Electronic Texts on Brigit & Irish Studies

Several valuable internet resources exist for Irish documents. See, for example:
Bethu Brigte & Milk Symbolism in the Bethu Brigte & The Festival of Brigit the Holy Woman.

Thanks to the Brigit-loving people on Live Journal for these sources.

Briget's Crosses & Biddy Boys

Although generally this blog is for referring to other sites, books, etc. to do with Brigit, I would like to add a few notes on Brigit's Crosses from the book Irish Folkways by E.Estyn Evans (Routledge, London and New York, 1957, 1988). This book is an excellent resource and is considered the classic reference for information on folk-customs and tools.

To the left is a drawing taken from pg. 269 of this book. Fig. 1-7 are Brigit's crosses, and Fig. 12 is a Brigit's Girdle. The other figures provide comparision with other cultures. Figure 3, the three-armed cross, is made with 9 stranded plaits (pg. 210).

From the book:

"The blessed Bridie was a cowherd and is therefore associated with cattle and with such flowers as the dandelion--the Plant of Bride--yielding a milky juice which was believed to nourish the young lambs in spring. St. Briget's Feast was very popular and many superstitious practices, more or less Christianized, cling to the preparations made on St.Briget's Eve, the last day of January. On that day rushes are fashiuoned into protective charms known as Briget's Crosses, a name which illustrates how the church has won over pagan symbols, for the 'crosses' take the form of either swastikas or lozenges, and comparative evidence suggests that they are magic symbols of suns or eyes. A three-legged swastika, presumably an old form, is reserved for the byre: its shape may be compared with the Celtic triskele.

"The lozenge-shaped charms have their counterparts in many parts of the world. The Huichols of Mexico make similar charms of wool mounted on a bamboo frame: knwon as 'god's-eyes', they bring good health and long life to children (F. Toor, A Treasury of Mexican Folkways (1947), pg. 72). A CAlifornian Indian charm made of grass or rushes is very similar. In the Old World similar magic 'squares' have a wide distribution, in Europe, Africa, Tibet, Burma, Assam and Indonesia, and farther afield iin Melanesia, Polynesia and Australia. Among the Nagas of Assam the squares, made of coloured thread, are placed on the graves of women and protect them against evil spirits (H. E. Kaufmann, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 73 (1943), 101, 106.) In Sweden and Estonia straw squares are strung up as Christmas decorations and tied to the straw masks worn during Christmas games (Fig. 10).

"Briget's Crosses are believed to protect the house and the livestock from harm and from fire*. No evil spirit could pass the charm, which was therefore hung above the door of house and byre. The rushes must be pulled, not cut, on St. Briget's Eve, and care must be taken to fashion the crosses from left to right, with the sun. As a rule they are left in position until replaced the following year, though I have seen byres with many crosses thrust into the underthatch, the decaying accumulation of annual offerings. In Co. Galway similar crosses made of wood or straw were also placed in the rafters at Hallowe'en, and the discovery of a partly burnt rush cross which had been deposited in a megalith in Co. Limerick points to a more general cult of the 'cross' (S. P. O'Riordain, North Munster Antiquarian Journal, 1 (1936), 36. For a study of Briget's Crosses in Co. Armagh, see T. G. F. Paterson, Ulster Journal of Archaeology, 8 (1945), 43-48). A 'love-knot' of similar shape, fashioned out of sedge leaves, is known from South Wales."

Evans goes on to add that:

"It was popularly believed that the saint wandered through the countryside on the eve of her feast day. Bread was left on the doorstep, and in some districts it was the custom to place it by the fire so that Bridie might come in and rest. Sometimes the last sheaf of harvest was used for the purpose. In south-western Ireland a doll made of straw--or decorated churn-staff--was carried from house to house by 'Biddy Boys', wearing straw masks such as are used by mummers and by strawboys at weddings, and singing songs in honour of the saint. They would solicit gifts and end the day in jollification. The evening was celebrated by a supper of pancakes taken from a plate laid on a rush cross, and as on the other quarter-days prognositcations were made.

"A ribbon or piece of cloth exposed on St. Briget's Eve became endowed with curative powers. It was believed that no work which involved the turning of a wheel should take place on the saint's day. The placing of a periwinkle in each corner of the kitchen likewise hints at a remote pre-agriculatural origin for the festival, but it came to be associated with the pastoral promise of spring, of warmth, new grass, lambs and milk. It is said that the saint placed her foot in water on her feast day so that on that day it begins to warm up each year."

