Brigid the Celtic Goddess of Imbolc

Who Is Brigid?

Who is Brigid, the Celtic Goddess who was so important to the people that not only did she get merged with a Catholic saint, but she was so loved by the people that in many areas she was considered to be more revered than the Christian Mary.

Long before she was a saint, she was a powerful Celtic Goddess. She is part of the mysterious pre-Christian Tuatha Dé Danann, who were considered part of the fae folk who inhabited Ireland before the Celts arrived and who retreated to their sacred mounds after losing the battle with the incoming Celts. Her stories spring from the oral traditions of the Celts and were written down by early Christian monks. As a Goddess, she was the daughter of the Dagda, but which Goddess was her mother is disputed. Brigid is her modern anglicized name. She was also known as Brighid, Brigidh, Bride, Brighde,

Brigid as Goddess of Sovereignty, Poetry, and Healing

She is a patron of poetry, smithcraft, and healing, and had the power of sovereignty of the land and is seen as its guardian. Her green cloak was said to be the mantle of the earth itself and also connects her to the fae folk.

She has a strong connection with springs, waterways, and wells. Numerous wells across Ireland are dedicated to her. Her symbol is the triple spiral, which is carved into stones around the 5200 year old site of Newgrange, although we do not know what the spirals originally represented. There are no written records of the beliefs of the pre-Celtic people, and so the myths of the Tuatha Dé Danann were told through the lens of the arriving Celts and later written down by Christians.

She is associated with the early February Celtic holiday of Imbolc and the Catholic holiday of Candlemas.

Brigid and Divination

She was the goddess of divination, and that dates back to the Celtic mythologies. In fact, she had the gift of far seeing and had a particular technique of using her hand, which is where she would take her left hand and curl it into a circle, blow through it, and then use it to see things that were happening far away or in the future in general.

 Brigid as a Fire Goddess

There are many stories describing her as having light emanating out from the crown of her head, from her hands, and from her body. Some folk myths describe her name as Breo-Saighead, or bright arrow or fiery arrow. Linguistics link her name to the pre-Celtic word Briganti, which means high or elevated, and link her to the Celtic-Brittanic Goddess Brigantia and the late Iron Age tribe of northern England, the Brigantes.

Brigid as Mother, Maiden, and Midwife

In her earlier form as a goddess, she had been a bit more of a mother goddess, but when she was merged into Christianity, they had to convert her into more of a maiden figure as a virgin and a nun. Some of her mother nature remained. The Christian mythos says she was midwife to Jesus, so she became associated with midwifery and could be called on for a successful birth.

Working with Brigid as Poet, Brewer, and Smith

If you are a writer or a poet or a singer, you can light a candle to Brighid in her form as a goddess of poetry and ask for inspiration.

If you are a brewer, she is also the patron saint and goddess of brewing, and you can invoke her in any way you choose. One idea would be to take the water that you are going to brew with and take a portion of it, or the brew itself, and make offerings to her in the three different directions, representing the triple spiral or land, sky, and sea, or the underworld, the overworld, and the middle world. You can also offer the water in the four directions of her solar cross, the Brighid’s cross, and ask for her blessing on your brew.

You can call on her if you are a metal worker or work with blacksmithing. One of the ways I see that showing up in everyday human life is the idea that sometimes we are the crafter, and sometimes we are the ones that are being crafted and forged, and that is not always an easy process. If you feel like you are the one that is on the forge, being tempered and strengthened, you might want to call on Brighid for protection and for help in getting you through that process.

Protection, Brigid’s Crosses, and Folk Practice

Brigid was also a protector of homes from fire. In fact, the Brighid’s cross placed in a home protects the home from fire. She is protector of small animals and livestock, of families, of health, and of vitality. In Christianity, her human genealogy was said to be so powerful that just reciting the names of her ancestry gave you protection.

Brigid’s crosses were also used for general protection in the home or in barns. I have made them with strong stemmed grass. They are traditionally made with reeds or the stalks of grain, and you can also make a Brighid’s cross and keep it in your garden for a good harvest.

Altars, Offerings, and Sacred Plants of Brigid

I wanted to talk a little bit about working magically with Brigid. First of all, she likes offerings of milk or sheep cheese or hazels. When you set up an altar for her, you can use altar cloths of green or red. Those are the colors most strongly associated with her, the fiery, passionate side of her nature and her green cloak of the earth. If you want something simple, a Brigid altar does not need anything except a bowl with water in it and a lit candle.

She was associated with a few different plants, primarily with the oak, willow, and coltsfoot, but mostly oak. Acorns appear all over her church in Kildare, Ireland.

Brigid at Kildare and the Perpetual Flame

I was lucky enough to visit her church in Ireland and receive Brigid’s flame from the nuns there. They were very clear that they viewed Brigid the Goddess as one and the same as the saint. They even shared a song that I had previously used in my witchcraft honoring of her. They also believed that the site had held a flame there for 9000 years, with a group of devotees that perpetually kept watch, and that when the church was built, the nuns took up the task. The flame stayed lit until the Reformation, and since my visit they have relit her flame in the town square.

As they showed us around, they pointed out each of the acorns that were carved into the church. As we left, they directed us to her well and told us how to correctly walk around the well to invoke her blessings. It was one of the high points of my life visiting there, and I feel honored that I had the chance.

May Brigid’s bright blessings shower you with health and protection this Imbolc season.
Colette Gardiner
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