The Celtic Bards

Imbolc (Also called Imbolg, Candlemas, The Feast of Brigid) is celebrated on the 1st of February on the Gregorian calendar. It is one of the 4 fire festivals known in Old Ireland. It marks the middle point of the dark months, a time when seeds in the ground begin to grow, spring is on the way, and the light is returning. It is a time to honor the maiden Goddess Brigid, a goddess of fire, poetry, and childbirth. One of the customs of Imbolc is to place a lighted candle in every window of the house in the evening, and leave the candles burning all night, or until they burn out. Another custom is to weave "Brigit's Crosses" to hang in the house for protection. Imbolc is a time to celebrate new growth and new beginnings.

The root of Imbolc is thought to be the anticipation of spring and the lengthening of daylight. Oimelc, it's alternate name, is thought to denote the time of ewes coming into milk- also a signal of spring. Brighid of Kildare, eventually became known as a saint associated as a pastoral patroness of sheep and fertility of the land. Imbolc's pagan orgins have become obscured and Christianized with the onslaught of Candlemas Day, and it's relation to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In modern times, we also know the day to forecast the coming season with the groundhog.

While Imbolc most remembers a feast day of the Goddess, Brighid was immortalized as one of Irelands 3 patron saints. Often Brighid is referred to St Brighid of Kildare and popularized as 'Mary of the Gael'. While details of her life are few, she is thought to have been born in the middle of the 5th century at Faughart, near Dundalk, Co. Louth, and to have founded a religious house at Kildare, where she died. One of the most enduring legends attached to her is that she converted a pagan on his deathbed while holding a cross plaited from rushes on the floor; crosses of St. Brighid, made of four stalks of rushes extending from a square, are still traditionally found in Ireland. Brighid's second association is with *fire, and Giraldus Cambrensis reported (1184) that a company of nuns attended an 'inextinguishable' fire at Kildare in St. Brighid's honour. Although it had been burning for 500 years, by attendants to the flame, it produced no ash men were not allowed near the fire as Brigid was thought of as the 'mother' and exemplar of virgins. As keepers of the flame, female spiritual leaders of the Abbys in her name subsequently took the name "Brigit" as tile. Likewise in earlier Neolithic and Celtic times, her name, translated as "The High One." She was also a patroness of Leinstermen and was thought to favour them in times of war, thus her connections to a warrior Goddess being made.

As late as the early twentieth century, it was customary for young women in Irish villages to dress themselves in old clothing and carry Brighid's image through the streets, going door to door begging alms for "poor Biddy," a nickname for Brighid. Giving to St. Brighid was thought to be good luck, and much of the money went towards the community that was collected. Making a bed for a corn doll, and dressing her as the waiting bride of the sun or as the young sun itself is a custom one can do to celebrate Imbolg. You can also leave a white cloth, called a Brighid's cloak (mantle), out overnight to collect dew. When retrieved the next morning, it is believed to contain healing properties. Wear it when you need healing, or when working magick for others. It is also a time for prophesy or divination by using naturally occurring signs (birds, weather, ect.)

Brighid's fame spread through the British Isles (Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man, and in England) with several churches named in her favor before Reformation. In the Hebrides she was thought to be the midwife of the Virgin Mary, and a special votive figure was made in her honour. A straw figure dressed in women's clothes was placed in a large basket and called 'Brigid's bed'. St. Brigid is a lasting reminder of the woman whose name was originally immortalized as a Goddess. Pre-Crhistian Irish goddess of fire, smithing, fertility, cattle, crops, and poetry. Brigit (Brighit, Brid, Briid, Brighid [the exalted one] are other known names) was the daughter of the Dagda (one of the great father-heroes of the Tuatha De Danann) and according to later tradition, the wife of Senchan Torpeist- author of the Tain Bo Cuailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley). The feast of Brigit also hints to a trifold nature of the goddess. Under the name of Brig, she is described as having mated with Bres to bear the child Ruadan, who was killed when he tried to kill Goibniu. At her son's death , Brigit lamented him with the first keening ever heard in Ireland. She also may be the grandmother of Ecne, a personification of knowledge and enlightenment. In other cultures she is compared with Minerva, Vesta, Brigantia, and Brgindo.

