"Brigit, Poet of the Powerful Voice” - Online Workshop with Mael Brigde (Free)

Brigit, Poet of the Powerful Voice

Sunday, 28 September 2025 1 PM PST 9 PM Irish time/4 PM EST/ 6 AM Melbourne time One of the most striking attributes of the Irish goddess Brigit is her link to the voice, as Poet, Sovereignty goddess, Judge, and whose grief at the death of her son arose in the first keen ever heard in Ireland. Learn about Brigit and sound; draw on her to support your own voice. Bring paper or your phone if you would like to compose a few words under her guidance. ____________

The workshop will consist of background information on Brigit, the Irish poets, and the voice, experiential work, writing, optional sharing, and Q & A. This is an opportunity to learn a little, look more deeply into what we know, and do some powerful work together.

If you are interested in participating in this or a future online workshop, please let me know. I will add you to a mailing list specific to that event.

To register, please go to my website at this link and pop in your email & a note saying you want to attend.  (Search "Say hello" for the message and submission form.)

Image: Pink poetry journal and flame with name and time of workshop, by Mael Brigde

Review: Brigid - Celtic Goddess and Matron Saint of Ireland (Oracle Deck)

Brigid - Celtic Goddess and Matron Saint of Ireland, DR. KAREN WARD (author) and BERNIE SEXTON (artist) (2023)

Introduction

I am delighted by the breadth, depth, and beauty of this deck.

As always, there are things I quibble with, and I'll mention one or two below. But in general I find much more to like in Brigid - Celtic Goddess and Matron Saint of Ireland than to quarrel with. For instance, it takes in more of Brigit's cult than usual, leaning into aspects of her that we don't normally pay attention to, and so gives us more scope for contemplation. As well, rather than ignoring incontrovertibly Catholic aspects of Brigit and paganising the bits of Saint Brigit that we want to retain, she is allowed to be celebrated equally. (For instance, in the cards which show family members of both the saint and the goddess.)

This is important not because I have a fondness for the saint, personally, although I appreciate it for that reason, too, but because it's a step towards a clearer representation of who Brigit really is. Just as we protest the Christianisation of pagan elements of our stories, we need to acknowledge the modern tendency to paganise Christian elements, and look instead at what her roots truly are.

This clarification of roots isn't completely adhered to in Brigid - CGMSI. There are elements, such as the tradition of tying rags to trees at her holy wells, which come from the saint's cult but which are also, or exclusively, attributed to the goddess. But you'll find similar mixing of attributions in nearly all of the popular material about her – it's natural that traditions will be blended together over time – and there is less of it here than generally. So, for someone like myself who values knowing where ideas come from, and who loves the saint and the goddess equally, this is an enormous plus side to this deck and booklet.

The details

There are 52 cards in the deck. This is not a tarot but an oracle deck. There are no suits, no major and minor Arcana. It is divided into sections of from 3 to 8 cards. These sections cover her symbols, attributes, gifts and legends, and so on.

Karen Ward conceived of the deck and wrote the accompanying 62 page booklet. Each card has a number, a name, and an associated aspect. For instance, card number one is "Noble Name – Divinity" and the image is of a woman with various versions of the name Brigit superimposed on her.

There is one page for each card. The top, with the name and image, contains messages for the reader: "Find out what your name means. Your leadership skills need to be nurtured. You have the gift of 'common touch' with the ability to relate to many. Begin your sacred work now." Below this is a discussion of the concept, in this case Brigit's name. It culminates in a question: "What does your name mean, who gave it to you and why? May Brigid inspire you to embrace your name with new insights and delight. There is power and a divinity there to be discovered." You can see that there are a variety of perspectives offered for each concept and you are free to choose what speaks to you, comfortably or uncomfortably, within those offerings. I have found some of the cards I've drawn to be particularly thought-provoking on subjects that I am grappling with in my own life.

The artwork by Bernie Sexton is sublime. The images alone invite contemplation and can take the reader to some very interesting places. Several strike me as being particularly beautiful and one such,"The Element of Water" (card 11), makes me wish I could talk with the artist about her inspiration for the image. Others are straightforward, such as a raised fist in a circle of Irish knot-work, against the background of a golden sun, found on number 13, "Activist." I love that such a card exists, along with Peacemaker and Earth Keeper, Powerful Vocation, Charitable Deeds, and Sunbeam Miracle… cards that take us to places so critical in these times and help us to reflect on how each topic is relevant in our own lives.

