Brigit at Glastonbury, According to the Rev. Lionel Smithett Lewis, M. A.

 A dear friend of mine, once the owner of a secondhand bookstore where many a joyful hour was spent, is getting rid of her library as she prepares to move into assisted living. She gave me first crack, and I found this little gem of the Glastonbury Saint Brigit mythos.

The full title is Glastonbury “The Mother of Saints” – Her Saints A.D. 37–1539. It was published at Christmas, 1925, of which 1000 copies were printed. This is from the second edition, Christmas, 1927, of which 2000 copies were printed. The author, Rev. Lionel Smithett Lewis, M. A., was the vicar of Glastonbury.

Below you will find photographic images of the cover and pages pertinent to Saint Brigit, here called Saint Bride. Now, do remember to take every detail of this with a large cellar of salt. Click on the images to see a larger size.

Sacred Smithing -- A Whole Nother Marriage Ritual

from Goddess Temple Weddings


My friend Sister Oystercatcher sent me the Samhain newsletter from Glastonbury, and my attention was grabbed by one of the elements they offer in their wedding ceremonies: sacred smithing. They don't mention Brigit but those of you dedicated to Brigit, Smith might want to consider something like this when you tie the knot.

Pre-Wedding Ceremony   Sacred Smithing As part of your Sacred marriage experience we are pleased to offer you a new and exciting workshop for couples! Sacred Smithing is held by our wonderful Smith Dave Goddard (also known as Hugs). It is a deep ritual journey of connection to the elements through the ancient craft of blacksmithing. Hugs will take you on a ceremonial journey to create your very own sacred object or a heart or circle. This will be done in ceremony, using the sacredness of the four elements. Your creation will be woven into your bespoken wedding ceremony on the day. Joanne and Stefan were one of the couples that got married this year. They did the Sacred Smithing in July. Here is what they said about it... "The Sacred Smithing was something else! it was such a gorgeous experience that it makes me well up thinking about it. Dave is an amazing, interesting person and a great tutor! We went into the smithy thinking that we would turn out something that would vaguely look like a heart, but we forged something so beautiful together, such a great thing to do as part of the wedding preparation - would totally recommend it!"

Priestess / Priest of Brighde Training

I just stumbled across Marion van Eupen's site:

Priestess / Priest of Brighde Training, Glastonbury UK

Van Eupen is coming from a Wiccan, Four-Elements, Maiden-Mother-Crone perspective rather than a strictly Celtic based one, and her posting "My Journey With Her" describes her evolving sense of Brighde, arising through personal gnosis. Through that evolution she has come to see Her most clearly as Britannia, "Sovereign Goddess of these lands".

Van Eupen, who offers workshops in Dutch and English, moved to Glastonbury and committed herself deeply to her spiritual path. She is offering a two year Priestess/Priest of Brighde Training 2015/2016, in association with the Glastonbury Goddess Temple. Year one begins on the 14th and 15th of February 2015.

In Glastonbury we recognise Brighde in the landscape as Her Sacred Swan stretching Her long neck along Weary All Hill and spreading Her wings over the Glastonbury town hills. She flows in the waters of the sacred wells and the river Brue, which is called after Her. But foremost She is revered on Bride's Mound (part of The Beckery) where St. Bridget stayed at a little monastery which was then dedicated to Mary Magdalene. Later on a chapel dedicated to St. Bridget was built on Bride's Mound.

Becoming a Priestess or Priest of Brighde is a journey of healing, connecting and walking with Her animals, the Swan, the Snake, the Cow, the Wolf and the magical Unicorn and Phoenix. It is expressing Her energy through poetry, songs and creativity, weaving your soul’s desire into being. It is experiencing Her fire and shining Her light out into the world.

Venue: all training weekends take place in The Camino Centre Glastonbury. The training is non-residential.

When: Saturday and Sunday 10am – 5pm

with breaks for lunch and refreshments.

Fee: The training is set up as a two year training to 
become a Priest/ess of Brighde. It is however possible 
to pay separately for the two training years or to pay 
in installments:

The options are:

£ 950 when paid in full

£ 1000 when paid each year separately

£ 1080 when paid in installments

Britannia by Marion Brigantia Van Eupen

Sacred England

From the publisher's website:

There are many good guidebooks to England and its various regions and aspects, and this one is not intended to rival or replace any of the others. Its aim is to provide a quietly informative companion to those travellers seeking the ancient spirit of the land.

