Brigid

Brigid is a threefold Celtic Goddess of Poetry, Healing and Smithcraft. She is an ancient Goddess with origins in Europe and was revered long before the Romans invaded Britain and before the birth of Christ. February 2 is Imbolc, her Feast Day, and when the church canonized her, because her following was so strong, they kept the date and renamed the Feast Day "St. Brigid's Day". 

The rite of Imbolc is a women's ceremony, where the coming of spring is celebrated with Brigid's Feast (Maiden aspect of Goddess), and the waning of Cailleach's winter power is acknowledged (Crone aspect of Goddess). Early February marks the time when the daylight
is increasing and the power of winter is waning. Imbolc was a festival of a herding culture, celebrating the time when lambs are born and ewe's are in milk. The milk provided cheese, butter and whey after a long cold winter, when food stocks were low.

Brigid means "The Bright One" or "Fiery Arrow" and has many variations - 
Brigid (pronounced Breed) of the Irish Celts, Brigantia to the English, Bride to the Scots and Brigandu in Celtic France.                          
She is the Muse to poets, The keeper of the holy wells and rivers of healing and rebirth, and she is the keeper of the Sacred Flame of creativity. Brigid is the Mother of inventions and the craftsmanship of metalworking.

Brigid has a way with animals, and she can call birds to sit on her hand. A hunted boar once found its way to her courtyard and was granted santuary from its pursuers. Cattle, milkmaids and milk are all sacred to Brigid and the cow is her favorite companion. She also is associated with a white snake and sometimes fish magically appear in her healing wells.

On the eve of Imbolc, women hung a piece of pure white wool cloth on a tree.Traditionally, Brigid imbues any piece of cloth that is left out at Imbolc with Her healing power by blessing it as She passes by. This piece of cloth is then known as Brigid's Mantle. Each subsequent Imbolc blessing the cloth receives, adds to its healing power year after year. This cloth was beleived to absorb the energy of the Goddess and sanctified in this way would become a special talisman. It would be wrapped around any part of the body that needed healing and used by Irish midwives to ensure a safe birthing for expectant mothers. It was also used as protection during birthing of animals. Brigid is invoked to guard the cradle of the new born infant while a woman hangs a rowan cross over the cradle.
This cloth blessed by the Goddess Brigid could also be used for an altar cloth.

A Bhrigid, scar os mo chionn
Do bhrat fionn dom anacal

Oh Brigid spread Above my Head
Your mantle bright To guard me.

Anyone desiring fertility, healing or creativity should invoke Brigid's blessings, as the ancients did.

Brigit awaits . . .

Brigit awaits, Her spirit is softly calling to us,
in the trees, in the grasses, in the hills and fields,
alive in many realms, present in all Nature's places.

Brigit awaits, present in the world around us,
Her mighty gifts of vision, insight, healing and craft
grow stronger when we acknowledge their power

Brigit awaits, dancing in the candle flame and hearth fire
forging truth, justice, healing, and beauty on Her sacred anvil
our dreams flow and nourish us, like Her sacred waters

                                       
                                         
                                  Brigit awaits each of us, in our own heart.

~ author unknown      

            Jai Mata Di                      

Imbolc

The Wheel of the Year is the natural progression of the Sun's cycle and its connection to the Earth's seasons. It consists of eight Sacred Festivals, spaced at approximately even intervals throughout the year. These festivals are referred to as Sabbats.

These festivals are understood by some to be the Bronze Age religious festivals of Europe. As with all cultures' use of festivals and traditions, these festivals have been utilized by European cultures in both the pre- and post-Christian eras as traditional times for the community to celebrate the planting and harvest seasons. The Wheel of the Year has been important to many people both ancient and modern, from various religious as well as cultural and secular viewpoints.

The Quarter Days are observed on or near the solstices and the equinoxes and the Cross-Quarter Days are observed roughly halfway between the Quarter Days. In the ancient times however, festivals were occasioned not by the passage of days marked on a calendar, but by events that took place in the everyday lives of the celebrants.