* "The crosses would have blessed the thrashing as well as the cattle." (pg. 215)

Two Hundred Years of Rekindled Flame!

This Imbolc marks the second centenary of the rekindled Brigidine order of nuns--the Congregation of Saint Brigid.








The Oak planted by Bishop Delany

Celebrating Heritage and Horizon Brigidine Bicentenary1807—2007

On February 1st 1807 Daniel Delany, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, gathered six women catechists in Tullow, Co. Carlow and established the
Congregation of St. Brigid.

They were Eleanor Tallon, Margaret Kinsella, Eleanor Dawson, Judith Whelan, Bridget Brien and Catherine Doyle. The Brigidine Annals record that he was not founding a new Congregation but rather refounding the Sisters of St. Brigid.

To show continuity between the old and the new, Bishop Delany brought an oak sapling from Kildare and planted it in the convent grounds in Tullow.

“From every seed sown and cultivated by love we shall be sure to reap a harvest”, was one of his sayings to the early sisters.

In 2007 the Brigidine Sisters and the wider Brigidine Family throughout the world will celebrate the harvest, plant seeds for a new horizon and continue to further compassion and justice for humanity and the earth.

from the Solas Bhride site

Book of Kells on DVD!

What a lovely opportunity for those with the cash! The Book of Kells on DVD--beautiful!

This DVD-ROM is the first digitised version of The Book of Kells to have been authorised by Trinity College Library Dublin. It has been produced by a partnership of Trinity College Library and X Communications.

The DVD contains images of all 680 pages of the manuscript - allowing the display of detailed reproductions of each page. Featuring narrations by Olivia O'Leary and Stephen Rea, the history of the manuscript is told, and the decorative and symbolic themes are clearly explained.

Available for International Delivery

"My Tribe" Brigit Communities...

In addition to LiveJournal Brigit communities, there are "My Tribe" communities as well. (In both cases these communities or their members are often connected to the Daughters of the Flame, Ord Brighideach, the Ladies of the Flame and doubtless others I have never heard of.)

The Brighid's Hearth,
Brigid's Hearth
Brigidh, Our Lady of Fire


& many related groups! A Brigit-lover could spend all day just noodling on the net. (Not recommended at the expense of all else. But what the heck...)

Live Journal Brigit Community

Look on LiveJournal and you will find a LOT of talk about Brigit. Or at least, a lot of Brigidines talking!

Check this:

The following communities are interested in "Brigit".

brig_irreg - Brigid's Irregulars
brighiddevoted - Devoted to Brighid
brighidwomen - Daughters of Brighid - Flametenders
brigidshearth - A Celebration of Brigid
brigidswell - Brigid's Well: Exploring the Celtic Mysteries
flame_keepers - Brighid Flame Keepers

and many related communities.

Solas Bhride Pilgrimage

Solas Bhride is a small Christian community in Kildare, Ireland which is devoted to Celtic Christianity as exemplified by Saint Brigit of Ireland. The Catholic Sisters who live there are part of the Brigidine community, and a renewal of a long tradition of tending Brigit's flame.

Many places of contemplation and prayer bear Saint Brigit's name in Kildare and the surrounding countryside. The foundations of her ancient fire temple have been restored, the mother church of the Church of Ireland bears her name, wells and statues do as well.

If you cannot go to Ireland to visit Brigit's Kildare, go on a virtual pilgrimage online at the Solas Bhride site.

Brigit Shrine Online

Visit Roibn's Shrine of the Forgotten Goddesses and spend a few moments or a few hours in their company. Of special interest to us here is the Brigit Shrine, calming and beautiful and filled with quiet prayer. Several more pages of his site are devoted to Brigit, and can be located through the search menu at the bottom of the introductory page.

Thank you, Roibn, for your work.

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.

Art of Lisa Iris

The Brigit below was born at the hand of the artist, Lisa Iris. Please follow the links on her name and this image to reach her website and see more of her vibrant work. Many thanks to Amanda for the recommendation. (Amanda says: "This image is available printed on different stuff, and I plan to purchase a poster for my home.")

