Imbolc Craft Idea from Homeschooling Mum

Have a look at Ten kids and a Dog : The days in the life of a large, Catholic, homeschooling family. Specifically the Imbolc posting which features this lovely craft:

Brigit Reviews (Series One): Picture Books

Picture books:

St. Brigid’s Cloak, Reg Keating. Illustrated by Heather McKay. Tarantula Books, Dublin, Ireland (1997)

Brigid’s Cloak: An Ancient Irish Story, Bryce Milligan. Illustrated by Helen Cann. Eerdmans Books For Young Readers, USA and UK (2002)

The Life of Saint Brigid, Abbess of Kildare, Jane Meyer. Illustrated by Zachary Lynch. Conciliar Press, Ben Lomond, California, USA (2009)

First off: we have here three good, saint-oriented Brigidine picture books. Now we need some goddess-oriented ones.

It isn’t surprising we have three saintly versions and none focussed on the goddess aspects of Brigit. Among other things, there is an abundance of saintly stories and the goddess lore for Brigit is thin on the ground. Nevertheless, without it we have only half the story. I would like to see a picture book that addresses the triple Brigit, maybe even one that tackles both sides, Pagan and Christian, in a positive and simple way. There’s your gauntlet, writerly and painterly folk. (And when you do it, please send me a copy to review!)

The present books are quite different from each other in terms of both artwork and writing, but they do have a number of things in common. Interestingly, from among the many, many stories related to Brigit, stories of her cloak, in one form or another, figure in all three books. When you consider the pithiness necessary in a picture book, the brevity of the text which allows only a few aspects to be explored, it is perhaps surprising that the cloak figures in all three, though admittedly the cloak stories are among the most well known in her vitae. The cloak is a main focus in the first two, and more or less a footnote in the latest, by Jane Meyer.

St. Brigid’s Cloak by Reg Keating

The first, St. Brigid’s Cloak by Reg Keating, is the smallest, shortest, and least elaborate in every way. Heather McKay's illustrations have a humorous, energetic style with simple, bold lines and Adobe Illustrator-type colour-pattern infills. The style is well-suited to Keating’s direct, simple, playful text and the underlying humour of the story.

The focus is narrow—after quickly giving us an idea of Brigit’s early life and desire to serve God, Keating tells a medieval tale of Brigit’s miraculous cloak. In this story, Brigit tricks a stingy king into giving her ample valuable land to build her monastery on by asking for merely as much as her cloak would cover, only to have the cloak grow enormously once on the ground.

This book is not written to entice children to holiness. It simply tells a fine and funny traditional story about someone who happens to be a saint and rather holy herself. It certainly doesn’t try to persuade against living a holy or moral life, and she is indeed presented as someone who works hard to do good, but that’s not the point. If anything, Brigit’s independence and cleverness are the important thing here.

By contrast, the two later books are more self-consciously Christian, and much more developed.

Brigid’s Cloak: An Ancient Irish Story, by Bryce Milligan,

Brigid’s Cloak: An Ancient Irish Story, by Bryce Milligan, is a beautifully illustrated, textured book aimed at somewhat older children than Keating’s audience. In it we go beyond the bare facts of Brigit’s life to hear the wild winds of fifteen centuries ago, to huddle in a cold hut outside her father’s hill fort, to hear the stars singing and see a Druid in the forest, come to prophesy about Brigit’s life.

Brigit’s magically noted birth is followed in time by her vision (as in Norah Kelly's play based on the Scottish folk tale¹) of being in Palestine. There she plays the role of the daughter of the innkeeper who shelters Joseph and Mary, and helps Mary with Jesus’s birth. The story of her cloak, in this case given by the Druid, is not the one where she tricks the King of Leinster into giving her lands, but the one where she lends her now shabby cloak to Mary, who is shivering as she lies in labour, and who returns it beautifully renewed. The story is centered on Christ’s birth, though inspired by Brigit’s devotion and generosity.