Something that helps sometimes, in working with the concept of the Wheel and its eight festivals, is to imagine that one is part of a primitive society, without all our modern scientific knowledge and records and calendars and almanacs. When all one has with which to measure the passage of time is the passage of the days and the turning of the seasons, one begins to place great significance in events previously considered to be of minor importance. Look at each of the feasts in the Wheel, and think about what is happening in the world around the celebrants as the time for the feast draws near, and you will draw new insights into the meaning of, and the reason for the feast.

Imbolc ~ February 2

Imbolc, also known as Candlemas or Brigid's Day is one of the Cross-quarter, Fire Festivals in the Wheel of the Year. It celebrates the passing of winter and the return of the agricultural part of the year, and the changing of the three-fold Goddess from Crone to Maiden. At Imbolc we can see the promise of Yule made manifest. The days are markedly longer, the sun a little warmer. In the sheltered garden, a lone crocus pushes boldly through the late snows. Overhead, somewhere in the scudding clouds of February, we hear the calling of the wild geese. Now is the time for new growth, as the tiny bobbing heads of Snowdrops and the uplifted faces of Crocuses appear. The Goddess is now renewed and welcomed back. Sacred fires were traditionally lit on hilltops to attract the new Sun, and in warmer climates the first Ewe's milk was available after the Winter. In some areas a celebratory drink called "Lambswool" was drunk - made from cider and water mixed with the flesh of roasted / baked apple - the frothy white mixture somewhat resembling Lambs' wool.

It is a time for shaking off the winter doldrums, for sweeping the dead leaves of winter out of our lives. What baggage, emotional or physical, is it you no longer need to carry into the new year? A ritual house-cleansing might be in order to rid your home of all the negative energies that accumulate during the closed-in months of winter. Try making a loose incense of sage, cedar, bay, rosemary, and frankincense to banish negativity and bless your home.
It is customary to light white candles to welcome back the Sun and to honor the return of the Maiden Goddess. It's a good time to tidy up your altar, refresh it with a white altar cloth, light some white candles and display a picture of the Goddess Brigid.


An evening feast is in order, since Imbolc represents a return to liveliness and all the bounties of Nature. Americans might best grasp the concept of Imbolc by thinking of it as a Thanksgiving celebration for what is about to happen. Celebrants can be happy feasting, knowing that winter is passing and that food will once again be growing and plentiful. The feast begins with a short prayer, or toast:

Blessed be the earth, and all who dwell upon it.
We give thanks for the season now departing from us,
For the blessings it has bestowed upon us,
And upon those with whom we share this world.

Blessed be the new season.
We pray that it will be a time filled with peace,
With abundance, with prosperity,
With wisdom,
With love.

Blessed be all who share this feast.
Let us now prepare for the time ahead
By opening our hearts, and our minds, and our spirits.

Blessed be.

Next: The Goddess Brigid

Jai Mata Di

More Celtic Lore

The Druids were the Celtic Priesthood with an Arch Druid at their head. In the beginning, the Celts had similar organizations of women. The Arch Druid's counterpart was the High Priestess of the Grove. These Druids and Priestesses were the healers, judges, astronomers, teachers, oracles and religious leaders of the clans. The Druids had three divisions within their order: the Bards (poets), the Ovates (prophets, philosophers) and the Druid priests. The older Priestesses were highly revered. Priestesses sang the dying to sleep, did enchantments, prophesies, charms, birthing and healing. They knew the power of words, stones and herbs. A magick cauldron, bowl or pool was one of the central features of their Groves. It was considered the Cauldron of Regeneration, and represented reincarnation within the womb of the Goddess. Nature itself was their house of worship, certain hills, lakes, caves, springs, wells, monoliths, clearings within groves and ancient stone circles were their Sacred Places. The Druids preferred oak groves and forests.

