Quickening Moon

The full moon in February is known as the Quickening moon, it marks the official end of winter, and the quickening, the renewal of all things. While the skies are still gray, and the weather is cold, beneath the surface life begins to secretly stir.


This moon phase is a time of abundance, ripening and completeness, heavy with fertility and female divinity. It is a time when the potential of all things begins to stir towards birth in spring, a time to work on our own inner power and confront personal truths in preparation for birth. This moon sheds enough light to help us see into our darkness, so that our energy can make its way to the surface to prepare for growth and healing.

This is the season of Imbolc, the days when we know that if we can just hold on for a few more weeks, we might get lucky and see little green shoots peeking out through the snow and slush.

Correspondences:

• Colors: Purple and blue
• Gemstones: Rose quartz, amethyst, jasper
• Trees: Rowan, Myrtle
• Gods: Brighid, Aphrodite, Juno, Mars
• Herbs: Hyssop, sage, myrrh
• Element: Fire

The word Quickening is also used to describe the first moment in pregnancy when a woman feels the movements of her baby. So too, this a time when new life is beginning, but still lies dormant. Pregnant animals, due in the spring, begin to feel the quickening of their unborn young. The earth itself is quickening, as seeds and bulbs far beneath the soil begin their journey towards the light. We know these things are coming -- and we know also that this is a good month to make plans for the future. We can dream and hope, and set goals for ourselves. Accept responsibility for mistakes you've made in the past, and move on.

Magical workings this month should focus on personal achievements and advancement. This is an excellent time for fertility and childbirth spells.

Sacred Midwifery Bath Spell

Hecate is the goddess of childbirth, and lavender is among Hecate's most sacred plants. Bath in lavender water (a sponge bath is fine) just prior to childbirth to receive Hecate's blessings.

source: Coven Of Hecate

Sacred Midwife Spell

Hecate rides a chariot drawn by dragons, symbolizing her dominion over the menstrual process. Other emblems include a broomstick, a flaming thorch to light the way through dark passages, and a key that unlocks all doors, gates, and roads including the birth canal. Petition Hecate for safe, smooth delivery prior to going into labor. In addition midwives may always request Hecate's assistance, guidance, and protection. The same ritual spell serves laboring women and midwives alike.

• Put thirteen separated but unpeeled garlic cloves on a plate.
• Cover them with honey, lavender honey if at all possible. (You can also infuse plain honey with lavender blossoms.)
• Leave this at a crossroads, preferably at midnight, but at least after dark, either on the final day of any month or during the Dark Moon Phase.
• Murmur your prayers and petitions and go home, without looking back.

If you hear dogs or see them, especially black dogs or lone dogs unaccompanied by people, this is very auspicious (but should not be taken as an invitation to approach a strange dog, if caution suggests otherwise.) Hecate also sometimes manifests in the form of a black cat.

source: Coven Of Hecate

Spell to Conceive a Son

At your most fertile time of the month, place one red rose in a vase on a table.

Light a red candle, which is symbolic of Mars, ruler of vigor and vitality. Next, light a green candle. This color is associated with Venus, love, and harmony. Place it to the right of the red candle. Place a yellow candle, to represent the sun, above the red and the green candles to form a triangle. The number three represents the male reproductive organ, and sexual force.

On a bay leaf - because bay is ruled by the sun - write the phrase "I wish to conceive a son." Place it face up between the candles.

Now close your eyes and imagine a red rosebud in your womb. Visualize the rosebud unfolding and coming into bloom.

Open your eyes and visualize the candle light being channeled into your womb, then close your eyes and continue with the visualization for as long as you can.

Leave the candles to burn themselves out. Take the bay leaf, kiss it three times, and place it under your pillow, where it should stay throughout your fertile phase.

All that is required now is the cooperation of your partner.

This spell courtesy of:

The Good Spell Book by Gillian Kemp

Spell to Conceive A Daughter

You need to prepare and work this spell when you are reaching your most fertile time of the month.

The idea is to make a doll that resembles you as closely as possible. Take some modeling clay and mold it into the form of a pregnant woman, press hair from your comb into her head, dress her in clothes like yours, even cut out a photo of your face and place it on hers.

When the doll is prepared, place her on a bed of fresh lavender or on a pink scarf sprinkled with lavender oil. (Lavender is a masculine flower, as its shape dictates, and it attracts love.) Take her to a table in a room without electric lights, and light a pink candle to the right of her.

Using clean, white paper write the phrase: "I wish to conceive a daughter." Place the paper beneath the lavender or scarf.