Milligan’s writing is subtle and often beautiful, and his tale touches on many evocative details that inspire a sense of wonder. There is an attempt at verisimilitude in the drawings of ancient Irish and Palestinian dwellings and dress, and the book closes with a page devoted to historical information about Brigit and her cloak. Helen Cann’s paintings are delicious, with subtle shades of colour that match the subtlety of the writing, and with energy, balance, and magic.

The Life of Saint Brigid, Abbess of Kildare, by Jane Meyer

The Life of Saint Brigid, Abbess of Kildare, by Jane Meyer, is perhaps the most joyfully religious of the three books. Published by Conciliar Press Ministries and written and illustrated by members of the Orthodox Church, it is intended to share the story of Brigit’s generosity and devotion to others and to God, and to inspire similar love and compassion in the children who read it.

Meyer ranges farther in her treatment of Brigit than the previous two authors, telling more about her young life, including her penchant for miracles associated with milk and butter and including a prayer she uttered to God to bless her pantry, which led to such abundance. She then follows Brigit through her life, touching on a few brief, important moments, such as her father’s attempt to sell her to the King who would one day inadvertently supply the land for her first monastery, her refusal to marry (somewhat dodging, though alluding to, the self-mutilation that convinced her family to let her off the matrimonial hook), her peripatetic ways and the resulting monasteries she founded across Ireland. She ends the book with an “Irish Rune of Hospitality”, a brief prayer that we may follow Brigit’s example, and the “Kontakion of Saint Brigid”: a prayer about and to Saint Brigit.

Zachary Lynch’s rough and ready iconographic illustrations are perfectly suited to the text. A playfully reimagined cow from a medieval Irish manuscript, Celtic knotwork gone mad with colour, Brigit with a hint of Theotokas in her face—there is much to delight the mind and eye in these pages.

My only complaint about this last book is the Celtic typeface used for the main text. If, as an adult who has been reading for many years, I have occasional difficulty making out a letter and therefore a word, I can only suppose that a young reader might find such a typeface one more obstacle on the rocky road to reading. But since with picture books of this complexity you generally have an adult reading to a child, perhaps it isn’t that much of a problem.

Okay now, Pagani. Get out your pens and paints and come up with some equally impressive Pagan counterparts to these three books. Ready, set—go!

1 A version of this folk tale is found in the the Carmina Gadelica, a collection of stories, prayers, etc collected by Alexander Carmichael in the Scottish Highlands between 1855 and 1910.

The Reviews, At Last!

A Grace On This Work

clear eye and thankful heart

calm pen and loving speech

bless this work Brigit

make of it a gift

self to self

neighbour to neighbour

friend to friend

across each boundary

of your fresh and speckled earth

I come at last to publish the first of my Brigit book reviews with a sense of gratitude and peace. There have been many obstacles along the path, yet I think that the work has benefited from, rather than been harmed by, these sometimes transformational delays. Today I am just returned from a week-long retreat for people living with cancer¹, and I am deeply and joyfully aware of the blessings of this life. One of the greatest blessings for me has been the opportunity to know and draw close to Brigit and her stories and traditions, to find guidance in the wealth of meaning that arises from her, and to share my love of her with the many people who celebrate her in their many different ways. I have gained something from every one, even those I strongly disagreed with, even ones who are long drifted from my life.

I have certain standards I apply to works about Brigit which not everyone shares. I prefer works that rely on verifiable stories and traditions, and, where they branch off from these into new understandings and associations, are clear and up front about it. I’m not opposed to the evolution of her cult—this is a far different world from that which gave birth to her—but I am opposed to muddying the milk. As authors, teachers, or spiritual leaders I believe we owe it to others to be frank about what we simply believe about Brigit as opposed to what we know and can verify. If we offer no clue as to which is which, we rob others of the opportunity to find for themselves who Brigit is to them, the unique understanding that emerges out of her profound mix of old traditions and tales.