The Celts understood that all existence has a cyclic nature, and that there is a direct continuity between the material world and the otherworld. Druidic teachings that have come down to us from the Welsh tradition recognised that there is an unseen world that interpenetrates the visible world. Things are just not what they seem. Everything exists on simultaneous levels. Seership was a highly developed and an important function of the Druids.



Most celebrations were held at night as the Celtic day began at midnight and their calendar based on the moon cycle had 13 months. Religious holidays centered on the Solstices, Equinoxes, and Moon phases. During the waxing moon, they did positive magick, during the waning moon, dark magick. They also observed Imbolc in February, Beltane in May, Lughnassadh in August and Samhain at the end of October. Oak and mistletoe were sacred, as were wrens, which were considered prophetic.

More to come...

Jai Mata Di

Celtic Lore

Celtic Tree of Life

 

l love the Celtic folklore and Myths.
The Arthurian Tales, The Mabinogion, the Pagan and Druidic Customs and Rites and of course The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley.
It has always been one of my favorite escapes - reading about those long ago times. The next few days of posts will be about this culture and the various Goddesses that were revered.
The fact that their society was matriarchal certainly is appealing to me. Children took their mother's name and daughters inherited her possessions. A mother gave her child a secret name with the first breast milk; the secret name was carefully guarded so it could not be used in spells and curses. Virginity was not prized; twice the dowry was given for  a women with children. Abortion and choice or change of mate were a women's right.


The Celts were religious or what we would call spiritual today. They believed in reincarnation and transmigration of the soul. They honored Nature and their rites and rituals revolved around the Wheel of the Year. Their pantheon held a great number of female deities of primary importance - Mother Goddesses, Warrior Goddesses, Guardian Goddesses. They also had the concept of the triple Goddess, three aspects of a single deity, such as Maiden, Mother and Crone. These aspects were represented by the Irish Celts by Anu or Danu as the Maiden, Badb as the Mother, and Macha as the Crone. To the Celts of Wales the Maiden was Blodeuwedd, Arianrhod the Mother, and Cerridwen the Crone. There were other triplicities of the Goddess in other times.


The Celts first appeared in history in about the ninth century BC. They came from the east spreading across what is now Asia Minor and Europe and eventually settling in are we now call The British Isles. They excelled as craftsman in metal work,  as builders of roads, as experts in agriculture and animal husbandry. They were first and foremost warriors, often hiring themselves out as mercenaries to anyone who could afford their price. Among the Celts women warriors were held in high regard and were as good warriors as the men. One of the Celts most famous Women Warriors was Boudicca, who was a Queen, a mother and a wife who led an army against the Roman Occupiers.


More Tomorrow...




Jai Mata Di

Happiness is...

The purpose of life is the expansion of happiness. (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi)

Happiness is determined by one's state of mind. When we stop to take notice of the simple joys
of life we are happy. Think about some moments in time that you can remember that inner joy - a lighter heart. Happiness is a condition we all possess at birth and through our human journey we manage to see only glimpses of because the external events of our lives take over and we become distracted from seeking our true purpose.


 "Stop to smell the roses" means slowing down and seeing life in all it's glory. Seeing the good in others, recognising we are all one and the same and developing compassion and kindness all lead to happiness.


The Dalai Lama says, "Human nature is essentially compassionate, gentle. Anger, violence and aggression may certainly arise, on a secondary or more superficial level. In a sense they arise when we are frustrated in our efforts to achieve love and affection. Within all things is a seed of perfection, however, compassion is required in order to activate that seed which is inherent in our hearts and minds".


I've been really noticing the little things that bring me happiness: The dogs running and playing, a butterfly feeding on a flower, the sunbeams shining through the clouds just to name a few.
Helping others is another way to achieve happiness: do a good deed, help a neighbor, volunteer.


I'm going to begin a Happiness Journal and each day note the things that I see and do that make me happy.


Namaste
Jai Mata Di

What is Life?

