Brigid – February 2

From my own Brigid Rituals:

Brigid Meditation: Standing forward, powerful and truthful, Brigid shows us how to stand behind our own Creative Fire, our Sacred Heart Fire.

Healing: Check the strength of your Sacred Heart Fire. Run creative energy through the Heart (Fourth Chakra.) Allow the flames to heat up and enliven, not only the Heart, but extend up into the Throat (Fifth Chakra) – calibrate the energy and clear any interference. Then speak, write, dance, move, paint, meditate from this light-filled, passionate sacred heart space.

Gratitude is the remedy for tightness. When you give thanks, scarcity fades away.

Practice: Light your Fires – light your altars, make offerings of beauty, leave gifts every where, love your neighbors, love your life, find joy every day – there is always something to appreciate.

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Each year on February 2 people all over the world celebrate Imbolc, Candlemass (GroundHog day) Festival of the lactating ewes, and the Celtic Triple Moon Goddess Brigid “the light-bringer.” It will have been six weeks since the winter solstice and the re-turning of the light. The Earth is beginning to wake from her winter slumber as the sun grows stronger. Seeds are starting to crack and send up shoots of individuation. The Crone Goddess begins her mystical transformation into a young girl again. All of this reminds us of the ever turning cycle of life and the promise of renewal.

If Candlemas day be fair and bright, Winter will have another flight.

If Candlemas day be shower and rain, Winter is gone and will not come again.
Traditional saying

GODDESS Brigid is an Irish Goddess associated with fertility, poetry, smithcraft and nurturing. Her name means Bright One, High One, Bright Arrow, Power. She is also the patron of midwifery and healing, not just for humans, but also for animals and vegetation. It is a day of new beginnings, when the first plowing was oftern undertaken.

So “Declare who you are! – Define, name and claim your spiritual path!” (- We’Moon)

Doreen Virtue writes, “Goddess Brigit – Don’t back down – Stand up for what you believe is right! First be clear about your intentions. Like a candle in the dark be very clear and bright in what is acceptable to you in this situation. Stand up for your self and speak about your needs and your truths. Be unwavering and make your stand today!”

RITUAL Jump the Sacred Fire - Brigit’s holiday is chiefly marked by the kindling of sacred fires, since she symbolized the fire of birth and healing, the fire of the forge, and the fire of poetic inspiration. Start with the question: What wants to grow out of me? What do I want to accomplish? What am I having difficulty with that I am ready to transform? Paint, collage, meditate, or journal for further information. Once you are clear, write down your wishes. To symbolize your willingness to allow the mystery to assist you, you take a LEAP OF FAITH and jump over the candle or bonfire.

More rituals/customs:

  • Cleaning the Home & Gardens (fields)
  • Hold a Candle Making Party
  • Light Candles in every window
  • Putting out food and drink for Brigid on Her eve (such as buttered bread, milk, grains, seeds)
  • Chair by hearth decorated by women; young woman carries in first flowers & greens, candle.
  • Opening the door and welcoming Her into the home. “Bride! Come in, they bed is made! Preserve the House for the Triple Goddess!” Scottish Gaelic Invocation: “May Brigit give blessing to the house that is here; Brigit, the fair and tender, Her hue like the cotton-grass, Rich-tressed maiden of ringlets of gold.”
  • Brigid’s Bed (Scotland): Putting grain effigy and a phallic wand in a basket next to the hearth/candles at night and chanting three times: “Brigid is Come! Brigid is Welcome!”
  • Purification (sage smudging or salt water bath)
  • Blessing rushes/straw and making Brigid wheels
    wheel21

ALTAR Decorate your windows and your altar with 9 candles (usually white, but you can include red, yellow, gold), early flower blooms and greenery. It is said that wherever Brigid walked flowers would appear. You may also want to include images of your animals, a small jar of milk (life giving milk never runs dry), images of the triple goddess, seeds, poetry, gold, tools of healing work and wishes for her divine assistance. More Altar ideas:

  • seeds as a symbols of new life to come
  • first greens and flowers as offerings
  • weather – bright or grey
  • hibernating animals – groundhog, bear, badger

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