Category: Brigid

I know – having both saint and deity on the one blog is a bit difficult at times, but sure, herself is a liminal being anyway. Here’s where my musings on herself are gathered

Brigid, Lúnasa, why I care

Brigid really doesn’t have much to do with Lúnasa, but there are a few reasons I take this time of year as a signal point for myself. And, yes, I will probably be going through this in a lot of detail in this post. I have written on Brigid and Lúnasa before. Hell, I’ve taught on the deities associated with this time of year. But not explicitly on what I do myself with Brigid on this occasion. So here we go.

It’s a handy check in point

No seriously. It really is. It’s half way round the year from Imbolc, when I usually start my Brigid year. It’s coming to that point of the year where I get a good idea on what I will be achieving, harvesting, collecting from my work and start to turn towards the inward work of the year.

Slightly creepy pic, but it does represent the turning inwards I do around Lúnasa, something Brigid is closely aligned to. For me anyway. The picture shows a pencil type drawing, with the figure of a woman or at least a female looking head and shoulders with dark hair in two low pony tails either side of her neck. The creepy part comes in where half of her skull is cut away, with the image of one half of her face repeated several times, each time getting smaller and turning further away from the front of the pic. Think like those Russian dolls you get....
Slightly creepy pic, but it does represent the turning inwards I do around Lúnasa, something Brigid is closely aligned to. For me anyway.

The deities I tend to get attention from around Lúnasa are old, very old in my opinion. They’re not always fully conversant with the modern world – or at least, they have no interest in conversing with me on the modern world. So it helps me at this point to re-examine what I’m doing and how I’m doing it.

It’s a different perspective, if nothing else.

And this is useful, when I’m trying to figure out where I am with my plans for the year. I don’t always follow their advice (read: direction) but it is helpful to consider it and integrate their words into my consideration.

It’s a festival!

I mean, as Brigid practitioners, we rarely need the excuse to light a candle or a fire. But, it’s always nice to have one…

Now, remember, if we look at the old, pre-Tailtiu funeral games name for Lúnasa (which really should be named after at least one of the women Lugh organised funeral games for! And there is a stand-alone course on Tailtiu available as well, if you’re interested)

Getting back to the point before that sentence got away from me: the pre-Lugh name for August in Irish was: Brón Trogain, sorrow of the earth (thanks to Morgan Daimler there! but you can also look it up on dil.ie)

So there is a sorrow on the earth for yielding up it’s fruits, the things it’s been growing for months on end. And I think these things should be acknowledged. It’s a way of acknowledging, in the modern world, the work that goes in to feeding us. I mean, very few of us, comparatively speaking, growing all our own food. We forget this would have been the norm until very recently in human history.

The old gods

Yeah, I know, many times it seems in Irish Paganism that they’re all Old Gods. But if you remember the time line of who arrived when to the island – the TDD are latecomers really. They took over from the Fir Bolg, they defeated the Formorians, there were loads of incomers before they came.

So it only makes sense that there are some older, less popular (possibly) deities lying around the place. And a few years ago, I started getting nudges from Crom Dubh, Crom Cruach and Tailtiu. And I started rooting through duchas.ie and a few research paper sites, that sort of thing. Because while the links between Brigid and Lúnasa are few, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do at this time.

Now, I have to be honest. I don’t go for the climbing mountains aspect – for many years, I just plain wasn’t able to! But that is an important part of the worship part for the two Croms anyway. (Tailtiu is less bothered by climbing mountains in my experience and more concerned with acknowledging her really!)

But I do look at strewing flowers around the place. Lighting candles, a few vases around the place, even just a quick thank you, helps a lot with satisfying them.

A turning point for me

For me, this is my turning point. It’s six months out from my planting of new seeds to grow. A mere three months out from my real introvert time of dreaming and planning. Time to reap what I’ve sown and start taking stock for the coming winter.

I know, these days most of us have weekly, fortnightly, monthly paychecks. We’re not taking stock of food stores to see us through the winter. But we do have some big ticket items in the winter. Nearly every culture on earth that experiences winter, has a winter festival of some sort. Whether is Christmas, Solstice, Kwanzaa and a whole heap more – anywhere the days get shorter and darker, has something. And, if you’re like me and your parents were so inconsiderate by having birthdays within a week of each other, in bloody November of all things… well the winter season gets expensive.

So it’s no harm to use the old festivals and apply them to our modern lives as well.

Brigid and Lúnasa

Let’s be real. There are no direct links between Brigid and Lúnasa. But that doesn’t mean, as Brigid workers, we don’t acknowledge or work with the season either. It’s important to build in check points for ourselves. It’s important that we engage with our personal work and our more public work in the right way.

That’s how we keep right relationship.

But it’s easy to slip out of things we had planned to do. It’s easy to give up when the going gets tough.

So take the time. Re-connect with yourself. Re-align with your goals, your values and see what you have left to do this year!

Spiritual values and Brigid

We’re talking about spiritual values in the Brigid’s Path Collective right now and I thought it a discussion worth bringing to a wider sphere. So, in this post, I’ll be exploring what are spiritual values, why they’re important and how you figure out what yours are!

Y’see, a lot of coaches (and trust me, I’ve been through many of them) start off with highlighting what are your personal values. It helps to hone in on what areas of life you want to focus on with regard to the coaching. So, you can see how I’d be concerned with determining someone’s spiritual values when engaging with spiritual coaching.

What are spiritual values?

We’re going dictionary definitions here. Collins dictionary just for a change.

The value of something such as a quality, attitude, or method is its importance or usefulness. If you place a particular value on something, that is the importance or usefulness you think it has.

Spiritual means relating to people’s thoughts and beliefs, rather than to their bodies and physical surroundings. 

– Collins Dictionary

Now, we’ve talking about what spirituality is before on this blog. I won’t go through all that again. But, it is worth a read, or indeed a re-read if it’s something you want to revisit.

Here though, I looking at specifically spiritual values. Our values are things we hold dear and being clear on our values and committing to living our lives in line with these values makes life more coherent and decision-making easier. Honestly.

For example, one of my general values in honesty. I say pretty often that what you see is mostly what you get with me. This isn’t necessarily a spiritual value as such. But I use it in my spiritual life as well. And it makes life easier not having to remember what I told to who whenever I’m speaking to people.

Now, it could be said that honesty is a spiritual value, in that it related to my thoughts and beliefs, rather than anything physical. But y’know, it’s a value I hold dear and not specifically just in a spiritual sense. And the same could be said about many values.

Gonna be honest, I tried to find a relevant pic for "spiritual values" and couldn't find one. So, here's a nice relaxing pic of a pile of three pale coloured stones sitting one on top of another in 3 concentric circles drawn in what looks like sand
Gonna be honest, I tried to find a relevant pic for “spiritual values” and couldn’t find one. So, here’s a nice relaxing pic of a pile of three pale coloured stones sitting one on top of another in 3 concentric circles drawn in what looks like sand

There are loads of lists for this sort of thing on google. Go have a search.

I have found some I find particularly related to my spiritual work though.

