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Bride by Ailig MacAnTsaoir The Goddess Brigit (also known as Brighid, Bride, Brigindo and Brigantia), called by Caesar the equal of Minerva and was seen by some as a close parallel of Artemis, was in reality a typical Celtic triple Goddess, a concept which Peter Berresford Ellis postulates has roots in Indo-European expression. A very much loved Pan-Celtic Goddess whose has recognizable equivalents in all Celtic lands, in Britain and in Gaul, she is known as the Goddess of smiths, of poets and of healers. Her name means Exalted One or High One and many of her appellations such as Bright One, Bright Arrow and Fiery Arrow, signify her aspect as a Solar Goddess. She is daughter of the Dagda and her consort was Bres, son of Elatha, a Formorii King and a woman of the Dé Danaan. She also had three sons by Tuireann. Legend has it that she has two faces one young and beautiful and one old and terrible. The oral traditions, lore and rituals surrounding this Goddess and folk practices attributable to her worship continue to this day in Celtic lands and wherever Celts are found. Many are the wells and springs in the old Celtic lands which bear Brigit’s name and are the site of votive offerings even unto this day. Brigit’s festival called Imbolc or Lá Fhéile Bréde takes place February 1 at the time that the sheep are beginning to lactate. Her feast marks the hope for spring and it is thus that she takes on an aspect of a fertility figure as well. She is said to preside over fire and the inspiration of the poets who look to her has been called her fire in their heads. Beloved of Celts, she was carried by them into Christianity and many of her attributes have been linked to St. Brigit. St. Brigit according to Rennes Dinnsenchus was born in County Down in 455 C.E. She founded the Abbey at Kildare, the church of the oak where she died in 525 C.E. At Kildare, there was a perpetual flame tended by ninteen virgins. Dr. Dáithí OhOgáin in Myth, Legend and Romance noted that the Church at Kildare was a converted pagan site and felt that thereby the cult of that place, that of the Goddess Brigit was attached to St. Brigit. It was also noted that there may indeed have been many women who carried the name Brigit which was quite possibly the title of the chief Druidess of that place. Legends that surround St. Brigit are many. She is said to have been the daughter of a druid and magic from the womb, a ban-droi before her Christian conversion. She was said to have been born as her mother brought milk into the house at sunrise when her other had one foot on the threshold and one foot outside, neither in or outside the house. This legend supported the notion of her being magic from birth. She is said to have been midwife to the Virgin Mary and foster mother to Jesus who is called the Christ. In the southern Hebrides, he is known as Dalta Bride, the foster son of Bride. The church accepted her feast day which coincided with the feast day marking the purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Traditions that can be traced to the reverence of this Goddess/Saint have been observed even unto the present day. Traditions that are still extant in include: ritual lighting of hearth fires including searching ashes for a sign that she has been to that house, parades where images of this saint who is also a goddess adorned with greenery, flowers, shells and stones are carried in a procession around homes, a special bannock known as bonnach Bride which is consumed at a feast in her honor (Scotland), a special churn-staff fashioned into a woman’s figure and dressed as a woman called Brideog or Little Bride (Ireland). Every Irish import store I have ever been in still has the straw crosses called Brigit’s crosses and these are often put in the eves of houses to protect from fire. Sources: Contributed by: Ailig MacAnTsaoir |
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