“Brigid, excellent woman, sudden flame, may the bright fiery sun take us to the lasting kingdom.”
by http://wvwnews.net/story.php?id=273
Image: Brigid’s Cross
February 1 and 2 are celebrated in honor of Brigid, the “High One,” an ancient Celtic Goddess of Light also known as Bride. The feast was called Imbolc or Oimelc in pagan days, words related to ewes, staples of the agricultural economy of our foreparents.
Like nearly all Christian holidays, Brigid’s Day was a heathen festival long ago Christianized, and the Goddess became a Saint. A Goddess of cleansing flame, patroness of poets, healers and whistlers, Brigid’s feast marks one of the cross quarter days, important astronomical feasts that fall equidistantly between the equinoxes and solstices, vital information for people who depended on the seasons for crops and herds. Imbolc greeted the defeat of darkness and Winter and the coming of Spring and the return of the sun.
The Brigid’s Crosses (or Wheels) like the one shown here are solar symbols, and are placed above thresholds or on doors to attract luck and ward the place against evil. Associated with snakes, memory of Brigid’s worship is also seen in the famous Celtic knotworks.
In keeping with the holiday’s origins, liturgical churches celebrate the feast as Candlemas, blessing candles and hosting beautiful candlelit processions, unconsciously in keeping with an old pagan belief that Brigid walks the earth, spreading light and life, in that season.The theme of new life and hope is also maintained in the Christian story behind Candlemas, which is celebrated as the presentation of the infant Jesus and the official ending of the Christmas season, a symbolic “death” of Winter. In Eire, Brigid’s importance is underlined by her epithet of “Secondary Patron,” next only to Saint Patrick himself in importance. Weather portents looked for on the day begins a process that ends when Saint Patrick himself banishes Winter on his holiday.
According to the Victorian folklorist Alexander Carmichael, “Bride with her white wand is said to breathe life into the mouth of the dead Winter and to bring him to open his eyes to the tears and the smiles, the sighs and the laughter of Spring. The venom of the cold is said to tremble for its safety on Bride’s Day, and to flee for its life on Patrick’s Day.”
While Brigid was a Celtic Godddess, her cult was known across Europe. Germanic tribes honored her, as did the Romans, who worshipped her as Brigantia.
Heathen survival is seen in a number of Candlemas customs, closely linked with the theme of divination. Given the season, weather plays a leading role. While inclement weather on the day is a hopeful sign, fine weather portends a late Spring: “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.” In the United States a form of the custom is called Groundhog Day, descended from the old divination system of the European people, who watched the behavior of animals for help in foretelling events.
Unsurprisingly, Brigid has a close association with women. In Eire and Scotland, the “Bride’s Bed” tradition continues. Women and girls in a household make and dress a Brideog (“little Brigid”) doll who is then put to bed while the women and girls socialize. The next day the girls take the Brideog on a procession, stopping at each home where the Brideog is saluted by the woman of the house, who often tips the children or gives them sweets. “Brigid is Come! Brigid is Welcome!”
Like all traditional holidays, Imbolc is a perfect chance to teach our children about the living culture and history which we all share as a people.