NeoPagans can be particularly guilty in this, but so can Christians. We want so much for her to be for everyone what she is for us, we do a little bending here and there—“surely if the facts were known they would prove that the saint was originally a priestess of the goddess Brigit, so I will just say that she was.” But there is no evidence at all for this, and personally I don’t believe it. Or “surely she is a historical figure completely separate from Pagan goddesses and their goings on, and would never have, say, caused a foetus to disappear from a woman’s womb. That would be abortion! That story can’t be true.” Well, whether it is true or not, it is a legitimate part of Brigidine lore, and we have to take an honest look at what that means.

Like the authors of the works being reviewed, I have my cherished beliefs, and my feathers get ruffled now and then. My endeavour has been to present each work as fairly as I can, whether I “approve” of it or not, to allow you to know whether this would be the right work for you or whether you might prefer to start with another one. I am not always entirely successful in smoothing my feathers. It is a delicate balance, though, between respecting and valuing—as I very much do—every author and her or his efforts to bring Brigit to the world, and blunting my perceptions of how this work fails its audience through, for instance, misleading or inadequate scholarship. And if my grumpiness shows through from time to time I do apologize and ask your forgiveness.

It struck me, as I read through these books, that they are all written by members of my Brigidine community. The authors are academics, NeoPagans, Christians; they are thinkers, artists, enthusiasts. They would not all get along, or approve of the interpretation or treatment of Brigit employed by another, but some common thing draws each of us to this ancient figure and touches us deeply. Whether our primary intention is to understand her role in the recent or distant past, to shape her modern visage (which is what we are doing, whether it is our intention or not), to draw meaning or comfort, or simply to remain agape in her presence, we are joined to each other through her and through our regard, even love, for her.

This, I think, would please the Brigit I have come to know. In honour of her I encourage us to recall always that essential elements of this complex goddess and saint are healing, reconciliation, creation, and hospitality. May we find ways to induce those elements in our perceptions of and communications with each other.

Besides filling many of the holes in my understanding of Brigit and Brigidines, there have been surprises. I’ve liked books I’d expected not to, and been disappointed by some I thought I’d enjoy. This latter has been difficult to come to terms with, which is one reason I moved slowly on the project.

I’ve delayed posting anything until all the works were read and reviews written. They can be read individually, but if you have the time and muscle for it, I suggest reading them collectively. Themes touched on lightly in one may be developed in another, and the group presents a vast picture of Brigit, past and present, all valuable in its own way.

The astute observer will notice that the review list has changed as new material has come to my attention and certain other works have been removed for various reasons. I have kept the names of a couple of items on the list that I have yet to review; I hope to get and review them later.

To quote Lisa Bitel, “To journey through the scholarly literature on the saint-goddess is as wild a pilgrimage as surfing the web for Brigit-sites.²” The stories of Brigit, goddess and saint, are there to be discovered, and able students like Lisa Bitel, Kim McCone, and Erynn Laurie, among others, have vast offerings of background material and interpretation that are of benefit to us as we attempt to gain a sense of who she has been over time, and in shaping who she can be to us today. Poets like Ann Egan, Christian and NeoPagan writers such as Rita Minehan, Alexei Kondratiev, and Amber Kay can begin to evoke a vision of her and nurture our relationship to her as the seeds of our understanding grow.

The Brigidine movement is growing, and it is diverse. May we honour the spirit and the essence of Brigit, goddess and saint, with diligence and in good faith, in our writings, our prayer, and our ritual.

Now, to the first set of reviews. For more background on why I am reviewing these books, please see the earlier post Brigit Book Reviews (1): Introduction and see also Brigit Book Reviews (2): List of Books to be Reviewed. For those who would rather read the entire document as one, feel free to contact me by commenting on this blog and I will email you a pdf when all of the sections have been posted. (Depending on surgery dates this may take more or less time.) Or if some soul knows how I can post a pdf to the blog, tell me, and I will do that.

Happy reading, and Brigit’s blessings on you.

Mael Brigde

1 See the Callanish Society of Vancouver, Canada for more information on these amazing retreats. http://www.callanish.org/

2 “St. Brigit of Ireland: From Virgin Saint to Fertility Goddess”, Lisa Bitel. Presented at Fordham University, February, 2001

Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, Where Have You Been?