The Gifts of Brigit being inspiration, healing, and craft or livelihood are necessary as part of many cultures. Her presence within myth transforms and strengthens our spirit. Reportedly born in 450 CE, under portents of prophecy she has come to reveal her dual nature of Goddess and Saint. Her noble Druid father Dubhthach and slave mother Broicseth brought her forth into a world straddling extremes, and before Brigit could speak she was giving forth proclamation of her sovereignty over the land. Brigit's gifts of sea, earth, and sky speak to us on deeper levels which can be incorporated into the season of Imbolc. From the sea: the knowledge of healing water. Many wells were dedicated to Brigit and are still in use to this day in Ireland and Scotland. They can be places of deep spiritual revelations and meaning, pilgrimages to these places allow one to become familiar with her healing waters that will cleanse our bodies of weariness and can be brought home for ritual use. From the Earth: the blacksmith's knowledge of metallurgy. It can be seen that each element has some relationship to each other. To cool the works of metal is required the blessing waters and the heat of fire to shape the craftsman's object that is hammered into form. The air then breaths it's bellows to warm the fire and all thus comes back and returns to the cycle as is a product of the Goddess. The extraction of metal from ore and the use of fire to shape the metal were arts taught by a smith deity. Blacksmiths had a special magical status in Celtic communities; being fed first at feasts after the king or chieftain. In today's society the goddess of smithcraft, can help us magically change our dreams into reality, and in the forge of our being over the hearth fires- she brings us protection over our skills, craft, or work. This alchemy by fire can also be felt in the birthing process, holding sacred power over creation as we bring life back from the Otherworlds in a cycle of reincarnation. From the sky: cosmic inspiration. Brigit brings this gift of poetry in the form of wisdom. She helps us take the sacred journey in order to recover lore and ancestral wisdom, she guards the gateways and validates our path as we find spiritual insight that will help us solve life's problems. She speaks to us from the Awen and calls forth the trinity of gifts to bless and insure our lives with fullness as long as we are able to remain connected to her life-force. From this cauldron we can be satisfied to live our lives by and find the magic within the fire that transforms us. Brigit's three cauldrons can be viewed through body, mind, and spirit as ever changing and regenerative. The cycle of the solar wheel ever turns and recreates anew, just as one season passes into the next. Brighid stands between the gateway as many things- waiting, watching, and inspiring us as the muse of Imbolc.

Imbolc

by Alwyn

The first signs of the plant life come along as the sun shines its weaker glow.
Snowdrop flowers are the first to show, revealing their shoots in the Imbolc snow.
The ivy roots ascend their twine around the trunks of the barren trees.
In clouds up above, is the gaze of mother love, as she sees all things the forest needs.

The pathway that Mother Nature shows, is the one the people know,
As they carry forth her wishes as the Imbolc snow doth blow.
Shepherds spend a weary day that begins at the break of dawn.
Their workload is one of plenty as the lambs are being born.

The sun has grown a little stronger since Yuletide days gone past.
Visions of the coming Spring Equinox come from the icy winds that blast.
The future shows some healthy signs with observations done.
The first festival of spring has now been witnessed with the promise of the sun.

Making a Brighid's Cross

By Shae Clancy

The following are step-by-step instructions for how to make a Brighid's Cross (see left).

Get a bundle of rushes or straw about 15 inches long.
Take two and cross them at the centre.
Fold one back on itself around the other one.
Take a third one and fold it around the second one, parallel to the first. You should now have a T-shaped piece, with one arm having one strand, another having two and the third having three.
Fold a fourth rush around the third one to form a cross again.
Fold a fifth one around the fourth, parallel to the single strand.
Continue folding rushes around the previous one until the central square is about one and a half to two inches wide (this is optional, but the cross gets a bit unwieldy if it's much bigger).
Finally, tie the ends of each arm tightly with wool or other natural fibre. Tidy up the ends with a scissors.

Straw can be used instead of rushes, but sometimes it is brittle and breaks easily when being folded. Remember too that freshly cut rushes will dry and the cross will become loose. Just untie the ends and pull them all tightly together again.

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