Institute of Feminism & Religion Annual Festival of Brigit

the Institute for Feminism and Religion has a yearly celebration of Brigit at Imbolc. Although the Festival of Brigit for 2006 has passed, there is much of interest to look at on this site, including:

• a guide for those planning to

celebrate Brigit in their own locales,

an essay on the 2006 theme of Brigit's Cloak: Unfolding and Reclaiming Women's Ground (this on the Festival homepage, near the bottom),

one woman's writings about her experiences at a past festival,

a small selection of Brigit images (including one, i am pleased to note, taken from the Daughters of the Flame website. it is of a woman smith, not originally intended as Brigit but when i saw it on a folksinging pamphlet many years ago i thought--say! i know who that looks like!),

chants and songs (though unfortunately, only the words),

a collection of works from 2005's theme, Brigit as Wounder,
and of course, information on the Institute itself, its board, and so on.

there is also a discussion list.

The Institute for Feminism and Religion aims to explore a prophetic approach to feminism and religion, inclusive of many traditions and emerging consciousness in Ireland.

They do this by providing opportunities for women to reclaim religion by engaging theoretically and experientially with the issues or feminist theology, ethics, spirituality and ritual.

New Christian Novel About Saint Brigid

Cindy Thomson posted a comment today letting us know about her new novel about Saint Brigid:

"Hi!

"Just wanted to let you know about my new book, Brigid of Ireland. It's releasing this month (March 2006) by Monarch Publications in the UK and will be available soon after in the US, distributed by Kregel Publications. Please visit www.brigidofireland.com for more information.

"I also just started a blog (not much there yet) at http://celticvoices.blogspot.com/ Thanks."


Here is a little about the book from her website:

"A luminous story of the young slave who became a national heroine.

"Brigid is born in 5th century pagan-dominated Ireland, the daughter of a slave woman, and a slave herself to her brutal father. Torn from her mother, desperately seeking love and acceptance, Brigid converts to the new religion popularized by the traveling preacher Patrick - and the miracles start.

"But so does the opposition, from rulers and sorcerers opposed to her faith and growing fame. The Irish people cling to superstitions and fears. Can she overcome them - and face her hatred for her father? Can she find the mother she misses so acutely? Has she truly been called by God?"

and a little about Cindy herself:

"Cindy Thomson writes fulltime from her home in Ohio despite the distractions of two young adult sons and another in high school, two dogs, a cat, and countless numbers of lizards. (Fortunately her sons take care of the zoo!) A former teacher and amateur genealogy buff, Cindy has always had an active imagination and a love of history. Preserving our spiritual and genealogical histories is her passion.

"Cindy and her husband Tom are active in their church and small group ministry.

"Brigid of Ireland is her first novel. She is at work on another novel set in ancient Ireland."


Those interested in Celtic Christianity will find many treasures in the wonderful books of Esther de Waal. A good place to start is Every Earthly Blessing.*

Esther also leads Celtic pilgrimages--each a "journey back into the days of the undivided Church"--through the Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica in Atchison, Kansas.

Best of luck with your writing, Cindy, and blessings on your spiritual path. Thanks for letting us know about your book.

"So the Celtic approach to God opens up a world in which nothing is too common to be exalted and nothing is so exalted that it cannot be made common."

Esther de Waal

*Editorial Reviews of Every Earthly Blessing:

Spiritual Book News

... excellent addition to your personal collection of works on spirituality, and is also a wonderful resource to prayer circles... inspires.

Timothy Joyce, OSB, author of Celtic Christianity, Spiritual Book Associates

Among the plethora of books on Celtic spirituality... this one remains a treasure... for beginners and Celtic students...

Blessed Imbolc!

sweet blessings of Brigit on you, your loved ones, and our world this Imbolc, 2006!

A Brief History of Brigit's Flame

from the community website of Kildare, Eire.

Lighting the Perpetual Flame of Brigid (A brief history of the flame)

A sacred fire burned in Kildare reaching back into pre-Christian times. Scholars suggest that priestesses used to gather on the hill of Kildare to tend their ritual fires while invoking a goddess named Brigid to protect their herds and to provide a fruitful harvest.

When St. Brigid built her monastery and church in Kildare she continued the custom of keeping the fire alight. For her and her nuns the fire represented the new light of Christianity, which reached our shores early in the fifth century.

for the complete article and a photograph of Brigit's Flame, please go to the Kildare Community website at: http://kildare.ie/community/notices/perpetual-flame.asp

Thoughts From Anonymous on Feile Bríde

Anonymous said, in a comment on Tending Her Flame, Thursday, November 25, 2004:

I've been curious for years about "Feile Bríde," the great festival of Brighid that happens at the end of January in Kildare Ireland. So here are a few websites I discovered in my search. Someday, I will make a pilgrimage to this festival despite the chill of that land in late winter. I am a child of Imbolc (born just a few days before Brighid's feast), so I have felt a great connection to her, and through her to my Celtic ancestry. A description of Feile Bríde 2005, Solas Bríde, a website for the pilgrimage centre founded by the Brigidine Sisters (Catholic Nuns who tend Brighid's Flame and promote peace and justice). There is a wonderful description of a personal pilgrimage to Kildare and the Feile Bríde festival in issue #20 of PanGaia Magazine. The full text of the article is not currently online, but you can order back issues at their site. A Photographic Tour of Kildare Cathedral. I also found a fascinating interview with a Brigidine Nun, Sister Mary Minehan, about her relationship with St. Brigit and work.

