“This World and the Other – Magical Stories with the Saint and the Goddess, Brigit” - Reading & Meditation with Mael Brigde

 

 

[Sun Among Stars] reflects the long and deep journey that Mael Brigde has made with Brigit in her many guises … [Her] journey is a deeply embodied one, reflecting insights gleaned during her studies which have become a living part of her. She encourages readers/students to grasp this possibility for themselves as they engage with the material.
 
This work offers a portal into the mysteries of Brigit and the possibility of readers grounding her qualities of compassion, courage, love, wisdom and fearlessness in their own unique ways in their current lives.
 
Thank you for this important and comprehensive work.
 
Dolores T. Whelan, author of Ever Ancient, Ever New – Celtic Spirituality in the 21st Century, and co-founder of Brigid's Way Celtic Pilgrimage

(I stumbled across this endorsement for my book a couple of days ago. I had written Dolores asking for an endorsement when she didn’t know me at all, and I was blown away by her response. It was she who invited me to read at the festival — thus blowing me even further away than before. Thank you, Dolores!)

🔥

As mentioned, I will be in Dundalk, Ireland on 1 February, as part of the Brigid of Faughart Festival and Brigit 1500, reading and leading brief meditations.

I wrote much of A Brigit of Ireland Devotional - Sun Among Stars, because I wanted a book of poems and prayers to help me become grounded when I sat down to be with Brigit, something that would help me recall the connection I have with her and prompt me to contemplate the different sides of her. When I dip into the book, it is usually in such moments. I light a candle, meditate, offer songs and a poem or two.

I decided that this was the way I wanted to present them to the folk who gather with me in Dundalk. To start with a centering meditation, and to offer the stories of Brigit as part of a larger contemplation. I am even trying to rub some of the rust off of my voice box so I can sing the parts of the meditation I normally would in the privacy of my room.

If you are able to join us that night, you would be very welcome. Please feel free to say hello afterward.

🐦‍⬛ 

The event will be held at 6 PM at the County Museum on Jocelyn Street. Tickets are available through Eventbrite.

Venue: County Museum Dundalk 8 Jocelyn St, Townparks, Dundalk 54°00′17″N 6°23′49″W

Book: A Brigit of Ireland Devotional - Sun Among Stars by Mael Brigde

Image: festival banner with the words “Brigid of Faughart Festival - Celebrating Brigid, Celtic Goddess & Matron of Ireland.” On one end is a mandala of rings of water and fire and plants, with a four-armed Brigit’s cross in the centre and a white hand holding it up. On the right is a painting of a white woman, half goddess and half saint, with fire and water and other designs surrounding her.

💧

Walking the Bounds

On Boxing Day I went for a walk, walking the bounds, as it were. Seeing the land I live on, with its buildings and beings and ways. I found myself able to let go of superficial observations like, ‘oh, I like this yard' and 'I wish they weren’t building that house here,' and just stay with what is instead of what I might prefer it to be. It transfigured the place for me.

Still, I can’t help noticing what a thing of beauty this place is. I picked across bulldozed land to get to the park, where mallards drifted about the unexpected pond, a gift of this season of rain.

Dandelions lifted bright faces to the world. I thought of Brigit and looked around for the pollinators. Mostly, the dandelions had no visitors; a fly supped on one. 

Bliss. 🐦‍⬛

Image: Kim Rivers-Kirby on Unsplash

Brigid of Faughart Festival 2024 (and Lucky Mael Brigde Gets to Go!)

 

I am very happy to be returning to Ireland next month to participate in the Brigid of Faughart festival. I've never had the chance to go to a Brigit festival before, and to get to celebrate her with others on the 1500th anniversary of St. Brigit’s death is very special. Thank you so much to Dolores Whelan for inviting me.