Although there is a suggested layout for readings, I've simply been pulling individual cards and sitting with their image and message for days or, in the case of the first one I pulled, shortly after my mother died, months. (That card was number 33 – "Keening.") I have found this a rich path into meditation.

Do I agree with every interpretation or representation of Brigit in the booklet? No. For instance, the assertion that "Goddess Brigid's Fire Temple, Kildare was incorporated into Saint Brigid's monastery" (number 23, "Fire Temple"), and the underlying assumption that Saint Brigit herself was originally a druid, is well enough rebutted in the academic literature to be left out or at least couched as a hypothesis. And there is the occasional tendency to do what I myself did in places in my own book about Brigit, and mix the two strands, goddess and saint, as if they were the same story. This leads to such things as attributing the role the saint plays in protecting children – but not the goddess, in any of the lore available to us – to "her perceived inability to save her own (the goddess's) son" (pg. 43).

But the reality is, I'm not going to agree with everything in any book about Brigit, and some things, like the story of the goddess having a perpetual flame and the saint having been druid, are almost universally embraced by popular writers; there is no getting away from them. It's up to us as readers to learn as much as we can about where our information comes from [1] and to keep an open mind about everything we read. What I have to do as a reviewer is to step back and ask, "Is this a book I would give to a friend who wants to grow closer to, or know more about, Brigit? Does it have substantial value?" And in this case the answer is unquestionably, "Yes.”

Note [1]:  Morgan Daimler's book, Pagan Portals – Brigid, is an excellent jumping off point for learning where our ideas about Brigit arise from; Christina Harrington's book, Women in a Celtic Church – Ireland 450 - 1150, gives an in-depth explanation of the origins of the goddess fire-temple story and the dearth of material supporting it.

Images: A selection of cards and the booklet from this deck. Photo by Mael Brigde.

 

The Perpetual Flame at Kildare

 

The Perpetual Flame at Kildare

And what of Brigit’s flame, this central aspect of her modern cult? In medieval times it was tended by her nuns; now it is kept by lay Christians and Neo-Pagans, as well. As mentioned above, many of us believe that Saint Brigit tended the perpetual flame with her sisters, and that it was a holdover of pagan practice – that she may have been a druid dedicated to the goddess Brigit, possibly one who converted to Christianity.

The evidence against this scenario is substantial, whereas to date, none has been found to support it.¹ Classical writers speaking of the Celts nowhere mention the tending of perpetual flames. The earliest “Life” of Saint Brigit, written by Cogitosus, a monk in her tradition, was composed not much later than 650 C.E.,² around a century after her death. It describes Kildare and St. Brigit’s church in detail, yet no mention is made of fire-tending. Nor is there reference to a Brigidine perpetual flame in any Vitae (“Lives”), hymns, prayers, annals, or texts of any kind until the late 12^th c., approaching seven centuries after Brigit died. 

We learn of the practice of tending a perpetual flame in Kildare from the Romanised Welsh Briton, Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald of Wales). In the wake of the Norman invasion of Ireland, as a royal clerk, he accompanied the son of King Henry II, the future King John, on a military expedition to Ireland from 1185 to 1186. The journey resulted in two books, Topographia Hibernica (Topography of Ireland) and Expugnatio Hibernica (Conquest of Ireland). He wrote of Kildare:

 

“The nuns there, nineteen in number, take turns tending a perpetual flame in a sacred place surrounded by a hedge, a place which no man may enter without risking madness or worse. On the twentieth day, though no one touches it, the fire burns on and no ash builds up, for it is tended by the long dead founder of the order, Saint Brigit herself.” Topographia Hibernica Giraldus Cambrensis

 

Various writers have pointed out that Cambrensis or his informant seems to have relied on stories of the Vestal Virgins for some of his details of Brigit’s nuns in this description. Seán Ó Duinn wrote, “It is difficult to know if Giraldus Cambrensis was influenced by the Classics when describing St. Brigid’s perpetual fire, but it is strange that he mentions the number 20 as the number of nuns – the same number from which the Vestal Virgins of ancient Rome were chosen. In Ireland, one would expect the number 9 to predominate.”³

Seven other perpetual flames are known from 12^th and 13^th century Ireland; all of these were tended by monks, rather than nuns.⁴ Ritual and household fires were lit from them: if a household’s fire was accidentally extinguished, it would be relit from the fire at the church. Of the hearthstone at Inishmurray, W.G. Wood-Martin wrote that “… fire was always kept burning by the monks for the use of the islanders. In later times, when monks no longer inhabited the cashel, whenever a householder wanted kindling for the family fire, a sod of turf or a piece of wood deposited on this holy hearth ignited spontaneously.”⁵

As it is in many religions, fire is important in Christian iconography. It represents both the Holy Spirit and light. Jesus describes his followers as the light of the world and God is a “consuming fire.” It’s not surprising then, that Saint Brigit’s fire associations have equivalents in the Lives of male Irish saints.