Fold the paper around the doll on her bed and tie a yellow ribbon or cord around her. Place your doll beside your pillow, or on a bedside table, with a piece of quartz crystal and a moonstone. Quartz is sometimes called "sacred fire" because it intensifies the rays and energy of the sun, a masculine force. Moonstone, governed by the moon, is a feminine, emotional stone. Its nature and aura improve health and reveal the future. Like females, it changes with the moon; it transmits energy to health when the moon is waxing and gives power to desires when the moon is waning.

Your partner's desire completes the spell and brings it to fruition.

This spell courtesy of:

The Good Spell Book by Gillian Kemp

Invocation to Isis (Aset)

She who gives birth to the Heaven and the Earth
She who knows the Orphan and the Widow Spider
She who seeks justice for the poor and the weak
Mistress of the house of life
Mother of the dead.

Spark of Passion,
come to me now at this time of magic and mystery
(___ verbalize your request ___)
and do you let me know your presence
in the power of all love that is
that was
and that shall ever be
Be with me now
O queen and mother!"

Joe Grey Soup (Traditional Gypsy Recipe)

An authentic Romany Gypsy recipe for a cheap and filling sausage and potatoes soup. Like most traditional Romany recipes, its easy to make and can feed a large family cheaply.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 4 links pork sausage
• 8 slices unsmoked back bacon, rindless
• 2 onions, chopped into large chunks
• 5 tomatoes, sliced
• 5 medium potatoes, sliced
• 3 beef bouillon cubes
• bread, to serve
• butter, to serve

DirectionsHeat the oil in a large deep frying pan and brown the sausages. Remove from the pan and cut each sausage into 3 pieces. Return to the pan.

Cut each bacon slice into 3, add to the pan and cook until browned. Add the onion and cook until browned. Cover the contents of the pan with boiling water, but not to the top of the pan. Continue cooking and add the sliced potato.

Cook until the potatoes are soft - you may need to top it up with more boiling water from the kettle. Add the sliced tomatoes and crumble in the stock cubes. Stir well and simmer until the tomatoes are soft.

Serve on plates (not bowls) with lots of fresh chunky bread

SERVES 6

From: Food.com

Spell To Mend a Broken Heart

If you have been very disappointed, if you have broken up with a loved one and feel lonely and betrayed, Put oil of lily on a cotton ball, hold it in your hand go to a window, and look at the moon, waxing or waning. Now inhale the scent of the lily warmed by your hand and say to yourself:

I am never alone
I am surrounded by the love of the Divine Mother,
the Lady of the Woods and the Springs and the Flowers,
I am never forlorn
For I am loved by the Divine Mother
And she has already sent her blessings after me
I am never alone or forlorn
My ancestors' spirits watch over me.

Bad Date Cleansing Spell

Okay, you just had a date that was a huge disaster, the Titanic of all dates. Such a date leaves a huge psychic slime stain. This spell will cleanse your aura and remove any ugly traces.

You will need:

• Some salt (sea salt or rock salt)
• a good broom
• a dustpan

First, take off all the clothes you wore on the date. Throw them in the washer, and toss in some of the salt with the soap. Then scatter salt about your house or apartment saying:

Out, out

Thoroughout and about,

All good come in

All evil stay out!

Then take a shower and place a fist-full of salt on your head. Close your eyes. Let the salt dissolve in the water and run down your body, saying:

Out, out, Throughout and about,

All good come in,

All evil stay out!

Dry off and get dressed. Sweep your house, collecting all the salt you tossed around in the dustpan. Empty the dustpan out a window or door saying:

Out out,

Throughout and about,

Friends come in,

(date's name) stay out!

He's history...Anything he/she sends, return it with salt on it. Forget about him/her!

To Bring a Special Spark to a Date

Some dates are just waiting for the right spark to make them truly passionate. Here are just the right ingredients to throw in that spark.

You will need:

• Red lipstick
• Rose Oil

Before your date, put on that red lipstick. Dap some oil on your temples and chest, saying:

From seed to bud,

Root to flower,

As a rose I open to the sun.

As all should open to my power!

Touch a dab of the oil onto your lips, press them together, and smile. Visualize yourself as a bright red rose opening, then go on your date.

Spell to Regain Sexual Excitement between Lovers

Take a fully blooming rose, and chant:

Lovers,

 ________ and __________,

side by side,

Passion and desire fill your hearts and loins.

May this night be one of great delight!

Scatter the petals in the bed and sleep with your lover in it, and make passionate love together. The next day, gather the petals together, and put them into two pink or red cloth (preferably silk or linen) and keep under each one's pillow.

This little spell will be an excellent tonic for those whose sexual excitement in a relationship is fading. Even better if performed just before a full moon, or in a moon travelling through Libra.

Marriage and Fertility Charms

Carry a sachet of orange flowers to get the word out that you are in the mood for marriage.

Carry a bagful of hazel nuts to ensure your own fertility, or give to a bride to ensure hers.

Other herbs to ensure fertility are basil, hazel, poppy, cucumber, apple, pomegranate, acorns, myrtle, and all nuts.

Men should carry a piece of mandrake root to ensure their own fertility and sexual prowess, while the jasmine flower does the same for women. The first seven herbs listed above can be added to food and taken internally to ensure proper fertility, or they can be introduced into sachets, as can acorns, myrtle, and nuts.

Yarrow makes an excellent marriage charm. On a friday during Waxing Moon, take nine dried yarrow flower heads. Bind the stems together with a copper wire. Then, tie a small bow over the wire with a green ribbon. Present it to the married couple, with the instructions to hang over their bed. Or place it on the headboard.

If you get into a fight with your husband or wife, wear the oil of basil and endeavor to have him or her smell it. Both tempers will instantly be soothed and calmed.

~Scott Cunningham

Love Omens

• If you sneeze on a Thursday, you will kiss a stranger.
• If you sneeze on a Saturday, you will see your true love on the following day.
• If two lovers sneeze at the same time, it is an omen of good fortune.
• Itchy lips are a sign that you will soon be kissed.
• If the right side of your body itches, it means that your lover is thinking of you.
• An itchy nose indicates a secret admirer.

Friday Night Love Potion

In a small pot, put one cup of Spring water, 1/4 cup grapefruit juice, 1 teaspoon fennel, 1 teaspoon vervain, 3 pinches of nutmeg. Place the pot on a fire, or on the stove in a stainless steel pot, and bring it to a boil.

Sit before the pot with a pink candle, and concentrate on the man or woman from whom you wish love, chanting his or her name out loud for thirteen minutes.

Remove the pot from the fire and strain the potion through cheesecloth. Add a bit of honey to sweeten the potion and give it to the one you desire. Be sure to prepare and administer the potion on a Friday night.

Love Potion

Fill a small pot with a handful of rosemary leaves, thirteen anise seeds, two cloves, three rose geranium leaves, a tablespoon of honey, and some grapefruit juice.

Place the pot over a fire and bring the brew to a boil. Strain the mixture through a sieve. Add some of the liquid to a glass of wine or fruit juice, and then serve it to the man or woman from whom you desire love, or use it as an offering.

Love Perfume

Add to your favorite bottle of cologne or perfume a few drops of musk oil, a pinch of ground coral, cantharides ("spanish fly"), brown sugar, cinnamon, and three rose petals. Shake well and then place the bottle in front of an image of your desired lover, or your chosen deity of love, for five days and nights. To attract a lover, rub some of the perfume on your forehead, breasts, and feet.

By the light of the silvery moon

Moon, worn thin to the width of a quill,
In the dawn clouds flying,
How good to go, light into light, and still
Giving light, dying.

Sara Teasdale

Do A Banishing Spell Today

In Japan, today is celebrated as Setsubun. A Japanese celebration ritual designed to drive away the evil spirits of winter in preparation for the spring. Home-owners walk through their house scattering beans into the corners to drive out any demons hiding there. The beans are saved and eaten at the first clap of thunder in the spring. Pointed branches graced with sardine heads are placed over doorways to keep the demons from returning.

In temples and shrines through out Japan, purification rituals are performed to expel the sins of the people.

"Oni-wa-soto,
Devils out!
Fuku-wa-uchi,
Good fortune in!"

This cry can be heard in homes and at temples and shrines around the country to mark the end of the old lunar calendar and herald the new. It is also a ritual to drive away evil spirits.

Each temple has its own way of purging evil from the land. Some temples perform spectacular stage battles between the oni (demons) and the defenders of good, while others invite well-known personalities such as sumo wrestlers and actors to scatter roasted soybeans into the crowd. Many temples simply hold services.

The bean throwing, in some cases rather boisterously, represents the sowing of seeds and the new growth that this brings forth. It has become common practice for well-known personalities born under the Chinese zodiacal sign for that year to be invited to throw out beans as a means of soliciting visitors.

This is a great day to do some bean throwing of your own, and working banishing spells, cleansing spells, and ritual bathing. You could even do something as simple as cleaning and then sweeping your house all the while chanting, "Devils out, Good fortune in."

Traditions and Symbols of Imbolc

Imbolc, (pronounced "IM-bulk" or "EM-bowlk"), also called Oimealg, ("IM-mol'g), by the Druids, is the festival of the lactating sheep. It is derived from the Gaelic word "oimelc" which means "ewes milk". Herd animals have either given birth to the first offspring of the year or their wombs are swollen and the milk of life is flowing into their teats and udders. It is the time of Blessing of the seeds and consecration of agricultural tools. It marks the center point of the dark half of the year. It is the festival of the Maiden, for from this day to March 21st, it is her season to prepare for growth and renewal. Brighid's snake emerges from the womb of the Earth Mother to test the weather, (the origin of Ground Hog Day), and in many places the first Crocus flowers began to spring forth from the frozen earth.

The Maiden is honored, as the Bride, on this Sabbat. Straw Brideo'gas (corn dollies) are created from oat or wheat straw and placed in baskets with white flower bedding. Young girls then carry the Brideo'gas door to door, and gifts are bestowed upon the image from each household. Afterwards at the traditional feast, the older women make special acorn wands for the dollies to hold, and in the morning the ashes in the hearth are examined to see if the magic wands left marks as a good omen. Brighid's Crosses are fashioned from wheat stalks and exchanged as symbols of protection and prosperity in the coming year. Home hearth fires are put out and re-lit, and a besom is place by the front door to symbolize sweeping out the old and welcoming the new. Candles are lit and placed in each room of the house to honor the re-birth of the Sun.

Another traditional symbol of Imbolc is the plough. In some areas, this is the first day of ploughing in preparation of the first planting of crops. A decorated plough is dragged from door to door, with costumed children following asking for food, drinks, or money. Should they be refused, the household is paid back by having its front garden ploughed up. In other areas, the plough is decorated and then Whiskey, the "water of life" is poured over it. Pieces of cheese and bread are left by the plough and in the newly turned furrows as offerings to the nature spirits. It is considered taboo to cut or pick plants during this time.

source: Akasha Ap Emrys

A Spell for Imbolc

For this spell you will need a large piece of ice, an icicle, a snowball, or several ice cubes. You'll also need a bowl, and a candle.

Take the ice into your dominant hand (your right if right handed, your left if left handed), hold it over a bowl and think about winter and whatever it is that has been frozen in your own life.

Say, 'This represents the Crone, Lady of Winter, of the time when the land is still and resting. But as winter's thaw begins, so the Lady casts off her robes of stillness and becomes once more the Maiden. Full of movement, like the cool waters of spring, she flows once more to bring life and hope to all the land'.

Now ask the Maiden to bring fire and warmth to your own life so that your energy will flow and your own spring will come. Imagine the frozen places in your life melting just as the ice in your hand is melting.

Place the melting ice into the bowl, say a warm thank-you. Light a small candle and as you do, think about how your life will begin to grow and change.

Once the ice has fully melted, keep the resulting water to put on your favourite plant, either indoors or in the garden. (Please wait until the water has reached a reasonable temperature before you do this.)

~Madame Fortuna

Milk Magic

Imbolc is the festival of the lactating sheep. It is derived from the Gaelic word "oimelc" which means "ewes milk". It's a great time for crafting spells using milk. Here we have a short list of the magical uses for milk:

• Cow's milk is one of the best magickal ingredients for spells to summon nurturing, prosperity, and protection.
• Goat's milk brings power and success.
• Use soy milk for job success.
• Coconut milk is great for protection and spiritual cleansing.

You can bathe in all types of milk for ritual purposes. The best time for milk baths is on Mondays or new or full moons.

The Story of Imbolc

At Imbolc the spark of light born at Yule becomes a flame to warm people and the land. Now we see the first signs of spring. The trees are in bud and some flowers (snowdrops for example) begin to blossom. The word 'Imbolc' means 'in the belly', whilst 'Oimelc' means 'ewe's milk'. Both refer to the fact that many ewes are pregnant at this time and in a mild year the first lambs will be born about now. Imbolc is the quickening of the year, the time when the Earth is made pregnant with the promise of summer fruitfulness and the harvest to come.

At Imbolc the Goddess casts aside the robes of Wise One and returns as Maiden, dressed in white. In some groups a Maiden will be chosen and will wear a crown of lights and a white robe or cloak for the ritual. It is worth noting that up until relatively recently, the term 'maiden' was used to denote a female who had not yet given birth to child, so that even an obviously pregnant married woman could be a maiden and take this role in ritual. The God, who was reborn at Yule, is now seen as a young man, full of vigour, and his pursuit of the Maiden starts at this sabbath.

