BRIGIT OF THE CELTS
                      
Brigit was one of the great Triple Goddesses of the Celtic people. She appeared 
as Brigit to the Irish, Brigantia in Northern England, Bride in Scotland, and 
Brigandu in Brittany. Many legends are told about Brigit. Some say that there are 
three Brigits : one sister in charge of poetry and inspiration who invented the 
Ogham alphabet, one in charge of healing and midwifery, and the third in charge 
of the hearth fire, smithies and other crafts. This catually indicates the seperate 
aspects of her Threefold nature and is a neat division of labor for a hard-working 
goddess.

Brigit was probably originally a Sun Goddess, and a charming story of her birth is
that she was born at sunrise and a tower of flame burst from the forehead of the
new born Goddess that reached from Earth to Heaven. It was likely She who
inspired the line in the famous Song of Amergin: "I am a fire in the head." Her
penchant for smithcraft led to her association by the Romans with Minerva/
Athena. As a warrior Goddess, She favored the use of the spear or the arrow.
Indeed, various interpetations of her name exist including, "Bright Arrow," "The
Bright One," "the Powerful One" and "The High One," depending upon the region
and the dialect.

As a Goddess of herbalism, midwifery and healing She was in charge of Water
as well as Fire. I don't believe that anyone has ever counted all the vast number
of sacred wells and springs named after or dedicated to this Goddess. A story is
told of how two lepers came to one of her sacred springs for healing and She
instructed one Leper to wash the other. The skin of the freshly bathed man was
cleansed of the disease and Brigit told the man who was healed to wash the man
who had bathed him so that both men would be whole. The man who was healed
was now too disgusted to touch the other Leper and would have left him, but
Brigit herself washed the leper and struck down the other arrogant fellow with
leprosy once more before he could leave. Offerings to the watery Brigit were cast
into the well in the form of coins or, even more ancient, brass or gold rings. Other
sacrifices were offered where three streams came together. Her cauldron of
Inspiration connected her watery healing aspect with her fiery poetic aspect.
Brigit is clearly the best example of the survival of a Goddess into Christian
times. She was canonized by the Catholic church as St. Brigit and various origins
are given to this saint. The most popular folktale is that She was midwife to the
Virgin Mary, and thus was always invoked by women in labor. The more official
story was that She was a Druid's daughter who predicted the coming of
Christianity and then was baptized by St. Patrick. She became a nun and later an
abbess who founded the Abbey at Kildare. The Christian Brigit was said to have
had the power to appoint the bishops of her area, a strange role for an abbess,
made stranger by her requirement that her bishops also be practicing goldsmiths.

Actually, the Goddess Brigit had always kept a shrine at Kildare, Ireland, with a
perpetual flame tended by nineteen virgin priestesses called Daughters of the
Flame. No male was ever allowed to come near it; nor did those women ever
consort with men. Even their food and other supplies were brought to them by
women of the nearby village. When Catholicism took over in Ireland, the shrine
became a convent and the priestesses became nuns but the same traditions
were held and the eternal flame was kept burning. Their tradition was that each
day a different priestess/nun was in charge of the sacred fire and on the 20th day
of each cycle, teh fire was miraculously tended by Brigit Herself. There into the
18th century, the ancient song was sung to her : "Brigit, excellent woman,
sudden flame, may the bright fiery sun take us to the lasting kingdom."

For over a thousand years, the sacred flame was tended by nuns, and no one
knows how long before that it had been tended by the priestesses. In 1220 CE, a
Bishop became angered by the no-males policy of the Abbey of St. Brigit of
Kildare. He insisted that nuns were subordinate to priests and therefore must
open their abbey and submit themselves to inspection by a priest. When they
refused and asked for another Abbess or other female official to perform any
inspections, the Bishop was incensed. He admonished them to obedience and
then decreed that the keeping of the eternal flame was a Pagan custom and
6rdered the sacred flame to be extinguished. Even then, She remained the most
popular Irish saint along with Patrick. In the 1960's, under Vatican II
modernization, it was declared that there was insufficient proof of Brigit's sanctity
or even of her historical existence, and so the Church's gradual pogrom against
Brigit was successful at last and She was thus decanonized. It is very difficult to
obtain images or even holy cards of ST. Brigit outside of Ireland anymore.

Her festival is held on February 1st or 2nd. It corresponds to the ancient Celtic
fire festival of Imbolc or Oimelc which celebrated the birthing and freshening of
sheep and goats (it really is a Feast of Milk). This festival was Christianized as
Candlemas or Lady Day and Her Feast day, La Feill Bhride, was attended by
tremendous local celebration and elaborate rituals. Her festival is also called
Brigit. Brigit (the Goddess and the Festival) represents the stirring of life again
after the dead months of the winter, and her special blessings are called forth at
this time. Since She was booted out of the Church for being Pagan, it is
incumbent upon us Pagans to restore Her worship to its former glory especially
those of us of Celtic ancestry. Here is an ancient rite to invite Brigit into your
home at the time of her Holiday:

Clean your hearth thoroughly in the morning and lay a fire without kindling it, then
make yourself a "Bed for Brigid" and place it near the hearth. The bed can be a
small basket with covers and tiny pillow added as plain or fancy as you like. If
you have no hearth, you can use the stove and put the bed behind it. Then at
sundown light a candle rubbed with rosemary oil and invite Brigit into your home
and into her bed; use the candle to kindle your hearthfire if possible. Make your
own poem to invite Her or use the ancient song mentioned earlier. Let the candle
burn at least all night in a safe place. You might even want to begin the custom of
keeping the eternal flame; it is a popular custom in some magickal and Wiccan
traditions. After all, it's up to us now to keep the spirit of Brigit alive and well for
the next thousand years at least!!!

Brigid is not really a Celtic Mother Goddess. She is generally considered a
Goddess of fire/smithcraft, of poetry and of healing. One of her roles is as
midwife, but although she has a son, she is not usually seen as a mother.

I don't know any books that deal specifically with Brighidh, but please look for a
book called "Celtic Mythology" by Proinsias MacCana and for "Gods and Heroes
of the Celts" by Marie Lousie Sjoestadt for more information about Celtic deities.
They are both VERY good sources.

Brighidh is a Goddess of healing, smithcraft and poetry, brewer of mead and ale,
a lawgiver, a midwife, supposedly daughter of the Daghda, mother of the poet
Cairbre, and of the Gods Brian, Iuchar and Iucharba. She was transformed into a
Christian Saint and became the foster mother of Christ. Some sources say that
the healer/smith/poet were embodied in one Goddess, other sources claim that
she was three sisters, all named Brighidh.

Her holy day falls (on our calendar) on February 2nd (I wonder if She likes
groundhogs...) called Imbolc, Oimelc or Lady Day. Candles are blessed that day
in the Catholic churches.

By: Ido
To: Teakan
Re: Somethnig about Brighid:

Brigit/Brigid/Bride was the daughter of Dagda. She was the protector of
the poets, the forge and the healing persons. Her son Ruadan, which she
had with Bres, was killed by Goibnui. For her died son she sounds the
first kenning of Eireland. She also was put into the cult and the
person of Brigit from Kildare, which made the first female parish after
Christianity falls into Eireland. The convent of Kildare has had a
neverending fire, which was protected by the sisters of the parish. The
saint Brigit is the second patron saint of Eireland. within the
scottish tradition Brigit belongs together with the time of the year
"Season of the lambs" and the comming of spring. Brigit overcomes the
control of the Cailleach Bheur.

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