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.

Blessings of Imbolc!

There has been much excitement this year leading up to Imbolc. Clann Dord Fiann offered a three week daily devotion which many of us joined in on. I enjoyed it so much I am going to continue it. Land, Sea, Sky Travel put on a wonderful Brigit conference on 26 January, which consumed much of my bandwidth for weeks beforehand as I planned and organized my own contribution. And now Brigit lovers all over are posting images and stories and videos that teach and inspire and comfort us at this time.

Lora O'Brien sent a link out on her Irish Pagan School email listserve the other day that points us toward a great program on Brigit and her traditions by Blúiríní Béaloidis/Folklore Fragments on SoundCloud:



I am so happy to be surrounded by Brigit lovers and Brigit lore. May you all be blessed, this year and every year.

Blessings of Brigit

may Brigit bless you

with the lustre of her poetry

the vigour of her smithcraft

the mercy of her healing

and may you walk under

the protection of her blue mantle

all the days of your life.

Mael Brigde

Image: Brigit by Maggie Jones

An Dagda's First Books Have Launched!

 

Pagan Portals - The Dagda: Meeting the Good God of Ireland by Morgan Daimler (2018)

Harp, Club, and Cauldron - A Harvest of Knowledge: A curated anthology of scholarship, lore, and creative writings on the Dagda in Irish tradition edited by Morpheus Ravenna and Lora O'Brien (2018)

I'm excited. Two separate books on The Good God, An Dagda, father of the goddesses Brigit, are now available. In my time of devotion to Brigit I have come to know her parent somewhat and fallen in love with him. I am thrilled to have these two opportunities to know him more.

Until now, those interested in The Dagda have had to scrape together their information from widely dispersed sources. In late October Morgan Daimler's Pagan Portals book, The Dagda, was released. A slim volume, like all Pagan Portals titles, it is the first book entirely devoted to this important Irish god. I haven't read it yet, but it sits on the table awaiting my attention. I've read several of Morgan's books and have never been disappointed. 

Minutes ago, Morpheus Ravenna and Lora O'Brien launched their anthology Harp, Club, and Cauldron - A Harvest of Knowledge. Many respected (and beloved) writers and artists have contributed to the book: Isolde Carmody and Chris Thompson from Story Archaeology, Anthony Murphy, author of Mythical Ireland: New Light on the Ancient Past, Segomâros Widugeni, author of Ancient Fire: An Introduction to Gaulish Celtic Polytheism, Valerie Herron, the artist responsible for the delightful works in Ravenna's book on the The Morrigan, The Book of the Great Queen, Morgan Daimler herself, and many others. (I have a poem in there, myself, speaking with Brigit about her father.) Having had a glimpse of the ebook, I am more than ever looking forward to having the book in my hands, .

Now is a great time to have the profile of the Dagda raised. A god of many abilities, protector of his people and linked to the health and balance of his land, he is a powerful ally in a world filled with disharmony and fear. His cauldron of plenty, his harp that can bring sorrow, laughter, or sleep to those who listen, his club which kills with one end and restores to life with the other, his great appetites and his ability to do what needs to be done under any circumstances--An Dagda's influence needs to be felt now more than ever.

It may take a few hours for the anthology to become available--the button is pushed, but Amazon sometimes takes a while to catch up. So if you get a "not currently available" note, fear not. It's on the way.

For those of you who have grown interested in or close with An Dagda, you might also want to join the Facebook group The Dagda's Hearth. I'll see you there, perhaps?

Original Fund-Raising Video for Harp, Club, and Cauldron: