent in Kildare (where the goddess' temple already was located.)
The stories about "St. Bridget" were the same stories told about the goddess:
that everywhere she walked, flowers and shamrocks sprang up (the three-leafed
shamrock, of course, was the symbol of the triple Brigid), that in her shrine it
was always springtime and that in her convent the cows never went dry -- all
fertility stories.
The Irish priests said, however, that Brigid wasn't really a saint at all: she
was the Queen of Heaven, the mother of Jesus herself. The Church ruled that
since Bridget couldn't be the mother of Jesus (Mary already had that job all
sewed up), she could be the step-mother of Jesus -- which meant, of course, that
Jesus had to have been raised in Ireland, a story frequently told in the old
days.
The goddess Brigid had a consort named Dagda, meaning "father." The Latin word
for father was Patricius, so the Church made him a saint as well, "St. Patrick."
The myths say Patrick was the person who Christianized Ireland in the year 461,
but we know Ireland actually was converted in the seventh century by Augustine
of Canterbury, who was responsible for getting Patrick canonized.
Patrick, the sun-god, has his day on March 17, the beginning of spring in
Ireland.
Interestingly, the churches in Ireland dedicated to "St. Bridget" were also
dedicated to the O'Kelly clans. All the baptismal fees in those churches
belonged to the O'Kellies. If you know any Irishman named Kelly you can tell
him or her something about the history of their name. The word means they are
descended from the kelles, or sacred harlots (to use the Church name) of the
goddess Brigid.
The goddess' priestesses were not allowed to marry, so they were free to choose
any man they wished. Children born to such unions were called O'Kelly, because
they were born of a kelle.
Every woman today who gets married is given the goddess name, of course, for the
word "bride" is simply an alternate spelling of Brigid.
The feast day of Brigid is February 1, which was also considered the first day
of spring to pagans. It is the day of quickening, when vegetation comes alive
(quickens) in the bowels of the earth. For this reason, it is often called
Imbolc, a Celtic word meaning "in the belly." It's also called Oimelc ("ewe's
milk") for this was also the lambing season in ancient Ireland.
In ancient Rome, the first two weeks of February were called the Lupercalia, in
honor of Lupercus (or Faunus), god of agriculture, and Venus, goddess of
fertility. It was also a festival of quickening, and also honored the goddess
as maiden. It involved parades and the lighting of fires.
Lupercalia ended, of course, on February 14, a day we now call St. Valentine's
Day, after yet another spurious "saint." The name was most likely originally
"Gallantine's Day," the day of the lover. On this day, a couple could agree to
a trial marriage, living together until the next Lammas, August 1. "Will you be
my Valentine?" was the way a woman would propose such an engagement to a man.
(The Valentine "heart," of course, was not the physical heart we are acquainted
with, but another part of the anatomy entirely.)
Fires have always been important on Imbolc. The fires symbolized the new-born
sun, born at Yule and the sparks of new life in springtime. One ancient custom
was the lighting of candles in every window of the house, to let the world know
of coming spring. The sight of every home blazing with candles must have been
comforting to people still feeling the bitter cold of February up north!
The Church made this time the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin ("virgin"
was just another word for "maid," of course) and they called in Candlemas, the
feast of candles. Since people were already lighting candles at home anyway,
the Church declared this a time to go to church and get your candles blessed.
During the Burning Times, the great Inquisition of Europe, it was said that
witches considered Candlemas their most sacred festival. This was probably the
Church's way of warning people not to take Brigid too seriously.
One of the most important customs at Candlemas in ancient times was the
forecasting of weather. In the old English poem: "If Candlemas Day be bright
and clear, there'll be two winters in the year." It was once thought that the
quarters (the equinoxes and solstices) foretold the weather directly (i.e. a
warm Christmas meant a warm winter) while the cross-quarters (Imbolc, Beltane,
Lammas and Samhain) foretold the weather negatively.
We keep this custom by calling February 2 "Groundhog's Day" and predicting the
rest of the winter by whether or not the groundhog sees its shadow or not. If
it sees its shadow then Candlemas Day will be "bright and clear."
There were a number of customs associated with this day. One was the baking of
"Bridget's bread" on this day. This goes back thousands of years to the baking
of cakes for the Queen of Heaven spoken of in the Bible. The last of the
precious grain stored over the winter would be prepared into cakes on this day,
in the prospect of much more grain in the year ahead.
Another custom called for the making of "Bridget's crosses" out of straw. The
cross was the ancient symbol for the sun (the rays of the sun seem to come out
in cruciform shape) and the straw crosses were in honor of the reborn sun. The
crosses would be placed around the home for protection during the following
year.
One young woman each year would also be chosen to represent the goddess, the
"Bride." She would wear a crown of candles on her head that day, again in honor
of the sun.
The meaning of this holiday for us is simply this: this is the time of
quickening, the time of new life. It's a time to be thankful for all the new
life that arises in spring, a time to plan ahead for the new year and a time to
begin the long processes of making a living, bringing in a new crop or getting
on with our lives.
New projects are well begun on Brigid's Day. This is a time of hope, a time for
looking positively at one's world.
This week, go out and buy a candle for the Maiden Goddess -- and for yourself.
This week, light it and place it in a window of your home. Focus all your hopes
and dreams for the coming year onto that candle. And dedicate it to hope.
Blessed be!