"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.

Knowing the Brigit of Lebor Gabála Érenn

 

Wow. You know you are VERY close to something when you can’t figure out if you wrote it or if it is from an old manuscript. I finally figured it out. I wrote it. Of course, it was drawn from an old manuscript, but still, you’d think I’d know which was which…

Daughter of the Dagda 

she it was who had

two sacred cattle

Fea and Femen

and Cirb

king of rams

 

after each

great plains were named

 

with them was Triath

king of swine

 

among them

three demon voices

after transgression

 

whistling

weeping

lamentation

 

this was Brigit

daughter of The Good God

with her

all might in creatures

with her

wild cries in the night

 

—Mael Brigde

 

Drawn from *Lebor Gabála Érenn, Vol. 4*:

“Brigit the poetess, daughter of the Dagda, with her were Fe and Men, the two kings of oxen, from whom is Femen [called]. And with her was Triath, king of her boars, from whom is Treithirne [called]. And with her were heard, the three demonic sounds after transgressions in Ireland, whistling and weeping and lamentation .

“And also with her was Cirb king of the rams, from whom is Mag Cirb [called]. With them were Cerman and Cermat and the Mac Oc.” (translation Daimler, 2015).

—Morgan Daimler, Pagan Portals - Brigid, pg. 27.

Or MacAlister’s translation:

“She it is who had (two sacred cattle named) Fea [Fe] and Femen [Men] the two oxen of Dil, from whom are named Mag Fea and Mag Femen. With them was Triath, king of the swine (boars), from whom is Tretherne. Among them were heard three demon voices in Ireland after plunder, to wit, whistling, outcry (weeping) and groaning (lamentation),” and “she had Cirb, king of the wethers, from whom is Mag Cirb named.”

—Macalister, *Lebor Gabála Érenn, Vol. 4*

I am delving into all of this again in order to plan my workshop on Brigit and the voice for Vancouver Pagan Awareness Day.

Poem “Daughter of the Dagda” is from A Brigit of Ireland Devotional - Sun Among Stars by Mael Brigde.

Image of handsome wild boar with muddy snout. Photo by Kevin Jackson on Unsplash.

"Keening with Brigit — making peace with complex grief” in Divine Wounds by Ness Bosch

 

Writing "Keening with Brigit — making peace with complex grief” for this anthology was a transformative process, and I am still reaping the rewards. I hope that readers will also find it — and the other offerings in Divine Wounds: Finding Healing by Working with Goddesses and Archetypes — a route to continued insight and healing.

I would love to know other folk’s stories of grief and Brigit. Mine deals with the death of my brother, via the death of her son.

From the Facebook page of the editor, Ness Bosch:

OPEN TO PRE-ORDER

DIVINE WOUNDS

This powerful cover by the multi-talented

Emily Carding holds inside a gift of self-love and healing.

"Finding empowerment in working with ancient gods is not new. Sometimes this approach to the deity is born from a wound. The wound is a catalyst of consciousness, which opens windows to other realities and invisible worlds. As a Priestess Hierophant, author Ness Bosch sees women who seek to get closer to the divine, to the Goddess, seeking to restore their connection with the divinity, but also connecting with the possible wounds that those goddesses mirror.

In a painful but beautiful and healing way, the divine wound connects with the human feminine wound, bringing closer Goddess and mortal. This anthology is a collective testament to the survival and resilience of women. It is a reminder that every woman, no matter how deeply wounded, continues to walk hand in hand with others, and sometimes, with goddesses. The wounds we share with these divine figures are not just personal but also universal feminine wounds that have been carried for millennia."

Packed not only stories, crafted by an amazing group of authors, you will find in this book practical exercises, rituals and information to help you connect with the Goddesses present on this volume.

Morgan Daimler, Rachel Patterson, Halo Quin, Sian Sibley, Isa Alameda, Lindsay Wolf, Irisanya Moon, Vick Toria and others!

Available to PRÉ ORDER at the usual places:

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Image: Book cover with landscape goddess with a hole in her chest and bloody hair, and two ravens in the foreground.