"On Reading" by André Kertész. Esztergom Hungary 1915

I want to explain why Brigit's Sparkling Flame has been so quiet recently. I have indeed been working on it, but rather than doing my usual little posts I have been ploughing through approximately twenty-five books and articles about Brigit, reviewing them at greater or lesser length, and preparing the reviews for the blog. This was a much bigger job than expected, in part because I kept expanding the list (it has since contracted a little as I had to rein myself in a tad), and in part because of Life.

I have in fact finished the reading and am at the stage of final drafts and organization of sections, to go on when that is completed to adding links, images, etc. Portions of some of the reviews will also go on LibraryThing.com and Amazon.

Problem is, I am not well. Various commitments to bring me to a healthy state are now taking most of my time, and there is no energy left for finishing the project at the moment. So once again there is a delay, but I am determined to get it done as soon as I can, and perhaps in the meantime I ought to go back to posting the odd little bit of interest to lovers of Brigit, such as the previous piece about the Daughters of Bride.

My apologies, and blessings of Brigit on you all.

Mael

New Flame-Tending Group: Nigheanan Brighde, Daughters of Brìde

There is a very interesting new flame-tending and well-tending group I've been made aware of. I like the inclusion of the well for those who are drawn more to that aspect of Brigidine devotion. Note that what Éireann is looking for is a close-knit group, rather than the more loosely organized community of mostly solitary flame-tenders that other groups generally consist of.

I'll give you the blurb from their yahoo site and then a brief note from their founder, Éireann nighean Brighde Johnson:

Nigheanan Brighde, Daughters of Brìde, is a Celtic Polytheist Order of Flame Keepers & Well Tenders for Brìde.

Nigheanan Brighde's goals are as follows:

1- To function as a flame keeping and well tending order firmly rooted in the traditional, polytheist Celtic cultural worldview and accordingly supporting, studying, and participating in traditional Celtic cultural expressions;

2- To tend the Sacred Living Flame of Brìde through keeping vigils over our portion of the flame in shifts;

3- To tend the Sacred Healing Well of Brìde through stewardship of the waters of the world by tending a watery location such as a section of a river or lake where each of us lives;

4- To forge deep communal bonds between Flame Keepers/Well Tenders through sharing our vigil experiences with each other, holding regular Chat sessions, and extending community-building beyond the bounds of the internet;

5- To explore the aspect of Brìde which has a special connection to women and women's wisdom.

As is traditional, this order will be a sisterhood of women. While male flame keeping is not frowned upon by Nigheanan Brighde, we cherish the inherent gifts of working in female-only space.

I asked Éireann what inspired her to start the order. This is her reply:

I have flame tended in the past with Ord Brighideach, on two different occasions, but ultimately what I longed for was a close community with the fellow flame tenders of my cill, and that didn't seem to be how the cills operated. It was in the end a very solitary experience and I didn't enjoy that.

After I left the second time I briefly facilitated an online meditation group dedicated to Brìde in which we would all meditate on Her once a week and then post to an email list about our experiences, but it fizzled out.

Later I ran across a blog which was a site for an independent flame tending group in which members blogged about their shifts and I was really drawn to that kind of sharing together of each member's experiences with Brìde. I tried to join, but the group seemed defunct at that time.

In the meantime I ran across a women's Celtic spirituality group online which included a well-tending practice and mentioned Brìde, and I was very drawn to this idea of participating in a devotional to Her watery side. The group also incorporated a flame tending circle but they worked separately. The overall membership in this group was deeply involved and not something I could pursue participating in.

I also got involved with another independent flame tending cill for awhile which has a tradition of a member's exchange at Imbolc, and I really liked the idea of breaking free of the internet constraints to connect with fellow flame tenders. The group was less social overall than I had hoped for however, and so I did not remain with them.