Here is a little snippet about the festival:

From Brigid of Faughart, Facebook page

11h  · Dundalk, Ireland  · 
The 2024 Brigid of Faughart Festival will run from Thursday 1st February, Brigid's Day, until Monday 5th February-the new Irish Bank Holiday in Honour of St.Brigid. In this special year marking the 1500th anniversary of her death, the festival will celebrate with a range of wonderful events including Wisdom Talks with authors Dolores Whelan and Manchan Magan, Canadian Poet and author Mael Brigde, Cross & Crios Making, My Brat Bhride Project, Pilgrimage, Tours at Faughart, Ritual and Poetry. A new Brigid poem has been commissioned from poet Siobhan Mac Mahon which will appear on a building in Dundalk during the festival! Full programme and booking details will be available in early January. A very Happy and peaceful Christmas to all our friends from the festival team.
— St Brigid's Shrine

"History of St Brigid's Shoe with Christy Cunniffe” - Video

 A very short and very interesting look at the Saint Brigid's shoe shrine, from Galway County Heritage Office. Narrated by Christy Cunniffe.

Click here to watch. See also National Museum of Ireland’s "Online Pop Up Talk: St. Brigid's Shoe Shrine,” with Trisha Ryan, here.

Review: "Brigid of Kildare - A Full-Length Play” by Myla Lichtman-Fields

 

Review Myla Lichtman-Fields Brigid of Kildare - A Full-Length Play (2014)

 

This review has two parts, one covering the booklet containing the original script, and one of the radio performance, which differs from the original in important ways.

 

The booklet (original script):

 

Lichtman-Fields’s play is that rare beast among Brigidine fiction, a piece that, while written for one side of the religious divide or the other, in this case Christian, honours and respects and even celebrates to some degree the other religion, pre-Christian Irish paganism, or Druidism as she envisions it. A most welcome approach!

 

Lichtman-Fields has done a good job of looking through the lives of Saint Brigit and picking out important moments, then fleshing them out with dialogue and character.

 

BRIGID: Kildare’ll mark an important link between our Druid traditions and our new world. Here, my Sisters will keep a fire burning day and night to honor those who came before and to help light the way for those who come after us.

 

 pg. 60

 

This is pure Lichtman-Fields. There is nothing in the early Brigit literature about linking the two worlds.[1] But it is a lovely offering of a long-withheld olive branch between the two paths.

 

Make no mistake, though, this play will appeal in the main to Christians, particularly Catholics, who enjoy and appreciate the old genre of religious inspiration and education, hagiography – writings of saints’ lives which model the values, beliefs, and understanding of the world that are expected of a great Christian. 

 

Caveat Emptor! Let the Buyer Beware!

 

Just a note to encourage you to be aware that, with Brigit's increasing popularity, she has become a commodity. You will increasingly see items that are basically ripoffs, designed to make someone a quick buck rather than to communicate good information to devotees and scholars.

I just saw a post about the book depicted here and I was of course interested to learn more about it. I’ve never heard of the author, so I looked her up. I can't seem to find anything about her apart from what she's written on her Amazon page.

She's published a whole bunch of books on a whole bunch of deities, which, while not a condemnation in itself, does encourage caution. When a person is not intimate with a deity, when they are not researching in depth but are taking gleanings from everything that's already written about her in the popular sphere, there are likely to be even more inaccuracies than when we devotees write, and we make mistakes all the time.

I did a little more searching and discovered that the links to her website and Facebook profile are duds. She could be an AI. If anyone actually knows Nicole Muir, the author of this book, I would love to know more about her, and that she is a reliable author.

This post is not meant to tell you not to read this book or any other book by someone who's written a lot of books. Morgan Daimler is an example of someone who has written lots of books about different deities but actually does great research. *But* they are also all over the net. It's easy to find out who they are and what people think of them.

The person reading this book was enjoying it. There are exercises or meditations in it to help you connect with the goddess. If she's getting something out of them then that is great. Information does not have to be accurate for us to find benefit from it in our contemplations. But if we are using it to build a picture of the goddess, we're going to want to have solid facts behind it as much as possible and not just hearsay.

Caveat emptor!

Let the buyer beware!

PS: I’m getting very good confirmation of my fears on the original post (my profile page), some of which I am adding below.