Recognised as the world authority on ancient science and religion and the symbolism of ancient landscapes, John Michell takes us on an unforgettable journey to ruined abbeys and cathedrals, pagan sites and megalithic temples, shrines of saints and visionaries, holy wells, island sanctuaries, and to a host of other places where peace and sanctity are almost tangible. Some of them are famous, others quiet and secluded, but all are centres of spiritual energy and renewal.

A middle-small book, suitable for travelling, The Traveller's Guide to Sacred England, by John Michell, contains many wonders. Among them:

St. Bride, Fleet Street
pg.39

This is the most fascinating of the London churches because its site has been sanctified since pagan times. By the northwest corner of the present church and within the walls of an earlier building was the holy well of St. Bride or Bridget, a fifth-century Irish saint, to which pilgrimages were made on her feast day. The Wren church with its elaborate "wedding cake" steeple was bombed in the war and rebuilt in the 1950s. Escavations of the early buildings can be seen in the crypt, which is now a museum. Being in Fleet Street, famous for its newspaper offices, St. Bride has been adopted as the journalists' church. The east wall, which is skillfully painted to appear curved, is actually flat. On the south wall is a terra-cotta head of Virginia Dare, the first child of English parents to be born in North America.
Open daily, 9 to 5, Sunday 9:30 to 6:30.

(Note the tantalizing link between the goddess Brigit's oversight of poetry and culture and St. Bride's being the journalists' church.)

Glastonbury and Her Saints
pg. 136

St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, by tradition responsible for converting the Irish to Christianity, ended his days as Abbot of Glastonbury. When he died at the age of 111, his holy relics became Glastonbury's greatest asset. They attracted many pilgrims from Ireland, including St. Bridget, who settled not far from the abbey at Beckery...

The St. Michael Pilgrimage Path
pg. 142

The establishment of a Christian church on the Tor is attributed in the annals of Glastonbury to the founders of the abbey and to St. Patrick. Its dedication is to St. Michael - more properly the Archangel Michael - who is depicted in a carving on the tower weighing the soulds of the dead. Beside it, representing the female principle, is a carving of St. Bridget milking her cow.

As the leader of the heavenly hosts, the bearer of light, the slayer of the dragon, the revealer of mysteries, and the guide to the other world, Michael is the Christian successor to pagan deities with similar functions, such as Hermes, messenger of the gods, and the Celtic light giver, Lugh...

Brigit in Glastonbury

Kathy Jones, a resident in Glastonbury for nearly thirty years, has issued an online version of her out-of-print 1990 booklet The Goddess in Glastonbury, illustrated by Diana Griffiths and with photos by Simant Bostock.





From her introduction:

From time immemorial, the Isle of Avalon, in the Summerland (Somerset, England), has been home to the Goddess. This ancient sacred place is the legendary Western Isle of the Dead. Dedicated to an awesome and powerful Goddess, this Island lay far to the west in a shining sea. People were called here to die, to be transformed and to be reborn.

By tradition, a group of nine, thirteen or nineteen Maidens or Faerie Queens live, some say even today, upon this mysterious Western Isle. Skilled in healing and the magical arts of creation and death, they are the Keepers of the Mysteries of the Goddess. Their names come to us as those of Goddesses Anu, Danu, Mab, Morrigu, Madron, Mary, Arianrhod, Cerridwen, Rhiannon, Epona, Rigantona, Bride, Brigit, Hecate, Magdalena, Morgana, Gwenhwyfar, Vivien, Nimue.

Brigit is much mentioned in this interesting booklet.

Kathy Jones - Priestess Initiator & Teacher
Kathy has spent the last 28 years living in Glastonbury, also known as the Isle of Avalon, learning of the ways of the Goddess in this ancient and sacred place. She is a Priestess of Avalon and has played a key role in bringing back awareness of the Goddess into Glastonbury. She is the author of several well-loved Goddess books, including In the Nature of Avalon, The Goddess in Glastonbury, The Ancient British Goddess, Spinning the Wheel of Ana, On Finding Treasure, Breast Cancer: Hanging on by a Red Thread and Chiron in Labrys (all Ariadne Publications). She is a teacher of priestesses, offering with Ren Chapman and Brian Charles a three-year training to become a Priestess of Avalon. She also teaches Esoteric Soul Healing. She is a co-founder of the Glastonbury Goddess Temple and co-organiser with Tyna Redpath of the fabulous Glastonbury Goddess Conference.

She is animateur of Ariadne Productions, a community-based theatre company dedicated to ritual drama. Kathy is committed to the Goddess in all her expressions and to the life of the Spirit manifest.