Goddesses of Imbolc: Brigid - Celtic Goddess of the Hearth, Forge, Healing & Inspiration
Brigid is an ancient Celtic Triple Goddess of the hearth, the forge, healing, inspiration and creativity.
She was a much-loved Goddess throughout the Celtic world and was worshipped primarily as a Goddess of fire - both the fire of the hearth and the fire of the forge and craftsmanship. She was also a Goddess of healing and herbalism, and was the protectress of childbirth. She didn’t stop there, being also revered as patroness of poets and bards, of smiths and other craftspeople and doctors and healers.
She oversees seeds sown in fields (and so is a wonderful Goddess to work with on sowing the seeds of new projects) and presides over nourishment from nature’s harvest. As a protector Goddess, she was revered as the Goddess of the home and hearth and the personification of compassion and nourishment, both material and spiritual.
As a Goddess of Spring and fertility, Imbolc is her holiday, a festival heralding the farewell of winter and the coming of brighter days of Spring - she was seen as the Goddess who spread her cloak over the earth and revived it from its winter slumber.
Imbolc, literally meaning ‘in the belly of the Mother’, marked the rebirth of fertility in nature. In ancient times, the hugely-anticipated return of dairy products during the lambing season was celebrated with feasting on all kinds of bread, cheeses, butters and custards in honour of the returning abundance and fertility of the Earth. The first milk was usually poured upon the earth as a symbolic offering to Brigid for the rebirth and renewal ushered in with Imbolc - the milk was seen as nourishing, purifying, and preparing the Earth for the new life to come.
As a solar or fire deity, all forms of light were sacred to her - bonfires blazed in fields, fires blazed in the home hearth and candles were lit in windows throughout her holiday or to honour her. In exchange for personal and family blessings, a ‘Brigid’s cross’ woven from rushes is often made to honour Brigid on Imbolc and many girls made small Brigid or ‘Bridey’ corn dolls and took them house to house in return for Bannocks bread.
She is a Triple Goddess but was often honoured as a form of the primordial Celtic Great Mother deity and worship to her was firmly and widely spread throughout the Celtic world. In her Mother aspect she protected men and women, children, and domesticated animals. The symbols that Brigid was most associated with were her wells, found all over Ireland, making her both a fire and water Goddess - the fire symbolic of the masculine and the water element symbolic of the feminine.
The abundance of her place-names reveals her Celtic universality: Bride Cross, Bride Stones, Bride Stones Moor, Bidstone hill, Bridekirk, all in northern England’ Bridestow, Bridford and Bridport in the south-west; hundreds of wells, from Bridewell in London to the many Toibreacha Bhrid in Ireland, and among rivers, the English Brent, the Welsh Braint and the Irish Brighid.
BRIGID’S MYTH
Legend says that when she was born, a tower of flame reached from the top of her head to the heavens. Her birth, which took place at sunrise, is rumoured to have given the family house the appearance of being on fire.
According to the Lebor Gabala Erenn (a collection of Irish poems), Brigid was daughter of the Dagda, known as ‘the Good God’ of the Tuatha de Danann, Peoples of the Goddess Dana. She was married to Bres of the Fomorians and bore him a son, Ruadan. The alliance was designed to bring peace between the two warring factions and hopefully avert war.
Peace between the two tribes remained unstable however and in the final battle where the Tuatha defeated the Fomors, Brigid’s beloved son Ruadan was killed. Brigid’s grief and lamentations were said to be ‘the first time crying and shrieking were heard in Ireland’ and were not only an expression of mourning for the loss of her son but also for the enmity between maternal and paternal factions of family.
Brigid has survived a long process of integration of the pantheons of neighbouring tribes and also of patriarchal-isation by pagan tribes and then Christianity. Pope Gregory I, the shrewd sixth century pontiff instructed St Augustine, not to destroy pagan sites or customs but to take them over and Christianise them, so that the local people would take more easily to places and patterns to which they were accustomed. This had an effect that Gregory cannot have foreseen. It preserved many things, though in a disguised form, which might otherwise have been lost or distorted beyond recognition - including Brigid, who became a saint retaining most of her characteristics in the process. In fact St Bridget’s Day, also known as Candlemas, is 1 February, the same day as the pagan Spring festival of Imbolc.
Saint Brigid is said to have founded the famed monastery in Ireland called Kildare. Kildare, or Cill Dara, means ‘Church of the Oaks’ suggesting it was once a pre-Christian sanctuary (many monasteries having being built on sacred pagan sites.) Legend tells that in ancient times Brigid’s eternal flame was once tended by 19 priestesses and dedicated to women’s mysteries, forbidden to men. In the Middle Ages, the churchman Gerald of Wales visited Kildare and wrote that a perpetual fire had been kept burning there ‘through all the years from the time of the virgin saint until now’, tended by twenty nuns, in a circle of bushes which no man might enter - a typical pagan Celtic women’s goddess-mystery.
WORKING WITH BRIGID
Awakening Inspiration & Potential:
The Inspiration card in the Goddess Dream Oracle by Wendy Andrew is the perfect depiction of Goddess Brigid in her guise as the Goddess of Inspiration:
“Brigid is the instigator. … At the end of winter she comes to wake the sleeping world. She is the spark of life calling all things to begin to grow. In the same way she calls to us to unfurl our full potential. Feel her re-awaken and activate your dreams and plans. The stirring may be small to begin with and gradually build, or She may come like a blazing arrow to ignite your fire of creativity in a frenzy of excitement. … There is nowhere the warmth of Brigid’s flame cannot reach. Let Her light up your life with inspiration and possibility. “ - from the Goddess Dream Oracle, Wendy Andrew
Igniting Creativity:
If you’re in a creative slump or struggling with any type of creative project, Goddess Brigid can help ignite your creative spark. She helps us to suspend pre-judgement of our work before it’s had a chance to grow and from falling into patterns of perfectionism, procrastination and comparison - the enemies of creativity. Instead, she encourages us to approach our creative work as we did as a child when we created with abandon. The key is re-learning to approach our work with an attitude of playful curiosity.