Monday, November 07, 2005 2:22:09 AM

Many thanks, Anon!

Daughters of the Flame

Brigit's Sparkling Flame is maintained by the Daughters of the Flame, a group of women who tend Brigit's Flame every day of the year.

From our introduction:

On Imbolc, 1993, the Daughters of the Flame lit a fire in honour of the Goddess Brigit and the saint Bridget, modelled after the perpetual fire which once burned in Kildare. We share the task of tending the flame, on a twenty day rotation; each woman tends the fire in her own way, so that it is a solitary devotion linked to the devotions of a larger group. On the twentieth day the Goddess Herself keeps the flame alive. Instead of burning in one grove, temple, or monastery, it burns on personal altars, desks, and picnic tables in countries east and west, south and north.

The reasons for rekindling are many. It is a celebration in our own lives of Her triple aspects of poet, healer, and smith. It is one effort to address the need for a global network of magical prayer, with special emphasis on some of the traditional concerns of Brigit. These include peace and reconciliation, sharing of wealth so that all will flourish rather than protecting wealth for a few, guarding the land and the creatures which nourishes us and share our lives, being tender with and caring for ourselves and each other. It touches on the need of individual women for a focus and a community through which to develop our personal spiritual practice, to reduce isolation and aid in developing our thought and learning while maintaining the autonomy of working as a solitary, if that is what we prefer or how we find ourselves due to life circumstances. It is, however, very much a self-motivated discipline, both in terms of tending the flame and in connecting with others in the group.

Although members have primarily been neo-pagans, Daughters of the Flame is open to any woman who is called to light her flame.

The Daughters of the Flame are happy to be tending Brigit's Flame alongside the hundreds of others who do so, including the Catholic order of Brigidine Sisters, and Ord Brighideach, which is open to both women and men. If others wish to start their own groups the Daughters of the Flame would be happy to assist with advice and moral support.

Treesong's Online Shrine

Treesong is another lover of Brighid, who has created a small online shrine to Her. It features pictures, poetry, facts and so on, and an online forum about Brighid which as yet has no one signed up. want to talk with Treesong and, in time, others who love Brighid? visit Her online shrine.

Treesong also points us toward these Brigit sources:

Sanctuary of Brighid
Tuatha de Brighid

Knitting Brigit's Mantle

for those of us who are gifted in knitting (or have the patience to become so--as i do not!), Alice Starmore has written about the art and craft of the Aran sweater (Ireland's Gaelic-speaking western islands being the Aran isles) in her book Aran Knitting. a lovely Brigidine example of this is found in Pamela's House of Blues blog. (besides knitting a beautiful blue St. Brigit's sweater, pamela raises Blue Bearded Collies.)

Ecstasy Forge

Contemporary American "energy artist" Catherine Jo Morgan makes art to offer psychic energy - that energy of full, vibrant aliveness. She makes iron sculptures that center on vessel forms, saying that vessels are ideal for holding and releasing energy. Her current "Energy Transformer" sculptures bring paper and iron into harmony, using copper mesh as a kind of mediator. The copper mesh adds a warm glow to balance the painted paper and iron. Crystal spheres seem to draw and transform energy. Bright metal and swarovski crystal beads enhance each piece

Catherine has named her power hammer, a 25-lb. Little Giant, Brigid, for the goddess of blacksmithing. She has painted a whirl of flames on the hammer. Have a look at her site to see Brigid in all her fiery glory.

Bride's Mound Purchase Update

Bride's Mound was successfully purchased (see posting below)--

congratulations to the Friends and to all who supported them!
Funding is needed on a continuing basis to meet mortgage
payments and forestall the need to sell of portions of the
land.

go to their site to see lovely pictures of Sr. Mary Minehan of the
Brigidine Sisters of Kildare participating in a festival at
Bride's Mound.

Blessings!