 

“Lord who enterest my members

   Like the embers Thou dost shine,

Take my soul from out my bosom,

   Cleanse from stain and make it Thine.”

from “Thanksgiving After Communion”⁶ 

The Religious Songs of Connacht, Douglas Hyde, ed.

 

Taken together, the evidence strongly implies that the perpetual fire tended at Kildare was of very late date, part of a more common Christian practice that emerged long after the death of Saint Brigit, not a practice that she, let alone previous worshippers of the goddess Brigit, would have taken part in. 

Nevertheless, Kildare’s perpetual fire was tended for centuries. It was first extinguished in 1220 by order of Henry de Londres, archbishop of Dublin, only three decades after Gerald of Wales wrote about it. It was later renewed and continued to be tended until ca. 1540 when, during King Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries, it was once again snuffed out. 

In time, the Sisterhood of Saint Brigit died away, to be revived at the invitation of Daniel Delany, Bishop of Kildare, in 1807. Brigidines nuns soon spread from Ireland to Wales, England, the United States, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, Kenya, and Papua New Guinea. In 1992 Sisters Mary Minehan and Phil O’Shea were, in Sister Mary’s words, “asked to come to Kildare and to explore our Celtic Heritage – to reclaim Brigid of Kildare in a new way for a new millennium.”⁷ They called their home there Solas Bhríde (Brigit’s Light). On Imbolc 1993 Brigit’s flame was rekindledin Kildare by Sister Mary Teresa Cullen, then leader of the Brigidine sisters, at the opening of a conference, “Brigid: Prophetess, Earthwoman, Peacemaker,” organised by Action from Ireland, a justice, peace, and human rights group.

Since that day, Neo-Pagans, Christians, and Christo-Pagans of many stripes have tended Brigit’s flame, and no longer only women, but men and non-binary folk, too. So, however and whenever Brigit’s flame came into being, and whatever the original boundaries that surrounded it, it has broken through those bounds to burn in countless and varied hearts.

 

Endnotes

1. If one day an archaeological dig were conducted in Kildare, at the site of the fire temple, perhaps some of our uncertainties could be answered at last.

2. Connolly and Picard (1987) pg. 5.

3. Ó Duinn (2005) pg. 64.

4. Harrington (2002) pg. 66.

5. Wood-Martin (1902). See Laurie, Erynn Rowan (2015) for a fuller discussion of the matter.

6. Hyde (1906) pg. 401.

7. Interview with Mary Minehan. http://www.tallgirlshorts.net/marymary/sistermary.html

Image: Perpetual flame at Solas Bhride, Kildare, Ireland (2023). Photo by Mael Brigde.

Credit: This post was first published in A Brigit of Ireland Devotional - Sun Among Stars by Mael Brigde (Moon Books, 2021).

"Some Old Irish Customs of St Brigid’s Day" by Dr. Marion McGarry

 

30 Jan 2022  NATIONAL MUSEUM OF IRELAND - DECORATIVE ARTS & HISTORY

To celebrate #StBrigidsDay, the National Museum of Ireland, Decorative Arts & History, Collins Barracks, invited historian Dr. Marion McGarry to speak as part of their Culture Club Programme, co-ordinated with the Dublin City Council Culture Company. We are delighted to share this pre-recorded talk, which examines some of the traditions and folk rituals around St. Brigid’s Day in Ireland. 

Dr. McGarry is a lecturer at the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology and author of “Irish Customs and Rituals: How Our Ancestors Celebrated Life and the Seasons”

 

Learn more about the customs and practices of St. Brigid's Day in Ireland here.

Image: screenshot of video cover page, with three-armed St. Brigit’s cross and inset photo of dark haired white woman.

Quicky Picture Book Overview

  

I wrote this on Facebook in response to someone who asked if anyone knew of any books that bring Brigit or Irish Pagan practices into inner child work. At first I could think of nothing, but then it occurred to me that she might get something out of picture books.