Values I consider predominantly spiritual
  • Clarity about teaching: Some of ye will be aware of this already, but when I’m writing anything or teaching anything, I am careful to highlight what I’m basing on fact, lore or other firm foundations and what is personal gnosis. This is important, particularly in spirituality, because personal gnosis is absolutely valid – but only to me. Not necessarily to everyone else.
  • Honesty: Yes I know, I said honesty was a general value. But it’s also a spiritual value. The difference is, that with spiritual stuff, I have to be honest with myself. If I know why I’m doing something, or why something is important, then I can make better decisions. This doesn’t mean I make decisions because of altruistic reasons. I am aware that, actually, I like the attention I get from teaching, coaching and mentoring. And it’s ok to like it. I have to be careful not to let it be my only source of validation though.
  • Standing up for the cowless: The less powerful, or indeed the powerless, in any society need people to stand up for them. Brigid has made it clear this is part of my work and it is something I take seriously. This means writing to my TDs and senators sometimes. Sometimes it means donating time or money. Sometimes it means just talking to people. (even if I hadn’t mentioned Brigid, ye’d hve copped the spiritual value connection here, right? Right?)
  • Rarely is something black and white: Y’see, I can’t even make this statement black and white. “always”, “never” are two words I rarely use anymore. Not that there’s anything wrong with them, but it ties into my honesty stuff. It’s so rare that any situation is black and white. (I mean, we can all agree that killing children is wrong right?) But there is nearly always context, grey areas, history, etc, etc, etc to consider.
Why are spiritual values important?

Well, I said earlier that spiritual values help us live our lives without having to make decisions without guidance. We can sometimes depend on other people for guidance, sure. But we can’t always be sure on what their agendas are. What are their goals for your decision?

Having a list of spiritual values you hold dear and have gathered for yourself offers that guidance. And you know they’re in line with your values and how you want to live your life, because you’ve determined them. Well – hopefully after reading this blog post, you’ll sit down and spend some time considering what are your spiritual values, anyway.

Because, our spiritual values, no more than our non-spiritual ones, can creep into our lives un-noticed. I used to have extremely strong values around attending Mass. That’s purely from my childhood where – as far as I can remember – I missed Mass once in the first 18years of my life and that’s when I was so sick from tonsilitis, my parents were concerned about leaving me alone in the house for the hour it took them to get to Mass and get home. They even skipped the Sunday papers that week to get home to me quicker. (I had slept for the entire time and I’m not sure I was really aware they were gone…)

For me, being aware of my spiritual values and reconnecting with them regularly helps me live my life in a way I’m happy with. I was miserable when I was working in the defence industry. It was only years afterwards that I considered it went completely against my (mostly) pacifist values. No wonder I was unhappy!

What are your spiritual values?

And how do you figure out what they are?

Well, what things guide your choices in life? If you look at a long list of values (seriously, millions of the damn things available on the internet), what resonates? What doesn’t?

If you look at what guides your decisions in life, you may find that sometimes, or indeed, often, you make decisions that are not in-line with your values. Spiritual or otherwise. That possibly might indicate the list of values you profess to be important are not, in actual fact, more important that the ones you use to guide your decisions. This isn’t the end of the world. Maybe you view your values as aspirational rather than current?

Be careful on that slope though. There’s no point in saying that ethical treatment of animals is important to you, if you then go and consistently buy meat regardless of how you know the animals are being treated. And in the modern age, there’s very little excuse for not educating yourself on how animals are treated in any given area or country.

Now that doesn’t mean you can never buy meat again. Perhaps you place the value of the nutrition the meat provides above the treatment of animals. That is a valid and ok choice to make. (Before everyone starts crowding in with “there’s loads of alternatives”, sure, maybe there are for you, but there may not be in every area of the world. Compassion is also a spiritual value people… one that’s ignored far too much!)

Honestly, I tend to find a bit of mediation and spending time with Brigid helps with this.

How to figure it out?

To a certain extent, separating your spiritual values from your normal, everyday ones might not be the biggest use of your time. For you, having a general list of values might be grand and fine.

But you might like to spend a bit of time uncovering what values you are espousing, consciously or not, and whether these are the values you want to espouse in the future. So here we go.

Sit down. I find sitting better than standing or lying, same as I find writing better than typing or speaking for this. But, as always, you do you. You can use the meditation to meet Brigid as a basis for this meditation, or indeed any other meditation you enjoy. The important thing is you get in touch with the core of who you are.

Spend some time looking back over decisions you’ve made and look at the driving factors that influenced them. This will almost certainly help you out with what values you were working with at that time. List them out. See how you feel about them.

It’s ok to not feel 100% happy. Seriously, it’s ok. We grow and learn. People change over time and what was ok 10 years ago probably isn’t ok now. The important thing is to recognise that you’ve changed and grown.

See how you feel about the list you come out with. See how you want to change it. Maybe put the list up on your desk or in your journal – somewhere you can see it regularly.

Then live your life.

You’ll be amazed at how easy some things get.

Brigid and silence

Last week, we spoke about music, so it may come as no surprise to ye to find Brigid and silence coming up this week. Also, I’m working on sitting in silence as part of my self-care this month, so the topic is on my mind.

Silence has long been part of spiritual traditions. Honestly – go google it. There’s loads of entries there. And there are good reasons for this. For a start, it’s a break for our ears if nothing else. Not to mention all the processing power of the brain that is used in just understanding sound! Brigid is less often connected with silence than with music, but there is silence in music as well…

I’m not a Simon & Garfunkel fan, but “Hello Darkness, my old friend” is a classic line…
Why is silence important in spiritual matters?

People have heard me before saying prayer is when we talk to the gods and meditation is when they talk back. Sometimes. Possibly more often than we’d like.

I mean, really, Brigid doesn’t need silence to get in touch with us. Any of her followers will tell you that. But sometimes we need the silence to be able to hear her. As in properly, actively hear her.

A picture of a human lying on their back on grass, view from their head, with arms resting beneath their neck, with yellow buttercups all round them, with white clouds in the sky and mountains in the background. There's a great chance to connect with Brigid in silence at times like that.
This isn’t a pic of me, cos… hayfever, but I have been known to throw a blankie down on a back meadow and chill

But in resting our minds, we can allow them to disengage with the mundane world. And yes, I know, I regularly talk about how important the mundane world is. And it is.

But so is the other world. So is the spiritual world. Brigid is liminal and she can bridge these spaces easily. As humans, it can sometimes take us a bit more effort.

Silence is one more way to do this. And yes, I know, Brigid and silence aren’t the easiest bedfellows. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t understand the power of silence. Seriously. You ever had a therapist sit in silence for you to realise something? Now imagine that with a deity instead of a human…

How to practice silence

It’s hard in the modern world and to be honest, “silence” is comparative. If you’re in the middle of a city, with noisy traffic and other background noise, then complete silence might be difficult. Unless you have some very good ear plugs.

So, when I say silence, it’s relative to your situation. I mean, my husband swears where we currently live is really noisy, but I hardly hear anything because the birdsong and dogs barking etc is part of the silence for me. It’s entirely possible the traffic in a city can act as the same for you, I suppose. (Yes, I’m a country girl, didn’t ye know? )

But try starting with “sitting quietly”. (Or lying, or standing, or sprawling, or… you get the idea) No added noise. No music. No radio. No television. No one talking to you. Just quiet. And start with 30 seconds or so.

Seriously. Just trust me. It’s hard to start with, if you’re not used to being without distraction.

It’s bloody hard to just sit with yourself and deal with yourself. Honestly. Other people are easy – it’s our own thoughts that get really messy. And that’s part of value of being in silence.

