LAST DAY to sign up! Orlagh Costello's Five-Week Brigit Class

Wow! There is so much amazing Brigit related stuff that I am actually holding back on some posts because I think I've been posting too much! Gone are the days when I had to comb the internet to find something related to her that was worth passing on to you folk.

This one is too good to pass by, and I only wish I hadn't been so absorbed in other things that I didn't think to post it sooner.

This is the LAST DAY to sign up for Orlagh Costello's five-week Brigit class: Brigid in Ireland
through Lora O'Brien's Irish Pagan School.

It will be good.

Brigit Classes with Mael Brigde

It is nearly Imbolc, and it is a time each year when I have been busy doing Brigit work for a couple of months. Readying the newsletter for the Daughters of the Flame 🔥 is a big part of that, and working with my flame sister, Nichole, to find out who is keeping her shift for another year and who is not. Assigning shifts to new members. And making contact with all manner of individuals on their journey with Brigit.

Some of the most rewarding of those contacts are with the folk who take my Brigit classes. There are many opportunities to reflect and build on our concept of and relationship to her in the classes, and I am moved by the depth of the reflections each student offers.

As the evenings draw nearer to Imbolc, many of us wish to deepen our connection with her. If you would benefit from some quiet contemplation of Brigit over the next days or weeks, my three Brigit courses may provide a safe place for you to do so.

The first two, Discovering Brigit and Stepping Into Brigit, focus on our ways of seeing and understanding her and exploring our connection with her. The third, an intensive and much longer course, immersed us in the reading and writing of poetry, under the mantle of Brigit, with an exploration of the poet in Ireland.

If you want to learn more about the classes, you may find them here. If you would like to learn more about me, go here. If you do take Discovering Brigit, remember that there is a coupon at the end for a substantial discount on the following class, Stepping Into Brigit.

May your Imbolc be a blessing, and may your gradually manifesting spring be a season of growth and insight.

Sweet blessings,

Mael Brigde

Pause (Brigit, Thanks)

I am loving spending time online answering the comments people are leaving on my Brigit courses.

Every time I am caused to slow down and contemplate her and her connection in our many lives, to reflect on her aspects or stories that have such meaning and provide inspiration and guidance, I feel as though any cliff I may be walking close to seems more like a stunning vista then a threatening brink. Every time I read how she has touched others and what they have done with their insights and inklings, I well up with happiness.

Thank you for your blessings, Brigits, sisters and saint!





Image: St_Birgit_Nieuwegracht_Utrecht (by Brbbl [CC BY-SA 3.0 ]

Two New Brigit Courses (with Mael Brigde)

I can't believe I forgot to post these here! I have launched two courses on Brigit with Goddess Ink and the Mystery School of the Goddess. The first is a brief introduction which lays the groundwork for the second, a thirty day activation course. Next year I plan to launch a longer immersion course as well.

Something you might want to know before signing up: Discovering Brigit (the intro) is $15 US, but if you follow the link at the end of the course to sign up for Stepping Into Brigit you will receive a discount of $13. Not a bad deal.

It was very rewarding putting these courses together, despite this being a difficult year in other ways. Returning over and over to Brigit and her lore and traditions in the midst of loss gave me sustenance and joy. Now I get to share those efforts with others; a real blessing.

Mael Brigde

(Click below for more details on the courses.)

Create a Brigid Prayer Painting in Mixed Media Collage

Lady of the Radiant Flame: Create a Brigid Prayer Painting in Mixed Media Collage

Join me for “Lady of the Radiant Flame,” an online sacred art workshop for lovers of the Divine Feminine, especially those who are drawn to Brigid, the Celtic Goddess of Poetry, Healing, and Transformation.

We’ll go into the virtual studio and I will lead you, step by step, into creating a prayer painting — a unique collage portrait of Brigid and her sacred symbols (especially her sacred fire of creativity).  The sample collage shown here is just one example of what you can create in this workshop.

Artistic experience isn’t required for this project. I’ll be taking you through the process, so even if you think you have no artistic talent (don’t believe it!), you can still create a beautiful icon. You’ll learn mixed media techniques and play with paint, paper, ink, glue, and more. I’ll provide imagery that you can download and incorporate into your piece (including the face of Brigid from my painting “Brigid’s Fire”).

Best of all, the collage prayer painting will become a focus for your heart’s yearnings, hopes, and dreams, all the secret places inside you that need healing or expression. The finished piece itself will be an offering and a talisman, a focus for prayer and transformation.

For every act of creation is an act of magic.

I’d love to have you join me! Together we will create our devotional offerings to Brigid, the Radiant Flame of Gold, the Summoner of Spring.

“Lady of the Radiant Flame” is open for registration now. The workshop materials (videos and PDFs) will be delivered on February 5th.

   $97.00  ~ EARLY BIRD PRICE through January 28th! ~  $75.00

How it works:

On February 5th, you’ll receive an email with links to the videos and instructional PDFs. The workshop is designed to take place over a couple of weekend afternoons, although you may work more quickly (or more slowly!) than I do.

