World Map of Flamekeepers

Here's a fun project.

Ord Brighideach has put up a world map for Brigidine flamekeepers of any group (or solo performers) who wish to pin their locations for others to see. You can be as vague or as specific about location and identity as you like.

Here's the link.

And here's a screenshot of the map, just before I figured out how to add my name. Now, I know in Daughters of the Flame alone we have participants in England, Ireland, Switzerland, Italy, etc., so it will be interesting to see how this develops over time.

I sure wish I knew how Melody made her icon into a cow...

Ord Brighideach--The Order of Brigid

this group was started by a member of the Daughters of the Flame who wanted to make service to Brigid available on a large scale to women as well as men, strictly through the internet. they have been going for several years now, and must have hundreds of flame-keepers. have a look at their extensive website at:

http://www.ordbrighideach.org/

Tending Her Flame

sketch by Daughter of the Flame
Hawthorne, in Australia

to our knowledge there are three groups actively tending Brigit's perpetual flame at present, after a hiatus of a few hundred years. the flame of the Goddess had burned for no one-knows-how-long in Cill Dara--Kildare, Ireland--the Cell of the Oak. as Christianity took root the Goddess was replaced by the Saint, Her flame tended instead by nuns, who kept it for hundreds of years.

in 1993, on the same day--Brigit's Feast of 1 February--a group of Catholic Brigidine nuns and a largely Pagan group of women, unaware of the others' activities, relit Her perpetual flame in Ireland and in Canada. the second group, the Daughters of the Flame, live in many areas of the globe and take turns tending the flame every 20 days. the Catholic sisters have groups in several countries besides Ireland, as well.

some years later, a member of the Daughters of the Flame created Ord Brighideach, a solely online group that would make shifts available to women and men and in great numbers.

if you know of other groups who tend Brigit's perpetual flame, we would love to hear of them. please leave a comment at the end of this posting.

the Brigidine sisters in Ireland don't have a website, but can be contacted at this address:

SolasBhríde,
14 Dara Park,
Kildare, Ireland

you may wish to join their lay group or come on Imbolc for the great festival of Brighid each February. their sisters in Australia can be found at:
http://www.brigidine.org.au/

the Daughters of the Flame can be found at:
http://www.obsidianmagazine.com/DaughtersoftheFlame/

and Ord Brighideach's site is:
http://www.ordbrighideach.org/