Sitting in silence with Brigid makes it a bit easier. At least you have company. It doesn’t feel as isolating. Lighting a candle can help as well – it at least gives your eyes something to focus on.

Make it a pleasant environment as well. Comfortable at the very least. Warm enough. Or indeed, cool enough. If your day is anything like mine here in Kilkenny today, don’t underestimate the power of ice in bowls. It helps!

Brigid, silence and mental health

I know for some of ye, the thoughts of silence is pain inducing, rather than alleviating. But it does help us slow down. Understanding our own thoughts, how our mind is acting with us, being aware of the things we are saying to ourselves…

I first came across this in recovering from disordered eating. (There’s nothing quite as horrific as saying aloud to others what you habitually say to yourself, just FYI. ) But the step before saying them aloud, or even being aware of what you’re saying to yourself, is to hear what you’re saying to yourself. And the modern world is very well designed to stop that. And yes, I have my opinions between that and mental health issues, but that’s another days work…

Quieting the mind is an important part of any mindfulness practice, but people tend to skip over the “acknowledge the thought” part. We have to make the effort to hear what we are saying, to acknowledge what our minds are telling us. Because whether we acknowledge it or not, our mind knows what’s been said.

Brigid is as interested in mental health as she is in any other type of health. It’s possibly why she has me working so hard on self-care right now. And she has been extremely blunt with me on the importance of silence and time in silence for me. Actually, for me it’s stillness and silence she keeps on about. But more on that later.

What to do?

Look, I understand that it is a privilege to be able to say “Just take 5mins and sit in silence”. I know there are people on here who can’t remember the last time they were able to go to the bathroom on their own. If that’s the case, it’s entirely possible a nap is more important right now than silence.

But for those who have that feeling of everything being too much right now. Or needing constant distraction from life. Or who feel some basic, general unhappiness with life. Sitting with Brigid and silence might not be a bad answer.

Like I said, start small. If you spend 10mins preparing and 10seconds in silence – brilliant. That’s your starting point. If complete silence is unbearable to start, maybe try some nature sound, white noise, or something similar.

The important thing is to get to the stage where nothing is distracting you from what’s going on in your own mind. Trust me, the distraction techniques only work so well.

This is important work on the path to getting to know yourself. In fact, being able to listen to yourself might be the most important step on the path.

Remember, other people are easy. Many times its ourselves that cause the issues!

Brigid Catholicism Paganism

I’ve written about a Brigid practice mixing Catholicism and Paganism before. (Check out those posts here) But it has been coming up again recently and I thought I’d write about it again. So here we go. Brigid Catholicism Paganism might seem controversial as a title, but trust me…

I’m going to put a warning in here that while what I’m writing about here is based on my study and experience, the whole damn post needs to be considered UPG. OK?

It has to be admitted, there are some clear conflicts between the Roman Catholic teachings and paganism. The first and main one is the first commandment: I am the Lord, your God, you shall have no other gods before me”. (I will be referring to the Roman Catholic Church as RCC for the rest of the post to save myself typing it out!)

An image showing the Brigid mural in Dundalk, with the left hand side showing the nun/saint in a green cloak, white wimple and brown sleeve and the right hand side showing the pagan deity, with loose red hair, a white quill and flames in the background, wearing a torque around her neck. Brigid Catholicism and Paganism in the public eye in Ireland.
An image of the Brigid mural in Dundalk, showing pagan deity and Christian saint, by artist Friz. Brigid Catholicism and Paganism in the public eye in Ireland.

The engineer in me says this doesn’t preclude the existence of other gods, just that the RCC God wants to be first in our devotions. That’s not the mainstream view of things however. So, let’s dive into this.

One God

See, I do actually believe that there is one divine power in this world. This makes me definitely not a hard polytheist. But equally, I don’t fully align with soft polytheism either. And, while this belief appears to be very convenient, I have come to this after many years of thought, study, engagement, etc. I’m hesitant to even type it out, to be honest, because this will not work for everyone. But, I work with Brigid, Catholicism and Paganism, and that colours my beliefs in ways that I do sometimes struggle to explain.

For me, there is one Divine force in the universe. Similar to gravity. I don’t believe that any deity is pulling from a wholly unique power to activate their godhood. Or deification. I firmly believe that any being regarded as a deity in this world is pulling from this Divine Power. There is only one of them. This is where I agree with the RCC.

Where I disagree? Is that their depiction of deity is One True Way. The only right depiction of deity. From working with Brigid, as a Catholic and as a pagan, I know this not to be true. In my experience.

My own path

I have been working on developing the framework I’m calling “Brigid’s Path” for several years. In fact, the first introductory course is available now, but we won’t be starting classes until August. (It’s six months, so leads us nicely into Imbolc!) And I have arrived at a mix of Brigid, Catholicism and paganism that works for me. Right now, anyway!

But I started off firmly in the RCC camp. As a teenager and young adult, I didn’t even consider being pagan, it just wasn’t part of my worldview. Being Catholic was an inherent part of my identity. When I moved to England, I considered the differences between my practice and the English Catholics to be because I was Irish.

Then I started learning about synchronicity. And I started looking into just how Christianity had spread to Ireland. And about how many of our folk practices most likely hark back to pagan practices.

Then I started engaging with my own experiences with Brigid in particular, but also with Mary, St. Therese of Lisieux, the rest of the Tuatha de Danann… Things just aren’t clear cut. And I questioned some of the RCC teachings even more. I did a lot of reading around how the church managed it’s affairs throughout the centuries. Honestly, power appeared to be more important a lot of the time than spirituality.

Liminal saint

Brigid straddles the line between Catholicism and paganism. I’ve worked with her as saint and deity. She’s forced me to look at things different and less as black and white. And it’s forced me to look at the fundamental teachings of the church. As in, what Jesus actually said, as opposed to the centuries of arguing that have followed.

I also looked at other holy books, from other religions. And honestly, most of them preach similar fundamentals. Be decent. Treat others properly. Work to your conscience and ethics. Do the thinking and work required to develop that conscience and the ethics.

So, when I see the basic truths there, I don’t see a major problem with engaging with Brigid in Catholicism and Paganism. She is as she is and I am as I am. Neither of us really go towards clear cut delineation.

This isn’t an easy path. And honestly, it’s a lot easier to write about at this stage in my life than it would have been 5, 10, 15 years ago.

Before you jump in

There are a few things to consider before you jump into a path similar to mine.

People will and do judge. People have referred to my path as “pick and mix”, “new agey”, “diddering”, etc, etc, etc. These are not meant as compliments. And they ignore the work done to get to where I am.

But neither am I really concerned with these people. The people who think my path is less valid or less thoughtful, are not the people who are meant to engage with me. At least, not right now. I have said before that anyone engaging with Brigid will struggle to deal with purely the saint or purely the deity. Brigid takes Catholicism and paganism and works in both spheres.

So, be aware of this. Be aware of the backlash you may experience. You may not, or the backlash you experience may be from people you don’t really care about (I mean, there are loads of people talking about me a lot of the time. Mostly, they don’t bother me!) Be prepared for people to question these things and that the questions they ask may send you down a route of investigation that lands you somewhere new.

The point is to be open and receptive, but also use your critical thinking skills. Not everyone has a valid point to make. And the point they make, you may even have considered and reconciled for yourself already. So, trust yourself – do the work, complete what you need to complete, listen to who you need to listen to and make up your own mind.