I also noticed that the Celtic polytheist worldview was not a focus of any one cill, and, while I do appreciate the bridging aspect of a group consisting of both Christians and pagans, I felt that as the original flame tending community was religiously and culturally homogenous and that this facet likely helped member bonding, I'd like to see such a group rooted in the Celtic Polytheist tradition.

Finally, I feel a special pull to women-only groups, and as the original flame tending was centered around women, I felt there was some special relationship alluded to there between Brìde and women, and I desired to actively explore that in the company and community of other women devoted to Her.

All of these ideas brewed inside me, percolated, and came out as a new kind of Brìde-devoted sisterhood in which members would commit to: sharing their flame tending vigils online each time so we could grow in our understanding of Her through all of our experiences and offer each other support as needed; to dedicating ourselves to a regional watery location such as a riverbank or lakeside or well to tend at least once seasonally by cleaning up trash and leaving prayers and offerings as a way to both meditate on Brìde's connection with water and to forge a mindful relationship with our own lands; to being firmly rooted together in the Celtic Polytheist tradition; and to further forge community by both holding group chats for as many members as could attend on each 20th shift, and by creating together an Imbolc exchange tradition.

Our group is not yet full. We began actively tending at Samhain and so far it has been a wonderful experience which I hope will continue to blossom for all of us, and for those members yet to come. To the best of my knowledge, this is a truly unique kind of flame-tending group and experience. It is not suited to the solitary or casual tender, however; but, for those willing to commit to deep community through Brìde, I think if offers a special opportunity to such women.

I am thankful for the long and winding road Brìde has set me on which has brought me here and to all those who have influenced and inspired me along the way.

Éireann

Hot off the "Press": Under the Oak on Brigit, Daughter of Duffy

I've mentioned this blog before, and likely will again. Under the Oak is dedicated to postings on the Irish Saints, in particular Brigit of Kildare. Here is a snippet from her latest post:

Brigid, the Daughter of Duffy

A few days ago we looked at the feastday of Saint Dubhthach. I remarked then that this is a name borne by both Irish pagans and Christians, and suggested that perhaps the most famous of its pagan bearers was Dubhthach, the father of Saint Brigid of Kildare. It is also claimed that this name has been anglicized as the modern Irish surname Duffy, and it is in this form that Irish-American poet, Denis A. McCarthy (1870-1931), presents Saint Brigid as the champion of the poor and generous to a fault, something which provokes a culture clash with her pagan father...

The author of the post includes the poem by McCarthy, which begins thus:

ST. BRIGID

BY DENIS A. MCCARTHY

BRIGID, the daughter of Duffy, she wasn't like other young things,
Dreaming of lads for her lovers, and twirling her bracelets and rings;
Combing and coiling and curling her hair that was black as the sloes,
Painting her lips and her cheeks that were ruddy and fresh as the rose.
Ah, 'twasn't Brigid would waste all her days in such follies as these -
Christ was the Lover she worshipped for hour after hour on her knees;
Christ and His Church and His poor, - and 'twas many a mile that she trod
Serving the loathsomest lepers that ever were stricken by God...

To see the whole post, and go through the archives which contain many a gem, please go to:

http://brigid-undertheoak.blogspot.com/2011/10/brigid-daughter-of-duffy.html

Unfortunately, Blogger is misbehaving and I can't hyperlink that for you, but I'm sure you know what to do!

Mara Freeman Talks Brigit

Mara Freeman is "an author and teacher of Western Esoteric tradition, specifically the Celtic and British branches. She lives in a wooded valley in west Wales not far from the sea." She is the author of Kindling the Celtic Spirit, Harper San Francisco, 2001. In October of 2004 we linked to her Beliefnet guided meditation, Fire at the Forge.

Mara recently contacted me about two Brigit-related postings on her blog, which I would like now to share with you. I'll present here a snippet of each, and then provide a link to the full posting on her blog.

Freeing the Waters – Two Rediscovered Holy Wells of Wales

An age-old tradition links women with wells. In the ancient world

sacred springs were regarded as the entrance to the Underworld

where the spirits dwelled. Pilgrims visited them to receive oracular

utterances from the priestess who was guardian of the shrine – a

practice that was still alive not two hundred years ago in Cornwall.