This attitude is summed up beautifully by the Page of Wands card In the Tarot of Modern Goddesses by Cecelia Lattari very appropriately depicting Goddess Brigid in her young maiden aspect:
“Page of Wands is the spark of curiosity, experimentation, the just-lit fire. It is youthfulness at its fullest, our inner child. It is curiosity in action, energy and inspiration. The student who starts a new course, an idea for a new poem, the illumination that sparks creation. In this card, the appearance of Brigid, Goddess of poetry and creative intuition, is reflected. The name Brigid derives from the root “Breo” meaning fire.”
As a water Goddess, Brigid can help us to activate the sacral chakra - the centre of flow, fun, creative expression, passion, pleasure and flexibility. When this centre is activated we have a zest for life, we feel lit up and inspired and are connected to our passions and creative spark.
As a fire Goddess, she can help us activate the solar plexus chakra - associated with the sun and the element of fire and the centre of our confidence, sense of self, personal power and ability to shine our light. It is also the home of our ‘agni’, our digestive fire, which is important to keep strong yet balanced for our digestion and overall health and vitality.
Expressing Our Selves & Our Stories
Just as Goddess Brigid’s grief and lamentations at the death of her beloved son were said to be ‘the first time crying and shrieking were heard in Ireland, she is a Goddess who can help us get in touch with our primal need for expression. Both physical forms of expression such as crying, laughing, dancing, shrieking but also as the Goddess of Bards & Poets she can also help us express our stories and emotions through poetry and storytelling.
“Women’s stories are as powerful, inspiring, and terrifying as the goddess herself. And in fact, these are the stories of the goddess. As women, we know her because we are her. Each woman, no matter how powerless she may feel, is a cell within her vast form, an embodiment of her essence, and each woman’s story is a chapter in the biography of the Sacred Feminine.” — Jalaja Bonheim, Author & Speaker
Forged in the Fire of Transformation
Goddess Brigid is also the keeper of the forge. If you are going through intense changes and transformations, chances are you are being shaped by Brigid’s fiery forge and she will show you what changes need to be made so you can be forged as your strongest, most lit-up self. What do you need to release? Allow all old parts of you, any patterns keeping you stuck, dull, feeling broken or playing small to be cast into the forge so they can be burned away and alchemised, moulded and shaped into something new - tools and wisdom you can use to create a better life for yourself.
Protectress of Hearth & Home
If you need to work on creating a cosy home-place which feels like a sanctuary and has a strong sense of hearth - helping you to feel centred, grounded, nourished physically and spiritually, warm and protected you can call on Brigid. If you are in need of a new home you can call on Brigid to assist with finding the perfect place that would feel like home to you. Those wishing to get pregnant or for safety in childbirth can also call on Brigid.
RITUALS TO CONNECT WITH BRIGID
In honour of Brigid being a goddess of inspiration, creativity, poetry and craft use this season to re-ignite your creative passions and hobbies - whether it’s creative writing or poetry or beginning a craft project. Particularly if you’ve felt a little lacking in energy in winter now is a good time to connect to that fiery side of Brigid - do some sacral chakra healing - which governs creativity, passions, zest for life etc and start or inject new life into a creative hobby or project.
Brigid was believed to be a healer and teacher of ‘herbcraft’ so many plants and flowers sacred to her and the sun (such as sage, heather, chamomile, bay, and rosemary) became part of the Imbolc Feast. Learn more about herbs and herbalism or combine both healing and craft with a herb-crafting project. Brigid was the Patron Goddess of Healers - if you’re being called onto a Healing path, watch the Goddess Brigid It’s Time to Cross the Threshold - You Are a Healer pick-a-card reading on my Patreon Tier One (1 week free trial)
Honour the hearth flame of the house by lighting a fire, lighting some candles or hosting a feast offering hospitality and comfort to friends, family or community. Make ‘Brigid Cakes’ - traditional Irish soda bread cakes or check this beautiful blog out for Imbolc feast-inspiration https://gathervictoria.com/2016/01/20/midwinter-feast-of-light-reviving-the-magical-foods-of-imbolc/
Create an altar dedicated to Brigid - include plenty of candles, Spring flowers, create a Brigid doll or a ‘Brigid’s Cross’ and anything symbolising creativity and inspiration such as a notebook & pen, a paintbrush or craft item.
Light a candle to her and gaze into the flame. Feel the folds of winter melting off you and as you connect with the light of the flame feel it igniting your inner spark and zest for life again.
If you’re in the UK you can visit one of her place-names, wells or rivers Brigid's Way Celtic Pilgrimage, a nine day route from Faughart in Louth to her Fire Temple and Wells in Kildare, rediscovered in 2013, is Ireland's version of the Camino de Santiago, attracting international secular pilgrims who connect with her feisty, can-do and powerful self-healing energies - essential in our world today.
RESOURCES
The Witches’ Goddess: Janet & Stewart Farrar
The Goddess Dream Oracle, Wendy Andrew
Tarot Cards of Modern Goddesses, Cecelia Lattari