Brigid’s Path

I’ve designed Brigid’s Path for those of us who don’t sit fully in one bucket or the other. Or perhaps, like Brigid herself, feel a calling towards both Christianity and Paganism. Or think you might be in one place but want to be more certain…

The steps are, on the face of it, fairly simple.

Core beliefs and self-knowledge: Brigid asks you to explore the places you are limiting yourself. And to know yourself, deeply and thoroughly.
Reconciling the past: Here, Brigid asks you to face and deal with the elements of past spiritual practice that has not been beneficial to you.
Joy: Brigid is not opposed to joy. It’s important to take a look at what makes your soul sing, whether it be human, divine or Brigid herself!
Three marks of a poet: Brigid doesn’t call everyone to be a poet, but there are elements of the poet to be felt on this path. This means delving deep into the knowledge that illuminates, words when needed and true knowing of things.
The path forward: Brigid isn’t just pulling you to her path, she’s pulling you to the path you need to walk. It’s important to explore more deeply the path of learning, the path of knowing and the path of exploring so that you know which path is best for you right now.
Your cauldron: There is no One True Way to follow Brigid, and here, she is calling you to create, nurture and grow your own cauldron. It’s important to set regular time aside to explore what has changed for you over this time, what you still want to change and confirm for you your path forward with Brigid. Or indeed, without Brigid!

But if you do this work, it’s hard. It’s worthwhile. Also, it’s never ending… It’s massively helpful in defining your beliefs, whether you’re interested in Brigid, Catholicism and Paganism or some other path entirely. But my expertise, such as it is, is with Brigid, Catholicism and Paganism. So I’m teaching and coaching from that perspective.

Hope this helps!

Rigid Spirituality

I don’t associate Brigid with rigid spirituality. At all. But she is linked with some rigid spiritual structures (ahem, Roman Catholic Church…) and it can be so difficult for people coming from these rigid spiritualities to then explore a looser form of spirituality. So, I’m going to talk about it.

What do I mean by “rigid spirituality”?

Honestly, the most common measure I use for this, is assessing whether people within this spirituality expect everyone to adhere to their social, religious and moral mores.

It sounds easy right? It’s not necessarily a clear rule, but it’s reasonable. I mean, I know plenty of Catholics, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, etc, etc, etc, who don’t expect anyone to live by their rules. Which is good, cos there are some conflicts even within the broad categories of religious organisations.

A picture of what I think is a nebula, white circle in top of the pic with a blueish background and a wider cloud like corona around it. Towards the bottom right, there's a ray-like red wash of colour. And dots of white/ star like images scattering the background. Got it when searching for "rigid spirituality".
Nebula? Not sure. But this is one of the pics that came up when I searched for “rigid spirituality”

So, for a bit more of a concrete definition of “rigid spirituality”, here we go. First off, there are likely to be a lot of rules. Not just about how to worship, but what to wear, eat, who you may engage with, how you interact with the world.

When I think of these sort of rules, I kinda think of documentaries on the various “family compounds” in Utah. (Not that there’s anything wrong with Utah, it’s just most of the documentaries I’ve seen are based there.) These are usually one man as head of the household and multiple wives. (In the documentaries. Not in Utah in general. Nothing against Utah ok?)

There are strict lines of authority in these religious organisations. There can be very strict control over finances, even outside the family home. Huge emphasis on socialising and engaging with the religious community above secular community or those outside the community. Marriage within the community. Family only within the community. Rigid spiritual structures.

This seems focused on one particular type of spirituality.

Yeah you’re right There are other ways to express rigid spirituality. I mean, if you follow the Roman Catholic Catechism to the letter, it’s fairly strict. Over the years, various things have dropped off the list. It’s no longer a requirement in Ireland anyway for a woman to cover her hair when entering a church, although you do see the remnants of this tradition in the whole “hats for weddings” thing.

When I was growing up, I never considered Catholicism that rigid. The rules didn’t really appear to intrude on my life at all. But when I look back, there were some fairly rigid spirituality rules that kinda permeated my life.

For example, I can count on one hand with fingers left over the number of times I missed Mass as a child. Because it was family routine, I never considered it rigid, until I started looking around me.

The Catholic messages around abortion and having multiple sexual partners entered my subconscious, although probably not with the intentions the church had. I figured having been assaulted at a young age, I was useless as a life partner. Might as well have fun then…

I have a whole series on Catholicism, so check it out…

Why is this a problem?

Well, here’s the thing. Many people leaving rigid spirituality structures can struggle a bit with their new “freedom”. Indeed, the freedom can feel as restricting as the previous restrictions from fear if nothing else.

There can appear to be unspoken rules everywhere in general life. And this affects women more than men, because, patriarchy is inherent in the majority (read: all) of the rigid spirituality structures I’ve come across. So, when you are leaving a strict set of rules, where you always knew how to behave because the rules were usual explicit, it can be really difficult to move into a less rigid, more secular role in society.

For example, if you have always been restricted in your clothing, so that there really was very little choice in what you wore, choosing what to wear in the morning could be reasonably straight forward. Then you leave that environment and there appear to be zero rules. Except there are. Lots of rules really. But no one makes them obvious. No one hands you a rule book. You have to figure it out as you go.

Now take that uncertainty, and think of your spiritual life. There may be parts of your previous spirituality, no matter how rigid, that were comforting and helpful to you. But now, because you have left that community, you’ve lost that connection and those supports.

What do you do?

Well, honestly, this is part of my work and part of what Brigid’s Path Collective is about. It does start with getting to know yourself, as I wrote about in the last post. We move forward in deciding what’s important for you on your spiritual path. How can we develop a path for you that helps you, comforts you, supports you?

Breaking free from rigid spirituality

This work isn’t easy. And many people go their whole lives without even questioning their spirituality. This isn’t work that everyone is drawn to. Most people will just trundle along.

But for some of us, this isn’t enough. We’re not willing to just go with the flow. Not in terms of spirituality. Because it’s too important to leave to chance, or the community you were born into.

Start by questioning. Are questions allowed in your community? If not, that is a major red flag. Do you feel restricted in your current path? Another reason to start questioning.

What do you want from your spiritual life? It’s a real tough one and not one with a quippy, one-line answer. But with hard work, you can get there!

Know yourself

It’s been a while since I posted, and I’m sorry about that. But today, the message that’s coming to me is to help you get to know yourself. And looking at some questions to get to know yourself.

Seems a bit strange, right? After all, how could you not know yourself? You’ve been living with yourself for decades at this point! And it is a bit of a natural lead on from the last set of posts on getting to know Brigid. (Check out here, here and here for starters!)

But really, getting to know yourself, really know yourself, is a good first step on any spiritual path. Otherwise, you run the risk of straying from the path that suits you best, or possibly getting bound into something that’s wrong for you.

Where do I start?

Well, for me, I like to encourage people to start with a list of journaling prompts or questions to get to know yourself. If you google “questions to get to know yourself”, you will come up with millions of pages (ok, maybe a slight exaggeration) with lists of questions to get started. Here are ten of my favourites:

  • Who am I?
  • What am I?
  • What am I proud of?
  • What do I regret?
  • What am I really glad I finished, completed or achieved?
  • What am I worried about?
  • Who or what gives me comfort?
  • How can I show myself compassion?
  • What is my biggest short term goal?
  • What is my biggest long term goal?