You’ll also receive an invitation to join a private Facebook group, where you can ask me questions about the process and share your work with others in the class. The Facebook group will be open for three weeks, until February 26th.

Between now and February 5th, you can gather your supplies and get ready to make some magic!

We will cover:

• Beginning with intention and ceremony.
• Learning about Brigid, and how you resonate with Her.
• Gathering imagery and text. (Some of each will be provided.)
• Working out a composition.
• Choosing a color scheme.
• Creating a background with papers, paint, and stencils.
• Adhering collage elements.
• Adding visual and symbolic interest with stamps, pastels, paint, ink, fabric, ephemera, and natural elements.
• Telling the story of your prayer painting.
• Practicing visio divino with your prayer painting.

You will need these materials (click here for list).

This is the first in a series of Sacred Art Online Workshops I’ll be offering this year. It makes a nice companion to “30 Days of Brigid.”

   $97.00  ~ EARLY BIRD PRICE through February 28th! ~  $75.00

- See more at: http://www.gaiansoul.com/work-with-me/ecourses/sacred-art/brigid-prayer-painting/#sthash.265tWclS.dpuf

Thirty Days of Brigit with Joanna Powell Colbert

“30 Days of Brigid” is an ecourse for those who want a daily inspirational touchstone during Brigid’s season of the Prelude-to-Spring (known as Imbolc or Candlemas).

On the surface, it’s about beautiful photos, art, quotes, and journal/photo prompts landing in your inbox every day for 30 days.

But really? It’s about connecting more deeply with the creative fire of the Celtic Goddess Brigid as she begins to awaken the land from its winter sleep.

The course is designed for people who don’t have much time, but still want to take a sacred pause each day to find a fresh breeze of nature, art, and poetry wafting into their inboxes.

It’s for those who want to connect more deeply with Brigid and contemplate the themes of her season — emergence, dedication, cleansing, creative fire, and the first faint hints of Spring.

By the end of the 30 days, you’ll be reconnected to your own creative core, with a daily practice in place for taking in beauty and responding to it in your journal or with your camera or paintbrush.

Best of all, you will have taken a divine pause each day to experience the presence of Brigid and to align yourself with her season.

Sound good? I’d love to have you join us.

30 Days of Brigid is open for registration now. Your daily emails begin on Monday January 26th, one week before the holy-day of Imbolc / Candlemas / Brigid’s Day on February 1st.

   $19.00

How it works:

~ You’ll receive an email every day for 30 days, beginning Monday January 26th.

~ You respond, in the privacy of your own journal, or share online. I encourage you to set your timer for 5-10 minutes, and free-write in response to the journal prompt. Some days you won’t have time, and that’s OK. Other days you’ll write more.

You can also pick up your camera or smart phone, and take a photo each day in response to the photo/art prompt. Or you may want to sketch or make art in an art journal.

You’re most welcome to share your writing, art, or photos on social media using the hashtag #30daysofbrigid.

~ At the end of the 30 Days, you’ll receive a PDF with all 30 of the quotes and prompts.

This is one of my new “30 Day” courses that have grown out of the “Gaian Soul Seasonal Practices” courses I offered for several years. Watch for other courses throughout the year.

   $19.00

If you have found this page after January 26th, you can still sign up for this course. But your emails start the day after you sign up, and you won’t receive the ones you’ve missed. At the end of the 30 Days, you will receive a PDF with all 30 of the quotes and prompts.

- See more at: http://www.gaiansoul.com/work-with-me/ecourses/seasonal-ecourses/30-days-of-brigid/#sthash.6IzNm5sK.3i2iRo4j.dpuf

Goddess of Smithcraft (with emphasis on Blacksmithing)

Blacksmith Woman

For the smiths among us, and those Brigidines interested in knowing more about the smith side of the goddess, there is available online BLACKSMITH PRACTICE: EM 862 (War Department Education Manual).

Metal Web News provides the manual with links to the various chapter. Or you can download it from scribd, sans links.

I draw your attention to this one piece, but in fact Metal Web News has a host of other articles branching out from their Blacksmithing page, as well as a Forge-Foundry-Casting page with lots of pictures and how-to information.

For chat about blacksmithing, go to the John C. Campbell Folk School Blog's "Blacksmith Shop" and get in on the conversation.

Wander over to Blacksmithchic.com, the website of Lorelei Sims (Artist and Blacksmith) for a look at her work, her farm (Pasture Prime Commune!), her book (The Backyard Blacksmith), her dogs...Heck, she even has blacksmithing t-shirts, including my favourite, the Fire Goddess T-Shirt:

For those who like video, go to Anvilfire.com (a rich site and host of three smith-related blog rings) and check out their in-depth review of the Forge and Anvil TV series and books hosted by Alan Rogers in 1995. Good news! The series is now available on DVD.. You can catch lots of blacksmithing videos on YouTube as well, from the amateur, like christopher5361's homemade forge video, to the professional, such as the previews of Bob Rupert's TV shows (Blacksmithing with Bob Rupert). Check out "Let's Make a Nail." If you like what you see you can buy the DVDs from the makers here.