A mediaeval Grail text tells us of the “Voices of the Wells,” which

were silenced when the Well Maidens were defiled by an evil king

and his followers. Because of this the Holy Grail was withdrawn

from the kingdom and its blessings no longer poured freely out

into our world. This last weekend I visited two wells in mid Wales

that were once lost but recently found again. Strangely enough, the

stories of their rediscovery all involve women....

Ffynnon Ffraid

Winding up through the Cambrian mountains in the hazy heat of early

July, I went in search of one of the few holy wells in Wales dedicated

to St Bridget. The Irish holy woman who was once the Celtic goddess

Brigit is known here as St. Ffraid (pronounced Fride), and a mediaeval

Ffynnon Ffraid had been rediscovered not long ago by a woman living

in a remote upland farm in these parts. According to tradition, when

Bridget was young her duties involved milking cows and making butter in

thehafod, the country people's summer home in the high pastures.

Brigit of the red kites,

Brigit of the moorland,

Brigit of the meadowsweet,

Brigit of the dragonflies . . .

The well was entirely unique in Wales, being covered by stones in the

shape of a beehive, but was in a bad state of repair. Annwen Davies

and her mother worked for years to get funding for its restoration,

but in the end had to use their own savings to get the job done...

To read the full text of this entry, please scoot over to the original posting on Mara's blog.

And from Mara's posting

MONDAY, 15 AUGUST 2011

What the Druids Knew

Bees were considered so important to early Irish society that there

were special bee laws designed to protect them, called the 'bech

tha.' A 7th century holy woman called Gobnait, who founded a

women's community in southwest Ireland, had a close relationship

with bees and used their honey for healing illnesses and treating

wounds. She was said to be one of three sisters who had power

over fire, and is clearly a Christianised version of the triple fire-

goddess, Brighid, with whom she shares the same feast-day in

early February. When a band of thieves attempted to steal the

community cattle, Gobnait let loose a swarm of bees on the

rustlers and sent them fleeing in terror. At her shrine in Bally-

vourney, Co. Cork, a statue depicts her standing on top of a hive,

surrounded by bees.

For the full posting, please follow this link.

Imbolc Down Under

It just occurred to me to mention that when those of us in the northern hemisphere are celebrating Lughnasadh, a Celtic summer harvest festival, many NeoPagan folk in southern realms are celebrating its opposite, which is Imbolc. So a belated call of Joyous Imbolc! to our antipodean kin.

For those who would like to learn more about this North/South flip, from an Australian perspective, look no farther. Daughter of the Flame Roxanne Bodsworth is the author of:

Sunwyse: Celebrating the Sacred Wheel of the Year in Australia

Roxanne Bodsworth.
Hihorse Publishing, 2003 - 96 pages
Sunwyse celebrates the sacred Wheel of the Year in Australia. Following the Wheel is a way of developing a greater awareness of the natural cycles governing life on Earth and having fun in the process. Drawing from many traditions, Sunwyse explores eight festivals associated with the Wheel: two equinoxes, two solstices and four between these points - known as the cross-quarter festivals. Each festival is explained and its theme is explored through mythology. Related holidays and events are listed and there are suggestions for ways of celebrating each festival. Sunwyse is about honouring all aspects of our multicultural heritage and celebrating them in a truly Australian context.

More from Tairis : Making a Dealbh Bride

I am lifting this entire short article from Seren's site to give a taste of what she has on offer (and because it's a cool posting for Brigidines!):