 

DR: 

I too think this is highly suspicious. I keep hearing more and more about AI generated books that are total scams. She has no website, no Amazon reviews, her FB page looks fake with hardly any followers. It has only one review (which also looks suspicious). Her image returned zero hits using TinEye and only two on Google Reverse Image Search (for two similar looking women from a California Psychics website, so not sure if it is her). The length of the books also make me think these are AI, along with their publication dates (and lack of reviews).

 

HW:

Sadly there are a few out there cashing in on the pagan and spiritual community/newly curious with a smorgasbord of AI books on more topics than one human could decently write a book on.

 

BE:

what author? Mari Silva? I bought that one unfortunately

 

MB:

I'm usually very good at being able to find information about people and things online. For this author, I can't find anything. It also doesn't help that the books are independently published, so there's no publisher to check and ask, too. I would also be very wary of this author as well. I know Amazon recently implemented a new policy against AI-generated content, but there's almost no way to tell if something is written by AI. And like John Beckett says: if they publish more books than Morgan Daimler and have no reliable online presence, be wary!

MD:

I took at a look at the free sample on Kindle. I don't think it's AI but more likely content farmed/ghost written.

It's not terribly written but it's devoid of real content - wiki is a better source and that's saying something. 

I also checked "her" book on Freya and it's the same - smooth text that says little to nothing.

 

Images: Book cover and Canva elements combined by Mael Brigde. Images of Nichole Muir found online by DR.

 

 

Review: "The Celtic Quest: A Contemporary Spirituality” by Rosemary Power

 

I saw this book on a shop shelf at St. Mary’s Abbey in Glencairn, Ireland. I thought at first that it would be another book intended to inspire the spiritual seeker, and, given the place and the publisher, that the seeker would be a Christian.

That is partly right. It is aimed in the main at Christians, but it is in fact an examination of a spiritual path which the author clearly defines as *modern*, and which is based on a small number of carefully selected writings, taken out of context, which give a partial and distorted image of the original cultures and spiritual paths.

Power is herself Irish and is a member of one of the communities that is most strongly associated today with the “Celtic” — the Iona Community in Scotland. Her intention in examining the history of Celtic Christianity, its aims and values, errors (deliberate and not) and strengths is not to tear down the structure but to reveal it, and to suggest ways to grow past the flaws and create a broader and deeper spirituality.

Although I am not a Christian I am very interested in what she reveals here, as it has many shared roots, strengths, and flaws with the Celtic in Neo-Paganism, both of which spiritual paths have spread misconceptions about the cultures whose writings and art have been used by them. I agree that a close examination of the details of these paths is needed and can only strengthen them as they continue into the future. Although a bit dry in places (and a bit needfully generalised in the early chapters), it is a fascinating story and one that, if more widely known, can help to counteract some of the misconceptions we continue to perpetuate.

One specific example:

Power tells the story of a poem dated to the 10th or 11th century which is included in Kenneth Jackson’s A Celtic Miscellany (1971). The poem contains images that will be familiar to many, particularly, “I should like to have a great ale-feast for the King of Kings; I should like the Heavenly Host to be drinking it for all eternity.”

The poem goes on to outline the speaker’s wish to embody important Christian virtues, from Faith and Repentance to Long-Suffering and Mercy. Jackson says in his notes, “A religious poet imagines himself as a tributary tenant of God, rendering the Irish legal dues of lodging and entertainment to his overlord and his retinue.”

Why, then, do we all think of Saint Brigit when we hear of beer and God?

Esther de Waal published a folk version of the poem in A World Made Whole — Rediscovering the Celtic Tradition (1991) which loses the penitence and gloom and becomes pure celebration. This version was taken from the introduction to an English translation of Blasket Island storyteller Peig Sayers’ autobiography. But it is de Waal who attributes it to Saint Brigit. There was no hint of a connection with her before that time.

I highly recommend this book to both Christians and Pagans to whom it is important to get things straight. The real history is far more interesting than made up ones.

