St Brigid And Bride  

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St Brigid And Bride Image
WITH THE COMING OF CHRISTIANITY, BRIGID'S POWERFUL GODDESS ENERGIES WERE CONVERTED INTO IRELAND'S MOST BELOVED SAINT...ALONG WITH THE CONVERSION OF ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE AREA. AND, BECAUSE SHE WAS SUCH A POPULAR GODDESS, THEY COULD NOT DESTROY HER, SO THEY FABRICATED AN ENTIRE HISTORY FOR THE NEW "ST. BRIGID." SHE WAS SAID TO BE BORN TO A DRUID WHO HAD A VISION THAT SHE WAS TO BE NAMED AFTER A GREAT GODDESS, AND A CHRISTIAN SLAVE WOMAN WHO HAD BEEN BAPTIZED BY ST. PATRICK HIMSELF. BRIGID APPEARENTLY TOOK CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS VOWS AND UPON HER DEATH, WAS CONONIZED BY THE CHURCH.

UPON HER CHRISTIAN TRANSFORMATION, ST. BRIGID BECAME THE HEAD OF A WOMEN'S HOLY GROUP THAT MAINTAINED HER SACRED FIRE, THE MONASTIC HEARTH, EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR UNTIL IT WAS EXTINGUISHED DURING THE NORMAN INVASION OF IRELAND IN 1220. THEN, IT WAS REKINDLED AND KEPT ALIGHT UNTIL THE REFORMATION AND THE DISSOLUTION OF THE MONASTERIES IN THE 16TH CENTURY. ONCE AGAIN IT WAS LIT IN 1993 AND TO THIS DAY IN KILDARE, THERE IS A SHRINE TO BRIGID WHERE WOMEN KEEP A FLAME BURNING AT ALL TIMES IN HER HONOR.

IN SCOTTISH FOLKLORE, SHE IS CALLED "BRIDE". SHE IS THE YOUNG MAIDEN OF SPRING, THE EASTERN QUARTER OF THE WHEEL. HOWEVER, WITH THE TRIUMPH OF CHRISTIANITY, THE FOLKLORE SURROUNDING HER GENERALLY DEPICTS HER AS A SAITN, BUT THE SYMBOLISM SURROUNDING HER AND HER SACRED HOLIDAY, STRONGLY POINT TO HER PAGAN ORIGINS. THE FOLKLORE CELEBRATES HER AS A FIGURE OF HEALING AND PROTECTION; ONE WHO IS CEREMONIOUSLY INVITED INTO THE HOME ON THE EVE OF FEBRUARY 1--THE TRADITIONAL BEGINNING OF SPRING. ON THIS NIGHT, SHE IS SAID TO TRAVEL THROUGHOUT THE LAND ACCOMPANIED BY HER WHITE COW. AS BRIDE, SHE LOOKS AFTER WOMEN IN CHILDBIRTH AND PRESIDES OVER THE HEARTH FIRE IN THE HOME.

"A NURTURING EXERCISE"

"BRIGID, THE MOTHER, CAN HELP US TO LOOK AFTER OURSELVES BY REMINDING US THAT WE CAN MOTHER OURSELVES WHEN WE ARE FEELING NEGLECTED. FOR EXAMPLE, YOU CAN HEAT A MUG OF WHATEVER MILK YOU DRINK, STIR IN SOME HONEY OR CHOCOLATE SYRUP, SPRINKLE WITH CINNAMON, AND DRINK SLOWLY...FEELING NURTURED AS YOU DRINK."

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