BRIGHID

Brighid, excellent woman,

Sudden flame,

May the fiery, bright sun

Take us to the lasting kingdom.

Song of the Virgins of Kildare

Brighid is pan-Celtic goddess, appearing as Brighid or Brigit in Ireland, Brigantia in Northern England, Bride in Scotland, and Brigandu in Brittany. Her name is variously interpreted as meaning "Fiery Arrow", "The Bright One", "the Powerful One" or "The High One". She may originally have been a sun goddess, since she was born at sunrise and immediately a tower of flame emerged from her forehead that stretched from earth to heaven. She is said to be the daughter of the Dagda ['good god'] and the wife of Bres. Her face is either pied, half youthful and half crone, or half beautiful and half ugly.

Brighid is a triple goddess, and some say that there are three Brighids: the Brighid of poetry, prophecy and inspiration who invented ogham; the Brighid of healing waters and midwifery; and lastly the Brighid of fire who oversees the hearth, and the forge and who is the patroness of craftsmen and women. This triplication was represented by the Druidic sign of awen ['inspiration'], known as the fiery arrows of Brighid since it is represented by three shafts of sunlight. It was likely Brighid who inspired the line in the famous Song of Amergin: "I am a fire in the head". She also has aspects as a goddess of fertility, livestock and warfare.

Her festival is Imbolc [2^nd February] also called Oimelc ['ewe's milk'] which marked the first stirrings of spring when young sheep were born, and when ewes came into milk. On this day, the first of the Celtic spring, she was said to use her white wand to "breathe life into the mouth of the dead winter", meaning the white fire of the sun awakened the land. An old poem stated; "Today is the day of Bride, The Serpent shall come from the hole." An effigy of the serpent was often honoured in the ceremonies of this day, making it clear that Brighid had aspects as a serpent goddess. As the serpent sloughed its old skin and was renewed, so the land shook off winter to emerge restored; the snake symbolised the cycle of life. When Brighid's cult was suppressed, then St Patrick had indeed banished the snakes [Pagans] from Ireland. However, Brighid's popularity was so great that the church transformed her into a saint, allegedly the midwife of Christ and the daughter of a Druid who was converted to Christianity by St. Patrick, and who went on to found the Abbey of Kildare. Maybe she has the last laugh, as there are even now many more places in Ireland named after Brighid than Patrick.

Her festival became Candlemas when church candles were blessed. It remained a popular occasion in Celtic areas and most of its customs are plainly Pagan. Brighid was invited into the home by the woman of the house, in the form of a doll or corn dolly dressed in maiden white. Oracles were taken from the ashes of the hearth fire, which people examined for a sign that Brighid had visited, i.e. a mark that looked like a swan's footprint. If found, it was considered a lucky omen. The swan was an ancient attribute of the goddess Brighid. Many Irish homes still have a Brighid's cross hung up somewhere. This was originally a solar symbol.

The goddess's chief shrine was at Kildare [Cull Dara = 'Temple of the Oak'] where a perpetual flame was kept burning behind a circular hedge of shrubs or thorns. It was tended by a college of nineteen virgin priestesses called Daughters of the Flame. Each day a different priestess was responsible for maintaining the flame from sundown till sundown. On the twentieth day, Brighid herself tended the flame. No man was ever allowed to enter the Shrine or have contact with the priestesses. Any male who did went mad.

With the coming of Christianity, the priestesses became nuns of the abbey said to have been founded by 'Saint Brigit' and kept the flame burning for another thousand years, until the Vatican decreed it was merely a Pagan ritual and ordered it extinguished. During the Vatican modernisation program of the 1960's St. Brigit was decanonised.

Brighid was also the patroness of healing wells and springs, since the sun was believed to empower the water at certain times of year. Sacrifices were made to her where three streams met, and brass or rings were thrown into wells.

Brighid's sun-arrows are the Druidic symbol of awen, which means inspiration. Hers are the fires of creation. Brighid's gift is inspiration in all its forms. She is the patroness of poets and bards, sparking the 'fire in the head' which motivates them to create songs and poems. She is also the patroness of artists, smiths and craftsmen.  Brighid is the keeper of the hearth fire, and reminds us how important it is to have a comfortable and beautiful home to return to at the end of each day. Brighid also rules prophecy and divination, arts which require another kind of inspiration. She rules all forms of divination, but especially those involving fire, water, crystals and reflections, and ogham, the magical alphabet she invented. Moreover, she is a goddess of healing; ruling the healing wells and springs of Ireland.  

NB: This short article is not from my more comprehensive Goddess Encyclopaedia