I would take exception to one point Power seems to make in the section entitled, “Can the historically wrong be theologically right?” She says, “Celtic spirituality has been criticised for its limited use of sources, for being naïve, but not for being destructive.” The implication being that whatever else it may be, it hasn't done any harm. Perhaps she is thinking that it hasn't done any harm to the adherents themselves. To my mind, despite all of the good it has done for its adherents — and it has done good — by creating and spreading misinformation about the cultures the original texts are taken from, it has done harm to those cultures themselves.

P.S. I’ve just put my review on Amazon and the book is very expensive there. Try bookfinder.com or interlibrary loan!

Interview with Mael Brigde by Moon Books

I have been busy busy busy organising a trip to Ireland and Scotland, and then enjoying that trip for a couple of months. In all that busyness I didn’t even realise that I hadn’t posted here for ages. I have several drafts just sitting there waiting to be published! So here is an easy one that I can put out while I am still on the road. This video was published three months ago on YouTube.

Image: Screenshot of Mael Brigde (white woman with grey hair tied back) speaking in Moon Books interview.

School Resources on Saint Brigit at twinkl

 Teachers and homeschoolers will find some interesting resources on Saint Brigid (and a whole lot of other things) from the Irish website twinkl.ie. Be sure to expand the image below so that you can see more of what they have. 

 

Image: Screenshot from the twinkl.ie website.

St. Brigid of Kildare Icon Writing Retreat with Sophia Icon Studio

 

St. Brigid of Kildare Icon Writing Retreat with Sophia Icon Studio of Boise, Idaho.

​

February 13-17

 

One-Week Online Retreat 

Monday - Friday (Full-days)

9am-4pm Mountain Time

​

St. Brigid is one of the three patron saints of Ireland credited with spreading Christianity in the Celtic Isles. Many of the details of her life are more legend than fact, but her life and spirituality left a mark on the Celtic people that is real and robust. 

 

Brigid was born into slavery, but like many women in the Middle Ages found freedom in the Church. She followed the teachings of St. Patrick and founded several important monasteries, most notably in Kildare. She was known for her excessive generosity to the sick and poor. Named after the pagan goddess of the flame, Brigid's life became a bright light to the people around her, which continues to shine to this day.

​

Class will be conducted live on Zoom. Sorry, no recordings are available at this time.

​

​This icon will be painted on a 8x10" board. A prepared board will be provided along with instructional materials and gold leaf. First-time students have the option to purchase an Introductory Kit for $12 (recommended). See Essential Supplies for details.

 

Tuition cost: ​

$365 

Payment is due at the time of registration.

See Registration & Payment for more detailed information

 

REGISTRATION DEADLINE 

is February 6th

Icon of St. Brigid of Kildare Written through the hand of Kara Gillette, 2023

Celebrating La Fhéile Bríde / Imbolc 2023 - Festivals!!!

 

WELL!

 

I THINK IT WAS LAST YEAR when I finally accepted that I just didn’t have the time or energy to chase down every online notice of something happening in celebration of Brigit around Imbolc time. This year the activity has grown still more, for several reasons.

 

WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL THIS YEAR?

 

First, from the perspective of the general, news-listening/reading public, is the fact that 1 February 2023 has been declared Ireland’s first bank holiday in honour of a woman. There was talk that it might just be for one year, but it was eventually decided (perhaps due to overwhelming enthusiasm for the idea) to declare it a permanent addition to the calendar.

 

For those of us who don’t know what a BANK HOLIDAY is, the following is helpful.

 

From Citizens Information:

 

There are 10 public holidays in Ireland each year (increased from 9 in 2022).

 

Public holidays may commemorate a special day or other event, for example, Saint Patrick's Day (17 March) or Christmas Day (25 December).

 

From 2023, there is a new annual public holiday in early February to mark St Brigid’s Day. The public holiday is the first Monday in February, except where St Brigid’s day (1 February) happens to fall on a Friday, in which case that Friday 1 February will be a public holiday.

 

On a public holiday, sometimes called a bank holiday, most businesses and schools close. Other services (for example, public transport) still operate but often have restricted schedules.