Making a Dealbh Bride

One of the central celebrations to Là Fhèill Brìghde is the making of the brideag or dealbh Bride – the 'Little Bride', or 'icon of Bride' as it is called in Scotland, or the brideóg as it called in Ireland. The brideag or brideóg was usually made by girls (although in parts of Ireland, boys also made and then paraded them), where as in Scotland, the dealbh Bride was made by the older (married) women of the house.1 In a modern context, this can be an ideal activity for a group, a family, or even on your own, as part of your celebrations. The icons were originally made from sheaves of corn, saved from the harvest, although larger effigies that were to be paraded around the village (in Ireland, specifically) were often made using a churn dash which was then dressed and padded out to make it more lifelike.2 In more recent times, corn might not have been used at all3 (sometimes a child's doll was specially decorated for the occasion, if a dolly wasn't made from scratch), so using modern materials to make the icon can easily be seen as being within the continuum of practise. For many, corn can be hard to come by and the more modern materials available could be said to be more relevant to their circumstances as well. The icon can be as large or small as you want, and as simple or as complicated as you like. You can use natural or manmade materials, and be as garish or tasteful as you like, and there are any number of different ways you make the doll itself – wire and beads, pipe cleaners, clothes pegs, papier machè, modelling clay, marzipan or icing (for something that's easily biodegradable, if that's a concern), sew it, or knit it. If you decide to sew or knit a brideag then you can easily stuff it with herbs to make it smell nice. Most art and craft stores have kits you can buy if you're not feeling too confident in making something from scratch, but these can be expensive. Glitter and sparkles tend to be cheaper in toy shops that have an art and craft section, and will always appeal to younger children if you want to make it a joint effort. Alternatively, small shells, pebbles, sticks, bark and anything else you can find outside would make cheaper, more natural decorations. In decorating the dealbh Bride, I tend to take into account the area I live in (which is coastal), so I often use beads in the shape of starfish, shells, fish and so on for decoration. Since the act of making the icon itself is essentially devotional, personalising it in this way helps me to visualise her making her visits in the area for the night. As you make the icon – especially in a group – you can set the scene with music and traditional songs, stories or poems and some good food and drink (if you haven't already eaten). There are plenty of songs, stories and poems to choose from that would be appropriate for the day. As much as it can be seen as a devotional, it should be a festive occasion, too. In the past I've made the dealbh Bride a day or two before I celebrate Là Fhèill Brìghde because with a young family I find it a bit much to fit everything in in just one day. It makes it easier to get the children involved too. Finally, here are some examples of the dealbh Bride that I've made in the past (some have been more successful than others): This one I made from scratch. The next one I made using a doll-making kit from a toy shop to get the general doll shape, which I then dressed and decorated myself: Last year's effort, made from a kit I bought: This year's efforts, from myself and the kids (age three and five), using a different kit: References 1 Carmichael, Carmina Gadelica, 1992, p582; Danaher, The Year in Ireland, 1972, p24. 2 Danaher, The Year in Ireland, 1972, p24. 3 http://www.thewildgeese.com/blogs/2006_01_01_archive.html

Last Updated on Wednesday, 02 February 2011 11:08

Gods as Ancestors : Brigit

Scotland-based Celtic Reconstructionist Seren maintains an excellent website on the topic. In her posting "Gods as Ancestor" she investigates the evidence of local connections between particular deities and areas of Ireland. Of Wexford she writes:

In what is now County Wexford, there were the Benntraige, who traced their descent from Benta, son of Mál, all the way back to Lug son of Ethnenn (Ethne).²⁴ James MacKillop makes Lug the god of the Laigin, being of the opinion that Lug is who they derived their name from; this is linguistically unlikely,²⁵ however, and looking at the names of septs in the area – the Uí Brigte, for example, and possibly the Bairrche (though less likely to derive their name from Brigit),²⁶ along with the foundation of Brigid's monastery in Kildare – all suggests that Brigit was very much the goddess associated with the area.²⁷

Have a look at the whole article, and explore others on this fascinating site. Visit Tairis.

Iron Age Celts Home Education

Brigit, it will come as no surprise to you, arises at least in part from Celtic culture, and some understanding of that culture is useful to those who are attracted to learning more about her. I stumbled across a site which has an interactive educational module on Celtic life, in particular Welsh, designed for youngsters. (Do we still use that word?) Not terribly young myself, I nevertheless enjoyed exploring the site.

Thanks to the BBC for this!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/celts/