Maybe you are really interested and want to take a course. There are lots of places to do that now, though the craft nearly died out at one point in North America. How about rounding your knowledge out nicely at the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina? Besides basic blacksmithing the school "provides experiences in non-competitive learning and community life that are joyful and enlivening. Located in scenic Brasstown, North Carolina, the Folk School offers year-round weeklong and weekend classes for adults in craft, art, music, dance, cooking, gardening, nature studies, photography and writing."

Renaissance Lady Blacksmith by Francesa Miller

You have to snoop around a bit to get a lead on all the smithing courses, depending on where you live. There are a couple of lists online (eg here) but they aren't exhaustive. You might do best to search "blacksmith" "school" and the name of your area, or you may miss something small but good nearby, as all the larger ones crowd to the top of the search results. If you love horses, you can get a diploma as a farrier at Olds College in Olds, Alberta (a really lovely area to squirrel away for two years, I should think). Another is the Maritime Farrier School in Truro, Nova Scotia, which also is a beautiful spot to be. Or if you want something that will take you from basic blacksmithing to wildly creative art- and armour-making, try Thak Ironworks in Floradale, Ontario.

And once you've got a start on your craft, you may want to join a blacksmithing association, such as the Vancouver Island Blacksmith Association. ("VIBA a non-profit society formed for the sole purpose of keeping blacksmithing alive in British Columbia. Members demonstrate at various local events including major annual events at the Fairgrounds, and at other local country fairs, Heritage Festivals, and schools. VIBA also hosts workshops featuring professional smiths.")

Of course, Brigit is not only a goddess of blacksmiths. There are whitesmiths, bronzesmiths, silversmiths, and so on. I leave it to you to search out some good contacts (and perhaps provide us with links).

Antiques

Finally, you may just want to admire or purchase metalcraft, new or antique. Or how about new but modelled on antiques? Mark Shier of Gaukler Medieval Wares is one smith who delights in talking about his wares, and who takes great care in creating copies of ancient handicrafts, as well as selling antiques--coins, belt buckles, and so on. And yes, you could afford a lot of them. Why, I bought a handmade (and perfect!) bronze sewing needle from him for 7$.

Mark's creations

In his words, "Gaukler Medieval Wares makes jewellery and metalwork in ancient and medieval styles, using the methods and materials of the past. I do custom work, as long as the design is medieval or earlier. We also sell authentic ancient and medieval antiquities. All antiquities pictures have a white background, and all of my work has a black background."

Kildara Centre & Brigid's Well (Course)

The Australian Brigidine Sisters have in Malvern, Victoria the Kildara Centre with many facilities including a non-residential conference centre, Brigidine archives (and better still, an archivist to help you find what you need there), and so on.

They annually offer Brigid's Well, a course for Adult Searchers.

From their site:

The association between water and spiritual power can be traced back to the Bronze Age, and water (the well) is very prominent in most Celtic Mythology. Large bodies of water, such as lakes & rivers, were important sites for ritual activity. Many archeological discoveries today witness to the ways in which people in those very early times threw jewelry, weapons, body amor, all sorts of high quality metal work into the lakes to appease their gods and goddesses.

There are countless wells scattered across Ireland named after Brigid, and associated with these wells is healing, nourishment, hospitality and blessing for people in need. One can easily imagine the water from those wells, water that is sacred, coursing through mother earth and reaching the Antipodes and flowing through our Australian waterways.

The story in the Scripture of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well and the transformation that occurred in both through their interaction has become the symbol for our Brigid's Well Program at Kildara Centre.

It is no accident that today Kildara Centre, is situated on a very ancient aboriginal site consisting of a huge underground spring. Imagine it as a watering hole for our indigenous sisters and brothers in ancient times. Today it is covered with layers and layers of concrete, buildings, roads etc., yet evidence of its existence and movements is still clear, its dampness quite pervasive, and its power ever present.

Brigid's Well is the name given to our Program for Adult Searchers. In various ways, this Program offers :

life-giving interaction
creative prayer experiences
opportunities for personal growth
discussion of current issues
to break open the Word
involvement in issues of justice
deeper understanding of God
to explore the Celtic tradition
to re-interpret Brigid
to develop various concepts of spirituality
a place to share views in safety and freedom
an alternative to institutionalised religion
some religious experience
assistance to find meaning
counselling
spiritual direction

We have established a Brigid's Well Community which engages in attempting to break open the Word raising issues of injustice in the wider community, and in breaking open the lives of Brigid and Delany discovering what their stories have to offer us today.

This community also hosts some of the sessions of the Program and plans for the following year.

Download the 2012 Programme booklet.