 

About this new holiday, coming 120 years after St. Patrick’s feast day was declared a public holiday, Áine Mangan, CEO of Into Kildare (Kildare tourism board) said, “This decision marks the modelling of the equal dignity of male and female at national level.”[1]

 

Second reason for the hullabaloo. Those of us who are a) Irish and in possession of an internet connection or b) already followers of Brigit are probably aware that this Imbolc marks the beginning of BRIGID 1500 – CELEBRATING A WOMAN, A LIFE, A LEGACY, a year of events leading up to Imbolc 2024, the fifteen-hundredth anniversary of the death of the saint.

 

Third. This Imbolc is the THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE RELIGHTING OF BRIGIT’S FLAME in Kildare, by the Brigidine Sisters. Even if no one else was paying attention to the day, I suspect that FÉILE BRÍDE 2023 would be a more than usually significant occasion for the participants. (Coincidentally, it is also the thirtieth anniversary of Daughters of the Flame rekindling Brigit’s flame, so we have our own reason to be joyful.)

 

SAINT BRIGIT’S DAY TRADITIONS

 

The RTÉ has a good article on the OLD WAYS in which St. Brigit’s Day was honoured, many of which are being revived in modern times. The article is peppered with radio and television clips to illustrate different ideas.

 

“How Ireland used to celebrate St Brigid's Day in the past,” by Marion McGarry (RTÉ Brainstorm). Monday, 16 Jan 2023.

 

 

THIS YEAR’S FESTIVALS

 

FÉILE BRÍDE 2023 – BRIGID: FLAME OF JUSTICE AND PEACE

A full week of events are planned for this year's Brigid Festival in Kildare. The festival is offered by the Brigidine Sisters at Solas Bhríde, Kildare County Council, and the local tourism board, “Into Kildare.” What a momentous year it is, as the Brigidine Sisters observe thirty years of tending Brigit’s rekindled flame, in conjunction with the leadup of Brigid 1500^th to the anniversary of Saint Brigit’s death.

 

To me, one of the most meaningful events to mark St. Brigit’s Day is the PAUSE FOR PEACE called for by Solas Bhríde.

 

“Pause for Peace will see the residents of Kildare calling on people all around the world to stop for a minute’s silence at noon (local time) on 1 February.”

                                                                   Conor Forrest, Kildare Nationalist

Sr Rita Minehan of Solas Bhríde said that the Pause for Peace offers a “spiritual underpinning” to the day and is in harmony with the value of peace which St. Brigid stood for during her lifetime.

 

“By pausing for peace, we send out a message that we actively oppose warfare and the proliferation of arms, which wreak havoc on human beings as well as on the natural world. This movement aims to awaken and build a spirit of global solidarity in our search for peace.”

                                                                    Rita Minehan

 

You are very welcome to join this event wherever you are, perhaps involving your community in one minute of silence, reflecting on peace and sending peace from our hearts to the people of the world, especially those in places of war and crisis. ONLINE & IN PERSON

 

***

The BRIGID OF FAUGHART FESTIVAL 2023 – “WELCOMING BRIGID BACK INTO THE WORLD AT IMBOLC” has a very full week of activities planned. If you are able to get here, don’t miss the Brigid of Faughart Mural in Bridge Street, Dundalk, Co.Louth, painted by the artist Friz. IN PERSON

***

 

LA FHÉILE BRÍDE / BRIGIDS DAY FESTIVAL CLONDALKIN – Clondalkin's Annual One DayFestival to celebrate St Brigid's Day. February 1st. IN PERSON

*** 

 

HERSTORY IRELAND

“Founded in 2016, Herstory tells women’s stories through the arts, visionary education projects, and spectacular light shows.”

 

“Herstory is calling on all counties and diaspora centres across the world to illuminate for the first official national holiday on Brigid’s Day 2023. From the shadows into the light, this will be a joyous celebration of all Mná, our Celtic Goddess, Matron Saint and Imbolc, the ancient festival of Spring.”