I know. You’re looking at this right now and thinking “how in hell do I even start?”

A cartoon image of a figure with blonde hair, a hijabi with black hijab and green dress, dark hair with blue top, dark hair with yellow top and slightly less dark hair with blue top, all showing quizzical expressions and with question marks floating around their heads. How do you get to know yourself better?
How do you start getting to know yourself?
Seriously though, I don’t even know where to start with these questions.

Fair. It’s not easy at all. So here’s some help.

Make a ritual of it. Light a candle, do some meditation to start with, really ground and centre yourself. It’s easier not to go into this cold. Honestly, I’ve done this cold and it’s not worth my time.

But it can be really helpful to push yourself to make a real event for yourself here. Plan the occasion. Maybe have a sacred bath or shower beforehand. Dress comfortably. Engage with your favourite colour pen or fancy paper. Use a divination method to decide what questions to get to know yourself with!

Now, none of this is necessary. Of course, you can plop yourself down at your desk last minute and use whatever is to hand. That is always an option.

But if you are struggling to start with the questions, making a bit of ritual about it can help.

Ask Brigid

In life, we can forget about asking for help. I mean, I can’t guarantee she will appear in a flash of light, akin to what we think of when we think of the Madonna appearances. But she usually does respond to requests for help!

In a pinch, this can be a really simple, “I don’t know where to start, please help me!”

It can be a more complicated ritual all of its own. Depending on your relationship with Brigid, you will have different preferences and practices here and there’s nothing wrong with either approach. We tend to think that the Irish deities want us to be self-reliant, and they do! But they also will help us when needed.

Please, don’t worry about asking for help!

I feel like I know myself quite well

Brilliant. Then this exercise will be really easy for you! But I would argue that it’s still worthwhile.

Learning about ourselves is always valuable, in my opinion. And it’s possible, hell no, it’s probable that things will come up that are different. As people, we learn and grow throughout our lives. Your biggest regret may change over time – I know mine has! As I grow older, I find new regrets popping up all the time. And, old regrets just don’t seem that big a deal any more. Sometimes this is maturity. Sometimes it’s just the healing power of time.

We all know that life isn’t fair sometimes. And, we know that as we grow older, our outlooks change. If we are honest with ourselves, we can learn a lot about ourselves. I believe that this is a live long experience. Feel free to disagree! But it won’t change my mind about the exercise being valuable.

Are some questions better than others?

Well, here’s the thing. The best questions are those that you engage with. What suits your worldview? If you look at a list of questions, are there ones that you react strongly to? Being honest, if you are looking at a list of questions and you react either really positively or really negatively in your heart… probably a good idea to engage with that question.

But sometimes this is hard work. It sounds easy. Basically, you are sitting down and writing. Sure, what could be so difficult about that? Ye already know the answer here. In my practice, this is serious, worthwhile work. It’s not easy. Even just asking yourself to sit down with yourself and get to know yourself better… it’s hard.

So, go with your gut. Spend the time. Get to know yourself.

Then you can start tackling the really tough stuff!!

What did Brigid wear?

Along with “what language did Brigid speak“. “what did Brigid wear?” probably comes up a lot when people are learning about her. (For the purposes of this blog post, I will be focusing on the Neolithic/ Iron Age Brigid rather than the Medieval Christian one. )

And the truth is, we’re not sure. Particularly for Iron Age/ Neolithic Brigid. We have some fragmentary information. There are a few finds from across Europe, where we can make educated guesses. But anyone declaring they know for definite is going to raise eyebrows. My eyebrows anyway.

So what do we know?

The Bronze Age girl from Egtved near Vejle
The picture shows a brown woollen top/jumper and a similar coloured corded skirt. There's also a tied belt. The top has also been described as a blouse. It's possible Brigid's c;lothes might have looked something like this. But only possible!
Picture shows an image from this website from Denmark. It shows the clothing of a Bronze Age girl from Egtved, near Vejle.

Now, I’m not assuming ye’re all as geographically challenged as I am, but the map below shows the general area of the find.

A map showing the relative position of Velje and Copenhagen. Velje is an area outlined in thick red marker on the map (by me!) and is almost directly west from Copenhagen but on the bit of Denmark that pokes up directly North from the main continent of Europe.
A map showing the relative position of Velje and Copenhagen

Does this tell us what Brigid wore? Not necessarily. But it is entirely possible that she wore something very similar.

Certainly, woven textiles and corded textiles would have been available to people in Ireland pre-Christianity. Our ancestors were very inconsiderate in not leaving us significant works of art or writings or photographs (tongue firmly in cheek here for those not used to Irish sarcasm!) This means we are left with imaginings.

Finds in Ireland?

Not too many with regards to clothes. While you’d think the bog would preserve clothes as well as anything else, but this has not proven to be the case. Added to this, Irish bogs have, until extremely recently been worked to provide fuel for homes. So, many clothing finds might have been lost to the sleánte of days gone by.

That lovely turf smell? (It’s only peat to foreigners) Yes, harvested over generations from local bogs. Nearly every Irish child outside of major urban centres would have some bog stories. Certainly up to the mid-80’s anyway.

So, it’s circumstantial evidence only for what clothing Brigid might have worn based on Irish finds.

On the other hand, there are examples of spindles and some papers mention a burial that:

was also notable for the signs of dental wear and muscle strain that indicated the person who occupied the grave had frequently dragged “a narrow band of a relatively soft material between his clenched front teeth” which was not leather (Cahill and Ó Donnagháin 1988) and may be linked to a process of preparing fibres to make into thread

Privilege, C., Textile Lacunae: Prehistoric Ireland as a Test Case.

There are examples of burials and the types of equipment used to make clothing. There is supporting evidence from elsewhere on the continent that people wore this type of clothing. We have George Coffey’s 1907 paper telling us that the Bronze Age Irish didn’t pin their clothes together, but used buttons, following the “Mediterranean fashion”. (Nope, I didn’t know fashions travelled that far either…)

Now it should also be noted that people knew deer existed. And hunted them. So people almost certainly used deerskin for clothing. . As was leather. There’s a reason cattle are so important…

How about literature?

Ah well, here we have go leor (many) examples of fine raiment. In the Táin, when Medb and Ailill are gathering their great wealth to make sure they are exactly equal in all ways, we get this description:

There were brought to them their rings and their bracelets and their thumb-rings, their treasures of gold and their garments, as well purple as blue and black and green, yellow and vari-coloured and grey, dun and chequered and striped.

Táin Bó Cúalnge from the Book of Leinster (ucc.ie)

Elsewhere in the Táin, we have:

Green cloaks about them with silver brooches in them. Next to their skin they wore shirts of gold thread with red insertions of red gold.

They wore grey cloaks and pure white shirts next to their skins.

They wore purple embroidered cloaks with golden inset brooches over their breasts. They had smooth, long, silken shirts reaching to their insteps.

(There are also lots of description of hair as well, but let’s keep focused on the clothes for now.

So, we can tell that the Irish had style. Cloaks – although not what we’d imagine as 19th century cloaks, looms were a lot narrower in these times. Shirts (léine). Embroidery. Silken cloth. Gold thread. Richness and variety a-plenty.

