🌾Brigid🌾
From my Grimoire:
Brigid, the Triple Goddess
Brigid, an ancient Celtic goddess, goes by many names: Bride, Bridey, Brighid, Brigit, Briggidda, Brigantia, Breo-Saighead. There are many pronunciations, but I use Breet. Brigid means “exalted one” and the most ancient Celtic name, Breo-Saighead, means “fiery power” or “fiery arrow”.
Brigid is said to be the daughter of the Dagda and was born at sunrise to the earth god with rays of sunshine or flame shooting out of her head into the universe. She is part of the Tuatha Dé Danann. As a baby it is said she drank the milk of a sacred cow. Brigid is one of the solar goddesses often depicted with rays coming from her head. It is said that Brigid invented “keening” as she mourned for her lost son Ruadan as he fell in the Battle of Moytura.
Brigid is traditionally known as the triple goddess of healing and fertility, poetry and smithcraft, all practical applications that inspire wisdom, arts and crafts. Her main symbols are fire and water, two elements essential in each of her three specialties.
As a goddess of healing and fertility she was concerned equally with humans, animals and vegetation. Wherever she walked flowers sprang up under her feet. It was an eternal springtime in her presence. Herds never ran dry of milk. As a healer she is associated with water and it was tradition to bring those sick and ailing to springs and water for healing. Associations include medicine, spiritual healing and fertility, midwifery, inner healing and vital energy.
Brigid is the keeper and dispenser of information. She is the goddess of poets and artists. Known as the fire of the soul she is the goddess of self expression and she lends grace and inspiration to all creative endeavors. Associations include poetry, learning, divination, occult knowledge and prophecy.
As the goddess of the forge, Brigid is known for her cauldron used for melting metals, she may even date back to pottery and it’s firing. As a smith she creates new and mends the broken. While she is generally known as the peaceful smith she can also be seen as the warrior forging spears and arrows. Associations include blacksmiths, goldsmiths, and housecrafts.
Brigid’s feast Day is February 1st, Imbolc (i-MOLG). At this time, Brigid, or the bride makes herself present, ushering out the old crone of winter and letting the sunshine in. Imbolc was marked by the milk of the Ewes beginning to flow, marking growth and fertility. Imbolc was traditionally celebrated by making Brigid crosses to protect the hearth and home. During festivities she was often symbolized as a straw doll in a white dress with a crystal in the center of chest. Corn cakes were made from the first and last harvest and distributed between townsfolk. Brigid’s corn doll was carried by maidens dressed in white. Gifts of food were presented at a feast where young men were invited for the purpose of ritual mating to ensure new souls were brought into the world to replace those lost to the cold.
ASSOCIATIONS:
General - Fire, hearth, forge, harp, light, candles, sunrise, springs and wells, poetry, whistling, embroidery, arrows, bells, thresholds and doorways, sandstone rock formations like Stonehenge, Brigid’s cross, corn dolls, midwifery
Animals - Lambs and ewes, dairy cows, bees, owls, serpents, hibernating animals
Plants - Dandelions, snowdrops, crocus, trilliums, acorns and oak trees, corn, oats, sage, pumpkin seeds, heather, chamomile, blackberries, shamrock, rushes, straw and all field flowers
Scents - Heather, wisteria, violet, lavender, lemon verbena, and heliotrope
Crystals - amethyst, bloodstone, red garnets, moonstone, quartz, onyx, peridot, ruby, turquoise, and clear quartz
Colors - Red, White, Green, Gold, Blue
DEVOTIONALS TO BRIGID:
Offer fresh baked bread with butter, honey, and/or blackberry Jam, oat cakes, milk, and blackberries.
Make and put a Brigid’s cross at your threshold to invite her healing, protective powers in.
Write a poem, create a work of art.
Embroider, cross stitch, sew.
Set intentions.
Take a healing, cleansing bath.
Accomplish spring cleaning.
Make a flower crown.
Do something with your hands and take your time focusing on your craft.
Make honey cakes, bake bread.
Fix, cleanse, clean your tools.
Plant new growth.
Draw, dance, sing.
Stand under the sun and meditate.
