Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Who IS this Woman, and What are her Poems About?

 


Looking for something else, I stumbled across a tiny image of a book with a title that looked very much like it referred to a goddess/saint I know. I put the title of the book by Isabel Blanco Ollero into DuckDuckGo's browser window and got a translation:

BRIGID - O EL FUEGO DE LA TRANSFORMACIÓN works out to:

BRIGID - OR THE FIRE OF TRANSFORMATION.

Now, I know I'm on to something.

But I can’t read it, or even find an article in English to tell me about her. Who will read and tell us what she says?

We live in hope!

***********

UPDATE

One reader says:

 It's a book of poetry, apparently there are four poems. I can't find any of the actual text without buying it and there doesn't appear to be an online copy.

I have found what appears to be an illuminating article, thouh' of course I am going on the strength of the odd word I can guess.

 "BRIGID O EL FUEGO DE LA TRANSFORMACIÓN, DE ISABEL BLANCO OLLERO" by MANU LÓPEZ MARAÑÓN.


Thursday, July 08, 2021

Review of River Magic by M. A. Phillips, book one of The Rituals of Rock Bay

 


Review of River Magic by M. A. Phillips, book one of The Rituals of Rock Bay (2020) Shadow Spark Publishing

 

First, what I like:

 

I want to say right from the start that I really like this book. It has a kind of ebullience and innocence about it that is really charming. The protagonist, though imperfect, as we all must be, has an integrity that guides her actions, and a passion for life that goes beyond herself and her friends, to the beings, sometimes familiar, sometimes frightening, that dwell in the world around her. It also deals with something I haven’t seen represented much in fiction: The coming of age of a modern Neo-Pagan woman.

 

Lacey Moran has explored Paganism with her friend Lidia since their school days, but she hasn’t really found her spiritual home. When Lidia opens a metaphysical store in their village of Rock Bay (situated along the beautiful Saint Lawrence River – a visit there is now on my bucket list), a group of modern Druids book the space for their Imbolc ritual. This ritual introduces Lacey to the goddess Brigit, and a connection is made immediately. (Hurrah! This is why I decided to read and review this book.)

 

Lacey has also had cryptic dreams of a mermaid in the river. Coming from a family with a talent for premonition, Lacey knows that many of her dreams foreshadow events to come. Do these?

 

Now, I have completely left out the other main theme of this book: the love that Lacey has for her longtime friend, Cian, and her conflicting feelings about becoming romantically involved with him. Cian is a feature of these dreams, making them more concerning to her. What do they mean?

 

Monday, July 05, 2021

Guest Post on A Bad Witch's Blog: How Brigit Became a Bishop, by Mael Brigde


 My look at the different stories of Brigit's taking the veil (or her ordination as a bishop) from her primary Lives is up today on Lucya Starza's A Bad Witch's Blog.

Thank you, Lucya, for giving me space on your blog again!

You can find the post here.



Image: Saint Brigit statuette, photo by Mael Brigde.

Thursday, July 01, 2021

Saint Brigit Statue

 


I was not looking for this, but I've stumbled across a site that sells this Saint Brigit statue in the U.K. (I'm sure they will send them overseas, too.) They are sometimes a little hard to find, so I am passing this on to you.

I have one of these and she has graced my altar for several years now. I have great affection for her. They are hand-painted (in Italy), so not everyone is the same. I chose one with a slightly wonky eye (because), but some of them are "perfect," as in this photo. They are 20 cm in height.

The store is called Holy Art, and you can find this figurine here.