Rabbit rabbit rabbit...a Celtic trio to wish you good luck for the new month!
In her English retellings of Irish myth, Lady Augusta Gregory describes Brigit as "a woman of poetry, and poets worshipped her, for her sway was very great and very noble. And she was a woman of healing along with that, and a woman of smith's work, and it was she first made the whistle for calling one to another through the night."
Brigid is considered the patroness of poetry, smithing, medicine (midwifery,) arts and crafts, cattle and other livestock, sacred wells, serpents (in Scotland) and the arrival of early spring.
As of 2023, Brigit's Day was declared a national holiday in Ireland.
Brigit's Day on February first! Here's an article from the Irish Times in 2023 where they said:
"Our first St Brigid’s Day public holiday. Brigid, Brigit, Bridget, Bríd, Bridie: whatever we call her, she was some woman, and her day, Lá Fhéile Bríde, or Imbolc, on February 1st has long heralded renewal and the traditional start of spring in Ireland."
Imbolc, another term for this day, was to celebrate the earliest spring milk in the sheep...which in our area in North Carolina don't lamb for another month. But ancient ways cannot be ignored.
All of our first histories were oral history. Until someone started writing down the old stories. So earliest stories may differ from place to place.
Brigid was honored as a goddess first...of smithcraft, poetry and healing. The most miraculous events in her life were retold at this time yearly. She taught her skills to other women - midwifery, or metal working, or writing of poetry. She is noted for teaching people how to keen after losing a loved one. And she was the person who first used whistles to send signals to mates during nighttime battles (I won't go into why she ended up in a battle.)
A few miracles have been handed down from the stories, such as the one about her cloak and the king. Wikipedia says it this way:
One of the more commonly told stories of St. Brigid was when she went to the King of Leinster to ask for land to build a convent. She told the king that the place where she stood was the perfect place for a convent. It was beside a forest where they could collect firewood and berries. There was also a lake nearby that would provide water and the land was fertile. The king laughed at her and refused to give her any land. Brigid prayed to God and asked him to soften the king’s heart. Then she smiled at the king and said “will you give me as much land as my cloak will cover?”
The king thought that she was joking and because Brigid’s cloak was so small he knew that it would only cover a very small piece of land. The king agreed and Brigid spread her cloak on the ground. She asked her four friends to hold a corner of the cloak and walk in opposite directions. The four friends walked north, south, east and west. The cloak grew immediately and began to cover many acres of land.
The king was astonished and he realized that she had been blessed by God. The king fell to the ground and knelt before Brigid and promised her and her friends money, food and supplies. Soon afterwards, the king became a Christian and also started to help the poor and commissioned the construction of the convent. Legend has it, the convent was known for making jam from the local blueberries which was sought for all over Ireland. There is a new tradition beginning among followers of St. Brigit to eat jam on the 1st of February in honour of this miracle.
The Catholic church came into Ireland later (you've heard of St. Patrick?) and yet there soon was this wonderful Saint Brigid. Her good works seemed very similar to the goddess Brigid. There was a physical well where healing might take place. And an eternal fire that was tended by the followers of the Saint, only women allowed. The story was that they would tend the fire for 19 days, and then on the 20th Brigid herself would keep it burning. The original well still exists, and the place where fires were tended.
That the whole country of Ireland has made this a holiday speaks to the love of the Irish toward their historic goddess/Saint. And having February 1 as her holiday gives a good celebration that's needed in grey winter...though with a promise of spring.
Of course there are rituals associated with Brigid. Kindling a fire. Blessings with pure waters. Blessing of the candles (fire sources). Reading poetry. Tying little ribbons, clouties with wishes for healing on branches of trees at her well, or other trees. Putting your own mantle (or any fabric) across a bush the night before Brigid's day. Making tiny straw Brigid crosses or little effigies of her.
Brigid Dark and Bright
In the steep and common path of our calling,
Be it easy or uneasy to our flesh,
Be it dark or bright for us to follow,
May your perfect guidance be upon us.
Brigid of the Forge, be thou a shield to us!
Brigid of the Fold, be thou our shepherd and our healer!
In each secret thought our minds may weave, Brigid of the Loom, give us sweet clarity.
In our grief or pain or sadness,
Brigid of the Well, heal us, strengthen us, stand with your mighty shoulder near to ours.
And in our joys and in our bliss, Brigid of the Hearth, Keeper of the Bread plate, Maker of Beer,
Dance with us as we waken the great round garden of the world.