To be more accurate to Brigid herself, I took a look at the Caith Maighe Tuireadh as well. Meagre offerings there. But, we have Ériu the daughter of Delbáeth describing Elatha mac Delbaith, king of the Fomoire (Bres’ parents). So, not a million miles from what Brigid herself might wear…

a cloak with bands of gold thread around it. His shirt had embroidery of gold thread. On his breast was a brooch of gold with the lustre of a precious stone in it.

Cath Maige Tuired: The Second Battle of Mag Tuired (ucc.ie)

(Of 17 mentions of gold in this text, 8 of them are in this passage. His hair is described as golden as well. 8 more are talking about how the Dagda got fed Creidne gold as the “best bit” of his dinner. Last one is when the TDD went to talk to Bres about his inability to pass out gold again after taking up the tributes…)

Now, Brigid, being the daughter and wife of a king (not the same king) would have been dressing more in the upper echelon you’d think.

But we also have this description of the Dagda on his emergence from the Formorian camp after eating a horrendous amount of porridge:

His appearance was unsightly: he had a cape to the hollow of his elbows, and a grey-brown tunic around him as far as the swelling of his rump. 

Now, this is obviously not meant to be “good” clothing. He is explicitly described as “unsightly”. There is a leaning here towards this clothing being definitely not of the expensive sort. And it’s possible that Brigid might have had old clothes of course. No one could wear the special, gold-threaded, fringed stuff all the time right?

Conclusion

Remember, I’m trying to base this on pre-Christian, so it’s hard to tell exactly what clothing Brigid might wear. But the options given by the Danish girl found in Egtved are a definite possibility.

Equally, our descriptions above come from texts written down post-Christian Ireland, so it’s possible modern-at-the-time fashions coloured the descriptions. We just don’t know and there are so many papers out there conjecturing, I’m not sure what else to say.

I’ll take a look at the early Christian period next week, just for fun!

What language does Brigid speak?

I speak a lot about learning Irish to speak to Brigid. But really, what language(s) does Brigid speak? Probably most of the languages her followers use. But let’s take a historical look. As always I’m focusing on Irish Brigid here. I’m not an expert on the history of the Irish language, never mind the history of other languages!!

Languages change and develop

I mean, the Irish we speak now, is not the same as the Irish my grandparents spoke. Trust me…

Hell, the Irish I speak, isn’t the same as the Irish my parents speak. Slang comes in. Here’s a nice article on why and how languages change. And even within a language, there are differences in dialect, meaning and spelling. Just compare the US and UK spelling of words like “colour/color”.

So, if we’re looking at the language that Brigid speaks, we need to look at history.

But here I’m going to delve a bit into the stages of Irish development. So, we’ll be looking at

  • Primitive Irish
  • Old Irish
  • Middle Irish
  • Early Modern/ Classical Irish
  • Modern Irish dialects

And even within those classifications, there are differences. Anyone who has learned Munster Irish in school then had to deal with Donegal/ Ulster Irish in an exam will tell you that!!!

So, when I say “learn Irish to speak to Brigid in her own tongue”, I’m being a bit vague on purpose. Because, modern Irish isn’t Brigid’s native tongue. But I’m going to talk through the various generations of Irish in this post, heavily based on this article, because it rounds up nicely a high level overview of the available information and research.

Primitive Irish

There is discussion among linguists and archaeologists about the arrival of the original ancestor of Irish in Ireland. Estimates vary from 1200BCE to 2000BCE. Either way, we’re looking at millennia ago. (Possibly this is the language that Brig – or Brigid – of the Caith Maigh Tuired speaks)

Primitive Irish, on the other hand, becomes evident from standing stones from 300CE or 400CE.

Standing stone, surrounded by black fence with green field and trees showing blurrily in the background. Ogham, so Primitive or Old Irish is the language here. Possibly Brigid in the CMT?
Ogham inscribed standing stone in Dunloe, Co. Kerry.

There’s a whole load of debate about Primitive Irish with certain sources claiming that Ogham was based on the Latin alphabet cos it only has 5 vowel sounds. Irish has 10 (that fada making the vowels long basically)

How and ever, the language form exists. Mostly in the form of names and only in fragmentary form. Now, it can be hard to make out what’s actually being written. If there’s a bit chopped off said stone, you can never be sure whether a full letter is missing or part thereof – so you have to make your best guess.

As far as I’m aware, fluency in Primitive Irish is fairly impossible because of the lack of resources to examine.

Old Irish however…

Well, here we have a different story. Old Irish, as a vernacular language, started to be written in the margins of Latin manuscripts from the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. Apparently, this was the first written vernacular language north of the Alps…

We always like to be special. And when it comes to words, well, the Irish have history there!

While many of our surviving manuscripts date from the period of Middle Irish, the construction of the language, the conventions etc, strongly suggest they were originally written in Old Irish. The Senchas Mór and the Ulster Cycle tales are good examples of this. So, possibly again, the language that our aspect of Brigid in the Caith Maigh Tuired.

Basically, you have the Irish monks and scribes writing things out in Latin, and scribbling things in the margins in their own langauge…

Middle Irish

Middle Irish is where most of our manuscripts and tales sit. We’re talking 900CE to about 1300CE. Ish. When delineating language, it’s always “ish”.

But we have a good understanding of Middle Irish because of the recording of those tales. We (ok, scholars of this period) can see the development of a more complicated, variable language. Old Irish was noted for being uniform: Middle Irish less so.

I’m going to be honest here, I make a bash of it sometimes when I want to meditate at something, but even Middle Irish is usually beyond me. People like Morgan Daimler however, I consider expert here.

Early Modern Irish

Here we’re getting to the kinda of Irish I could kinda, maybe, in case of emergency make a stab at translating somewhere in the ballpark.

Possibly.

On a good day.

This is a transition phase between Middle and Modern Irish. Hence why I might manage to translate a bit. But we are in the 1200CE – 1700CE ish part of the timeline. The eagle eyed among you will notice this is the period of what I’d consider the Gaelic culture in Ireland. While there were plantations from the English from 1169 on (Diarmuid MacMurrough being an asshole), the Gaelic way of life still held sway on the island during this time frame.

We have extensive grammar rules, conventions, structures, all sorts for this period, because these would have been used to train the legal professions, medical professions, administrators, history keepers, etc. And boy did they like their rules! I have read that there were specific legal forms and mental short cuts used in the legal texts. Almost as if the texts were aide memoirs rather than full explanations… Depending on the memory was still alive and well in Ireland at this time.

For me, this is most closely related to the language that St. Brigid would speak.

Modern Irish. Kinda.

With the Flight of the Earls in 1607, the end of Gaelic Ireland and the start of the final plantations came into play.

This was the time of the gradual decline of the language. Not because it was outlawed, but because through a regime of social pressure, it was seen as backwards, a sign of poverty or ill-education to not speak English.

Aristocrats would never speak Irish in this Ireland. And although there are plenty of records of people dealing with courts and English/British officialdom through Irish, it was still declining.

It is thought that the Irish language remained the majority tongue through to 1800CE anyway. It used to be thought that an Gorta Mór caused much of the decline of the language, but more recently, this has been proven to be inaccurate.

The Gaelic Revival of the 18th and 19th centuries brought renewed focus on the language and there is a general acceptance that it is an important part of our culture and heritage on this island today.

So… what does Brigid speak?

Well… all of the above?

