Brigid's Light: Tending the Ancestral Flame of the Beloved Celtic Goddess - Brigid: 9781578637690 (2024)

FAQs

What does the goddess Brigid symbolize? ›

She is associated with wisdom, poetry, healing, protection, smithing and domesticated animals. Cormac's Glossary, written in the 9th century by Christian monks, says that Brigid was "the goddess whom poets adored" and that she had two sisters: Brigid the healer and Brigid the smith.

Brigid's Cross (Cros Bríde in Irish) is a cross woven from rushes, with 4 arms tied at the end and meeting in a woven patterned square in the centre. Traditionally they were displayed over the door of a house to ward off evil. The tradition marks the beginning of spring, St Brigid's Day being the 1st February.

Important dates on the pagan calendar were morphed into important dates on the Christian calendar – most famously, the Nordic Yule became Christmas. The spring equinox Imbolc became St Brigid's Day. And of course, a pagan goddess called Brigid became a saint – one of Ireland's three patron saints.

Rosemary: Rosemary is associated with healing, protection, and memory. It is often used in cooking and as an herb for smudging. The colours associated with Brigid are white, red, and green. White is associated with purity and peace, red with passion and creativity, and green with growth and abundance.

Brigid is a Triple Goddess, which means she can represent Maiden, Mother or Crone, at different times of the year. Spring time is for maidens and a white candle would be appropriate to honour Brigid now. Red is the colour of Mother and Black represents Crone.

As she grew older, Brigid was said to have worked miracles, including healing and feeding the poor. According to one tale, as a child, she once gave away her mother's entire store of butter. The butter was then replenished in answer to Brigid's prayers.

' Close your eyes, imagine yourself in a beautiful safe place in Nature at Imbolg time, surrounded by your helpers. Call out to Brigid and wait until you see/hear/sense her presence. Trust that this will happen easily and safely.

The Silver Birch is one of the most sacred trees in Celtic Mythology, symbolising new beginnings and protection. This association derives from ancient times, before the written word, when the sacred Silver Birch was associated with the Celtic goddess Brigid.

Brigid of Kildare is a patroness of those who have a care for the earth, for justice and equality, for peace and reconciliation. She is a model for a contemplative life.

Brigid embodies mastery represented in the perfect balance of fire and water, symbols of the masculine and feminine, known in Eastern traditions as the yin and yang or ida and pingala. As we strive for equality today, Brigid reminds us that we must also heal our inner feminine and masculine.

Who is the husband of the goddess Brigid? ›

Brigid, Goddess of Fire

Many of Ireland's wells and waterways were devoted to her. As a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, Brigid was the wife of High King Bres and mother of Ruadán.

without approval of the Catholic church. There are many female saints, but it could be suggested that because the Catholic church did not approve of Brigid's role as a female bishop, or some of her miracles, they would not have approved her as a saint in later medieval Europe.

She established a monastery in Kildare

Brigid would go on to become a nun, and a disciple of St. Patrick. She founded several monasteries, including a vital center of religion and learning in Kildare, as well as a school of art that taught metalwork and illumination.

Brigíd was noted to be the goddess of poetry, healing, and blacksmithing. Her central symbols are fire, her holy wells, and cattle. In 500 C.E., she was adopted into the Christian record as St. Brigid of Kildare.

Brigid – Ireland's red-haired saint – was one of history's liberated women.

Brigid is associated with many miracles related to healing, and it's fitting that the day to commemorate her is also the traditional first day of spring in Ireland. Celebrations have been going on in Ireland for centuries, and in recent years have spread to the Irish diaspora.

Brigid the goddess was associated with everything from poetry, healing and metal crafting to nature, fertility and fire. She was honored on the mid-winter holy day of Imbolc, still commemorated on Feb. 1, which also became St. Brigid's Day.

Saint Brigid's Blessing

May Brigid bless the house wherein we dwell. Bless every fireside, every wall and door. Bless every heart that beats beneath its roof. Bless every hand that toils to bring its joy.

Goddess or saint, Brigid's name was linked to specific birds, namely linnet, lark and oystercatcher, the first pair being trilling heralds of spring, the latter, in great coastal flocks of black and white, rising from seashore and lough to return to Scotland and Iceland to breed (about 70,000 pairs at one time) leaving ...