I mentioned that I had reviewed some children’s books in A Long Sip at the Well (Brigit book reviews) a number of years ago, and that I have several more on hand awaiting reviews. So I said I would look at those:

Okay. There are too many here for me to properly review them for you, but I will say that whereas the ones to do with the saint usually just take a piece of her lore and make it into a story that would appeal to children (they hope!) — stretching or adapting things in a minor way to suit their purposes, many — most? — Pagan books impose the image of a goddess onto what are traditional Christian stories, rather than creating stories out of the goddess materials from the old Irish literature. They often have outright wrong info, or state as fact things that are theories that are vigorously contested — so I urge you to take everything with a grain of salt and simply see if the story as it is written in the book at hand has anything to offer your inner child.

Having said that, I particularly like:

Brigid and the Butter by Pamela Love. It is very Catholic, and is a teaching tale in the way St. B’s vitae were. It is about generosity and is for younger children.

Saint Brigid the Fearless by Ann Carroll. Also Catholic and a teeny bit teachy, it covers a lot of different stories from her vitae, including the one in the Love book. But it is lively and kind of funny.

My favourite Catholic one from this batch is Saint Brigid and the Cows by Eva K. Betz. It touches on many of her stories, but it also looks at how things were for Brigit, and her feelings.

Of less interest (to me) is The Story of Saint Brigid by Caitriona Clarke. It doesn't try to tell a story, but simply gives certain details of her life, so it is less easy to relate to as a child (inner or outer).

I have only three pagan ones.

Imbolc - Brigid's Feast by Maria Finchenko is a fun read for young children that plays with language and has great pictures. It takes folklore from the saint's cult and pretends it was all about the goddess, which I have trouble with, but what the heck.

The most original, and my favourite of the Pagan books, is Brigid and Her Cloak - an Imbolc Tale, by unknown persons. (I got in touch with them: they refuse to say who wrote and illustrated it. I worry that the illustrations could be AI, but I have no idea how to find out. They are lovely, so I hope they're not.) This one has the goddess walking through a village where people are doing traditional St. Brigit's night activities, and reflecting on what is around her. 

The last is My Name is Brigid by Isca Johnson. This one has illustrations by the late Barbara O'Meara, and I can see the appeal in them for adults, but they seem inappropriate for children. Too murky and indistinct, with no faces — harder, I would think, for a child to be drawn in by than any of the others. I was also shocked that the author, speaking for Brigit, said she had never had children. True of the saint, but absolutely not true of the goddess. Anyway, as feared, I am getting into my pet peeves, and I was trying to stay away from that.

All of these books, and the others I reviewed in A Long Sip at the Well, have lots of good things about them, despite the bits that get up my nose. Perhaps let your imagination wander through one or three of them. (Or one of those in Long Sip.) I would say, for your purposes, the Betz and the anonymous Pagan book might be the easiest doors in. Or the wonderful Brigid’s Cloak — An Ancient Irish Story by Bryce Milligan, which I review in Sip.

Blessings on your explorations. 

Images: Covers of the three books mentioned in the last paragraph.

Pagan Portals - Brigid: Meeting The Celtic Goddess Of Poetry, Forge, And Healing Well by Morgan Daimler

 

Do you love Brigit? (Brigid, Bridget, Brig…) Are you her devotee? Or just kind of curious?

READ THIS BOOK! (And if you’ve already read it — read it again. Every time I do I find important bits I either missed or had forgotten.)

Morgan Daimler has done such an amazing job of gathering together and delving into the sources for our many ideas about her. This is an absolutely pivotal text. Please consider (and consider taking on board) what Morgan has to say on so many controversial points. But even if you don’t want your most dear beliefs about Brigit challenged at all (and Brig knows I don’t agree with *everything* Morgan suggests), revel in what you will learn here. Such a tiny book, yet it carries enormous weight.

Image: book cover with woman smith striking an anvil. Lots of red and orange and yellow and fire!

"Listen to the story of St Brigid's Cloak” on RTÉ Jr

 This isn't just an ordinary cloak - this is St Brigid's cloak!

 

What better way to ring in the springtime after a long winter than a picnic to celebrate – but Colmcille’s plans are in danger of being scuppered when he forgets to bring along a picnic blanket. That’s where the story of St Brigid’s cloak comes in.

 

You can listen to the two-part show here now!

Image: Screenshot of RTÉ Jr audio file, St Brigid’s Cloak Part 1.