I have communicated, in my spiritual practice, with various aspects of Brigid. And language has been an important part of that. There are certain aspects of Brigid that I can only communicate with through Irish.

But there are plenty that I can communicate with in English, in imagery, in thoughts too vague for words at all.

If we are looking at the Tuatha de Danann aspect of Brigid, I’d be thinking Primitive Irish or Old Irish.

For Cormac’s Glossary, LGE, Children of Tuireann – think Middle Irish.

For the saint -honestly, I’d think Modern Irish would be ok.

But really, Brigid is a deity related to communication anyway. She will communicate in a way to have you understand her.

I know people exist that communicate with Brigid in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian… and doubtless hundreds more languages. I’m not entirely sure our deities need language to communicate with us, I think they just use that to help us deal with the communication.

If you are following Scottish Bride, I’d suggest looking into the history of Scots Gaelic and Scots itself (Scots being a completely separate language to both the Gáidhlig and English). For Welsh Ffraid, look at the history of the Welsh language.

Finally

For me, it’s a sign of respect to at least make an effort to learn the native language of the deity you are dealing with. For me, with Brigid, that’s Irish. And yes, I use the modern tongue because it’s more practical than others.

If you want to go learn older forms of the language, fire ahead! There is nothing stopping you. And fair play to you!

But for me, modern Irish is enough for when I need it.

Irish Wish, Brigid, I suffered…

… so you don’t have to. I’m talking about the film, Irish Wish, and in particular, it’s portrayal of Brigid. As a bloody fairy. And then referred to as a saint. FFS.

I did not like this film. Seriously. It’s another one in the style of Rosemary and Thyme, or Darby O’Gill, etc, etc, etc.

Irish Wish is described on Wikipedia as an American fantasy and by any god you care to swear by, that’s true. Cos this isn’t Irish.

The poster for Irish Wish. Lindsay Lohan in the centre with hands at shoulder height, palms upward, shoulders shrugged in a "what to do" gesture. On either side are Ed Speleers as James Thomas and Alexander Vlahos as Paul Kennedy, trying to both look handsome.
The poster for Irish Wish
The plot

Irish Wish doesn’t want to complicate things too much, to be fair to it. Maddie Kelly (Lohan) has been secretly in love with the author (Paul Kennedy, played by Vlahos) whose book she’s editing for over a year. But he starts up with one of her best friends and three months later, they’re off to Ireland to get married. I’m presuming cos Kennedy is Irish (there are other Irish surnames, but Kennedy is a reasonably common one so I can’t really complain about this)

Shenanigans (of both the modern US definition and the darker, more traditional Irish definition I grew up with) ensue. (I’m not sure the makers of Irish Wish know about that other definition though!)

Essentially, Kelly meets a fairy (later described as “St. Brigid”) who grants her wish that she’ll be the one to marry Kennedy, even though she keeps bumping into this other lad (Speelers as James Thomas) who is brilliant and wonderful, etc, etc, etc.

Don’t worry, it all comes right in the end.

OK, this is small, I know, but really, people getting on and off buses without their tickets being checked or, indeed bought??? Bus travel isn’t free in this country unless you have the Free Travel Scheme approved. But then, this film isn’t really focused on the authenticity I think.

Then we have the women in scarves tied under their chins in a style I’ve not seen in at least three decades. It’s not that it never happens. But really, Irish Wish, do better. This is meant to be the modern Ireland right? At least the damn thing was filmed in Ireland I suppose.

Look, yes we have rain in this country. So a convertible is just plain impractical most of the time, but they do exist. The times they have the hood down? Extremely rare. Seriously. If it’s not for the rain, there’s the wind, the cold, the weather in general just isn’t that good. (Hence why I got so excited driving down a Californian highway last weekend ion a convertible with the top down!! Most on that to come) I get the fact that Irish Wish needed this convertible, but honestly, a tractor would have been more believable.

Accents

(Yes, they deserve a separate heading!)

The accents. Just… the accents. I saw a video on Youtube over the weekend that said when Judy Dench does an Irish accent, she chooses a specific Irish accent to learn. And our accents are fairly local. Seriously. There just isn’t a “generic Irish accent”. And that doesn’t help this film at all.

There are people who suggest that if they used “proper” Irish accents (read: the way we actually speak in this country) no one would understand them. Well, we manager understand English from all over the world in this country, so why not show us the same respect? I mean, we can even tell the difference between an East Coast and West Coast accent from the States… Surely ye can tell the difference between Donegal and Kerry…

The Brigid stuff – to start with

This is the bit where I do feel very strongly from a spiritual point of view. As ye might imagine.

Now, ok Irish Wish got so much else not-right, I wasn’t expecting any Brigid related content to be correct. But really – did anyone even speak to an Irish person about Brigid?

Describing her as a fairy was their first mistake. One the one hand, I get it, she’s a member of the Tuatha De Dannan, and presumably went under the hills with the rest of them when the time came. But she didn’t stay there. And she’s not a fairy in the twee, modern, Victorian sense of the world – as she appears to be presented here.

While, I can see how she would be included in the Aos Sí, or people of the fairy hills, she is also out in the country protecting and supporting the people. She has supported the people more publicly than any of the other TDD over the generations, appearing as saint when needed to do so.

Now, I know, this gets into debates far beyond the remit of Irish Wish, but still. This is important. Either we respect our deities or we don’t. If you look at Monty Python’s Life of Brian, they take the piss out of the Christ story a lot, but Christ himself is treated with an element of reverence. And the comedy comes more from Brian’s escapades copying Christ inadvertently, than anything else.

In Irish Wish, Brigid is specifically named as both fairy and St. Brigid. This shows a basic misunderstanding at best…

Mischievous???

Towards the end of the film, it is revealed that this “fairy” is St. Brigid and she’s known to be mischievous. Seriously? And that she regularly grants wishes, but only gives you what you need and not what you want.

Reducing one of our powerful saints and deities to someone who grants wishes really plays in to a part of the US ideas around Ireland that I struggle with. I could start swearing here, but I think I’d never stop, so I’ll try and refrain.

The fairies in Ireland don’t grant wishes, they make bargains. They do nothing for nothing. And usually the bargains not in the human’s favour. Read our bloody lore to find this out. And yes, ok, describing the fairies as mischievous isn’t unheard of. But it’s usually darker than simply mischievous. They don’t make good bargains.

Irish Wish is simply playing into the modern notions of twee fairies again here.

Why this affects me for Brigid in particular

Then we come to describing Brigid in particular as mischievous. This hurt. I mean, really, physically hurt. Yeah, I know, it’s a piece of fiction, but really. This is infantilising my deity and saint. This is pushing her into a box to make her easier to laugh at, to ridicule, to make less. And the worst part about it it, I doubt the writers even thought that deeply about it. They figured having St. Brigid in the film would be “topical” because of the recent introduction of our February bank holiday. Or they came across the book Bad Bridget by Elaine Farrell & Leanne McCormick.

Or maybe they just had this idea that Brigid is a common name in Ireland. (Not so common as it used to be, just FYI).

Brigid is a serious, powerful force in this world and in this country. Belittling her like this as a comedic affect is painful to watch. May no good come of it!

Conclusions

Look, Irish Wish isn’t the worst of it’s sort. I get that. They at least managed to film in Ireland. And made some attempts at accents. But the way they’ve treated my deity and saint? I can’t forgive (thankfully, my spirituality doesn’t require forgiveness of me!)