                                                                             HerstoryIreland website

 

This will be the fourth year in a row that Herstory Ireland has had a Brigid’s Day celebration, images of which, with Courtney Davis’s portrait of Brigit projected onto the GPO, are by now very familiar from social media. They campaigned to have St. Brigit’s Day declared a national holiday, so the cheering this year is well earned, indeed. IN PERSON (& ONLINE?)

*** 

“‘BRIGID 1500’ is a programme of events, to celebrate and commemorate St. Brigid, the woman, the life and the legacy in a broad and rich way.  The main aim of ‘Brigid 1500’ is to create a meaningful cultural and societal legacy that appeals to a diverse contemporary audience. ‘Brigid 1500’ will engage communities with the story and heritage of St. Brigid, providing a tangible connection with the past through events and programmes that have an ongoing meaning and relevance. The programme will engage with the values St. Brigid championed including faith and spirituality, biodiversity and sustainability, arts and culture, social justice, peace, hospitality and education. The ‘Brigid 1500’ programme comprises of a series of events and initiatives including festivals, concerts, talks, art commissions, illuminations, pilgrimages, and craft workshops as well as a school’s programme to cement St. Brigid’s lasting legacy.”

                                                                             Brigid1500 website

 

The Kildare Nationalist has a piece on the various events lined up for Brigid 1500 (see below). “Host ofEvents for 2023 to Celebrate Life and Legacy of St Brigid,” Monday, January 16, 2023. IN PERSON

 

*** 

   

BRIGID FESTIVAL VANCOUVER returns for the fourth year, with three in person events and one online session with the Brigidine sisters Rita Minehan and Phil O’Shea, “Tending the Flame of St. Brigid.” Free registration. ONLINE & IN PERSON

 

“Brigid Festival Vancouver is a four-day free festival to celebrate the healing, light, and creativity of Irish women and women across the world with a mix of in-person and virtual gatherings. This year our inclusive theme is: 'There's Room for Everyone Under Brigid's Cloak'.”

                                                                   BrigidFestival Vancouver website

 

*** 

 

THE UNITED IRISH CULTURAL CENTER (Irish Center) in San Francisco is pulling out the stops for this year’s Saint Brigid’s Day. One brilliant event is something you can do at home: spring cleaning! Which is in fact an old tradition connected to this day. IN PERSON

*** 

SOLAS NUA PRESENTS “IMBOLC” with Galway singer Maija Sofia, 1 Feb. 2023 in Washington, D.C..  IN PERSON

 

*** 

Like the Brigidine Sisters, DAUGHTERS OF THE FLAME are reaching thirty years of tending Brigit’s flame this Imbolc, the first candle being lit in Vancouver, Canada, and subsequent shifts tended across many countries over the years.

 

The coincidence of these two rekindlings wasn’t known to us for a number of years. As far as I knew, the Brigidine Sisters were long gone, and it was up to the rest of us to bring Brigit’s flame back into the world. As so many of us now have. What a joy to then discover we had been working alongside these remarkable sisters in Brigit’s home of Kildare.

 

We will not be staging a public event, but gathering together on Zoom and reading a very long retrospective newsletter when not swept away by other revelries. PRIVATE

 

*** 

 

YOU

If your own locale is publicly celebrating Imbolc/Saint Brigit’s Day this year, feel free to leave a link below in the comment section.

 

Beannachtaí na Féile Bríde agus Imbolc oraibh!

 

Blessings of Brigid's Day & Imbolc to you all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Images: “Brigid's Blessing” by Sue Ellen Parkinson. “Dylan Kelly (3) and students from local Kildare schools at the launch of ‘Pause for Peace’.” Photo: Conor Healy / Picture It Photography. From “Kildare Calls for a Pause for Peace on St Brigid’s Day,” Friday, January 13, 2023, Kildare Nationalist. “Triskele Agnóstico based on image by DaDez Creative Commons ASA 3 0 U. All other images are from the event webpages.

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[1] https://kildare-nationalist.ie/2023/01/14/kildare-calls-for-a-pause-for-peace-on-st-brigids-day/