The Passage from Mother Earth to the Spirit World

What is Life?

It is in the flash of a firefly in the night.

It is the breath of a buffalo in the winter time.

It is the little shadow which runs across the grass

And loses itself in the Sunset.

~ Crowfoot, as he prepared for his journey to the spirit world, 1890 ~

Jai Mata Di

Mid-January

Half the month of January has already gone by. The holiday decorations are put away and the quiet after all the hubbub seems strange.
Some of us began the year making resolutions that will improve our lives and others just hoping for a year that will be kind to us.

The winter is a time for introspection and reflection on our potential, our aspirations, our future.
In ancient times the winter was all about surviving the cold, the ice and snow. It was a time when stories were told around the hearth, families huddled together awaiting the spring.

The winter is associated with the Earth element and the North. It's the time of the year for recovering, of silence, harmony, balance, home, mystery, birth and death. And although the cold earth appears dormant, the cycle of life has begun beneath the surface, the seeds have been planted and with them the gifts we envision. The hours and minutes of darkness are lessening with each day.

Winter is the time of the Crone. She is the Wise Woman, the teacher, the guide. From her vast experience and knowledge obtained through her infinite life experiences she is the counselor.
She is the Keeper of Time and the All and the Nothing.

Here a few of the Goddesses associated with Winter:

Skadi is the Goddess of Winter and Mountains in Scandinavia. She is the Spirit of the North Wind,and is equated with the darkness and cold of winter, the shadow time during the state of hibernation. Her name is said to mean shadow or shade. She is a huntress, a magician. She is said to have given the gift of the bow and arrow to the hunters.

The goddess for whom Scandinavia was named dwelled high in the snow-covered mountains; her favorite occupations were skiing and snowshoeing through her domain. But when the gods caused the death of her father Thjassi, Skadi armed herself and traveled to their home at Asgard, intent on vengeance. Even alone, she was more than a match for the gods, and they were forced to make peace with her.
Skadi was offered to choose a husband among the gods for compensation for her father's death.
All the gods lined up, and Skadi's eyes were masked. She intended to select her mate simply by examining his legs from the knees down. When she'd found the strongest-thinking them the beautiful Balder's legs-she flung off her mask and found she'd picked the sea god Njord. So she went off to live in the god's ocean home.
She was miserable there. "I couldn't sleep a wink," Skadi said in a famous eddic poem, "on the bed of the sea, for the calling of gulls and mews." The couple moved to Thrymheim, Skadi's mountain palace, but the water god was as unhappy there as Skadi had been in the water. Thereupon they agreed on an equitable dissolution, and Skadi took a new mate, more suitable to her lifestyle: Ullr, the god of skis.
Hers is the power of perception, of going within and facing our true nature.

Cailleach Bheur, Celtic Goddess of Winter is also known as Beira, Queen of Winter. She is credited with making numerous mountains and large hills, which are said to have been formed when she was striding across the land and accidentally dropped rocks from her apron. In other cases she is said to have built the mountains intentionally, to serve as her stepping stones. She carries a hammer for shaping the hills and valleys, and is said to be the mother of all the goddesses and gods.
She appears at the end of October, born anew as an old women, bringing the winter storms.
The Cailleach displays several traits befitting the personification of Winter: she herds deer, she fights Spring, and her staff freezes the ground with every tap. In some stories, she appears to a hero as a hideous old woman, and when he is kind to her, she turns into a lovely young woman who rewards him for his good deeds.  She is guardian to animals throughout the winter such as the deer and wolf.
Cailleach rules the dark half of the year, from Samhain to Beltane, while her young and fresh counterpart, Bridgid or Brede, is the queen of the summer months.
It is said that on Imbolc, February 2, as the Wheel of the Year turns and power of Bridgid increases the light, Cailleach throws her staff behind a Holly bush. Then on Beltane, May1, she turns into stone until her rebirth the following October.


Jai Mata Di