It’s not a great film anyway, even by romantic comedy standards, but the treatment of Brigid tips it over the edge for me. I can’t recommend it. Can’t ask that you watch it. I can’t support it in any way.

I appear to be irreverent at times with Brigid, I know that. But there are some basic lines I don’t cross. There are basic lines anyone working with Irish deity doesn’t cross. This film crosses a lot of them, in fact, in implication, in practice. Either we treat our deities as deities, or what are we doing here?

And yeah, I know, a lot of people watching this won’t care about these things. That’s ok, not everyone has to care about everything. But I care. And if you’re reading this blog, I hope you care as well!

Imbolc for you

Imbolc is the spring festival in Ireland, marking the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. But what does Imbolc mean for you? As a festival, it is traditionally associated with the Irish goddess Brigid and the awakening of the Earth. While Imbolc has deep roots in Ireland, its essence can be embraced and celebrated worldwide. In this guide, we’ll explore how to honor Imbolc in a meaningful way, even if you’re not in Ireland. We’ll focus on using local natural materials for crafting crosses, adapting foods based on seasonal availability, and assessing the weather before deciding on certain crucial factors for your Imbolc rituals.

Crafting Imbolc Crosses with Local Materials

I’ve written before on the importance and significance of the Brigid’s cross at Imbolc. There’s no harm in revisiting it again though. I make a Brigid’s cross most years, because rushes are plentiful and easy enough to get. The cross is an important symbol of protection – particularly against fires. And you can imagine the importance of protection against fire in a world before fire fighters and emergency numbers existed? Once a thatch catches hold, it’s damn near impossible to put out. Or at the very least, requires specific considerations from modern fire fighters…

PIcture of my Brigid stature, holding a flame, in front of a cauldron, with a lit tea light on the cauldron and a Brigid's cross in between Brigid and the cauldron
PIcture of my Brigid stature, holding a flame, in front of a cauldron, with a lit tea light on the cauldron and a Brigid’s cross in between

Crosses were put on houses, barns, byres, sheds… even cattle and other valuable animals. (Yes, that is also how common rushes or corn is in Ireland, even now!) But what about if you don’t have access to rushes?

Why rushes?

Well, here’s the thing. Look at the reasons why we use the rushes in Ireland. They’re damn near everywhere. They’re free for the taking along most banks of water. And we have a lot of water in Ireland as well. I’ve thrown a map of the major rivers in Ireland below but for each of those you can add in another 20 or so minor rivers. Or perhaps water movements that would only be considered a river in Ireland!

A map showing the major Irish rivers. From here

And the Clare peninsula? It doesn’t have rivers on the map, but it certainly has rivers. However, because of the Burren, they tend to be smaller and let’s face it, the Shannon takes a lot…

So rushes aren’t an issue here. Some years though, I have made crosses from grass from the garden because getting to the local river wasn’t possible for me. That’s ok too. Most places around the world have some sort of grass or natural growth that you can bend in half. To make the style of cross I generally make – see that pic above – all you need is a natural material in your locality that bends in half.

What can you use instead?

I have seen people make mini crosses out of pine leaves in the Brigid’s Forge Facebook group. That looked difficult to me, but it’s a sign of the ingenuity among Brigid followers. To me, look at what’s around you. Adapt the traditional Irish custom to suit your surroundings.

Imbolc traditions aren’t written in stone at all. And for most of our history, certainly from approx 1600 – 1970 (or later) wealth was rare in Ireland. People used what was to hand. Take the thought behind the practice and make it work for you. Your Imbolc practice is your practice.

Look around you. Look for anything that’s natural growing in your area than you can bend in two. Use that. Give it a go. There’s no one marking your results out of ten for a passing grade!

Seasonal foods

I’ve written extensively before on food for Imbolc. Please, don’t be throwing those “sun-like” foods at me. Seriously, when I was growing up, we got pancakes once a year, on Shrove Tuesday. Absolutely nothing to do with spring as such, more to do with using up eggs and butter before the fast starts. How our ancestors were convinced to adhere to this sort of fasting I don’t know, but I suppose for many of them, it really wasn’t an issue most of the time.

But again, this post is about Imbolc and you. So, what can you do? Well, dairy is always good for Brigid. You know this. Butter, eggs, milk, yoghurt, etc. You’re dairy free for whatever reason? Look at beef, mutton, lamb, pork. Meat-free and dairy free? Tune in to yourself and herself. Look at the food our ancestors ate. Or use foods that are in season where you are.

The problem with potatoes…

Again, the aim is to look at what’s behind the thoughts. Many of the Dúchas.ie entries mention a pile of mashed spuds in the middle of the table with a dollop of butter in the middle. Absolutely. You know why? Because it was the main source of food for our ancestors for many generations. And the butter was a treat. When you have nothing, you make a celebration out of what you have.

Don’t use spuds. I’ve said this before, please, please, please, don’t use spuds. Yes, they’re associated with the Irish, but dammit, they’re an import from South America. Not native Irish.

It’s not that I have an issue with potatoes, you understand. I quite enjoy them. I have entire cookbooks revolving around them. But they are a colonisers’ food here in Ireland that has become synonymous with my nation because it was the only way my ancestors could feed their families.

Feasting

A major part of all the Irish festivals is that food element. Feasting is highlighted in pretty much all of our writings. Food was central to all of our celebrations. So, look to what you have around you. Seasonal food is best for this sort of celebration in my opinion, but don’t go bankrupting yourself. Seriously – this post is title “Imbolc and you”. The aim is to come to a place where you don’t cause yourself pain and torment to mark the occasion. (Well unless you’re into that sort of thing. No judgement here!)

So, how can you feast? What does feast mean to you? Maybe it’s splashing out on a food you really enjoy but only have rarely. Maybe it’s making beans on toast but lighting a candle at the table. I don’t define what “feast” means to you!!

Weather

The last thing I’m going to touch on is the weather. I’m well aware from talking to friends in the States and Canada, that there are places with 23″ of snow right now. (58cm for those of us who have reached the 20th century…) So, it’s possible that “seasonal foods” and “local grasses” are irrelevant for you.

It’s also entirely possible that anything I’ve written above is just not possible for you for other reasons – you’re in the middle of an urban area with no local growth. Or it’s not possible for you to reach somewhere where things grow.

This is all ok. The Irish did what they could to mark the occasion with the materials they had to hand. If you can’t get local grasses, can you get another natural material? A fibre like wool maybe? Not as easy, but there are knitting patterns for Brigid’s crosses out there. (No, I didn’t really believe it either) On that same link, you can see DIY kits for Brigid’s crosses. If you have the resources and want to do that – go for it.

In the end…

(Anyone else have this going through their heads?)

Your Imbolc celebration is about you. I will critique people on the internet and elsewhere presenting personal gnosis as general practice. Or indeed when people just plain make shit up. (No, I’m not linking, I’ve to mind my blood pressure as it is!) But your private practice is a different thing.

So here’s some questions to help you out on how to adapt Imbolc for you:

  • Why did the Irish use that method or resource
  • Is there something that serves a similar purpose in my surroundings?
  • How can I keep the intent the same, without adhering exactly to the actual practices?
  • What can I do to honour the purpose of the festival? To honour the coming of the spring, with new growth, new life, new purpose?

Let me know if you have any questions!