Imbolc is the time when the last of Yule's festive evergreens are removed. In some places it is still traditional to hold on to the (undecorated) Christmas fir until Imbolc, when it is taken and burned on the Imbolc fires. These days few of us can afford to keep the tree in place, especially as our modern forced and treated trees find it hard to keep their needles until January, let alone a whole month later. However, there is a practical alternative. As part of your Imbolc celebrations, take all the Yule and Christmas cards you have been given and recycle them, either making them into gift tags for the following year or cutting out the pictures to give to a local playgroup.

In ancient Rome this was a festival of Pan and the priests of Pan, called the Luperci, would run through the streets dressed in goatskin cloth whipping the people, especially women, to make them fertile for the coming year.

In many parts of the British Isles you will find wells dedicated to Bride or to the Christian St Bridget. Originally these would have been associated with the Goddess. If you are lucky enough to live near one of these, or able to visit one, look for a nearby tree with scraps of fabric tied to its branches. This will be a 'wishing tree'. Many people, whether Witches, Pagans or otherwise, visit these places to make an offering to the Goddess in the hope of having a wish granted. Such offerings are usually a strip of cloth, but it is not unusual to see necklaces of plaited grasses, small posies of flowers and even a child's shoe tied to a wishing tree. If you do visit such a site and wish to leave an offering, try to make it something which will soon return to the earth - a small circlet of grass plaited whilst thinking about your wish, or a hair from your own head, offered as a form of sacrifice. Look in your local press for notices of well-dressing celebrations, as many of these still take place at this time of year.

~Kate West

Correspondences for Imbolc

Other names for Imbolc:
Imbolgc Brigantia (Caledonni), Imbolic (Celtic), Disting (Teutonic, Feb 14th), Lupercus (Strega), St. Bridget's Day (Christian), Candlemas, Candlelaria (Mexican), the Snowdrop Festival. The Festival of Lights, or the Feast of the Virgin. All Virgin and Maiden Goddesses are honored at this time.

Deities of Imbolc:
All Virgin/Maiden Goddesses, Brighid, Aradia, Athena, Inanna, Gaia, and Februa, and Gods of Love and Fertility, Aengus Og, Eros, and Februus.

Symbolism of Imbolc:
Purity, Growth and Re-Newal, The Re-Union of the Goddess and the God, Fertility, and dispensing of the old and making way for the new.

Symbols of Imbolc:
Brideo'gas, Besoms, White Flowers, Candle Wheels, Brighid's Crosses, Priapic Wands (acorn-tipped), and Ploughs.

Herbs of Imbolc:
Angelica, Basil, Bay Laurel, Blackberry, Celandine, Coltsfoot, Heather, Iris, Myrrh, Tansy, Violets, and all white or yellow flowers.

Foods of Imbolc:
Pumpkin seeds, Sunflower seeds, Poppyseed Cakes, muffins, scones, and breads, all dairy products, Peppers, Onions, Garlic, Raisins, Spiced Wines and Herbal Teas.

Incense of Imbolc:
Basil, Bay, Wisteria, Cinnamon, Violet, Vanilla, Myrrh.

Colors of Imbolc:
White, Pink, Red, Yellow, lt. Green, Brown.

Stones of Imbolc:
Amethyst, Bloodstone, Garnet, Ruby, Onyx, Turquoise.

Activities of Imbolc:
Candle Lighting, Stone Gatherings, Snow Hiking and Searching for Signs of Spring, Making of Brideo'gas and Bride's Beds, Making Priapic Wands, Decorating Ploughs, Feasting, and Bon Fires may be lit.

source

February Moon Names

What follows is a list (in alphabetical order) of the names given to the February moon. Also listed is the tradition and/or origin of that moon name:

Avunnivik Moon ~Inuit
Big Winter Moon ~other
Bony Moon ~Cherokee
Chaste Moon ~other
Cleansing Moon ~other
Coyote Frighten Moon ~San Juan
Dark Storm Moon ~Janic
Geese Moon ~Omaha
Gray Moon ~Pima
Horning Moon ~other
Hunger Moon ~Janic, Algonquin
Ice Moon ~Celtic
Lateness Moon ~Mohawk
Little Bud Moon ~Kiowa
Little Famine Moon ~Choctaw
Long Dry Moon ~Assiniboine
Nuts Moon ~Natchez
Old Moon ~Cree
Purification Moon ~Hopi
Running Fish Moon ~Winnebago
Quickening Moon ~other
Rabbit Moon ~Potawatomi
Raccoon Moon ~Sioux
Red Moon, ~other
Shoulder Moon ~Wishram
Snow Moon ~Neo-Pagan, Algonquin
Solmonath Moon ~other
Sparkling Frost Moon ~Arapaho
Spruce Tips Moon ~Passamaquoddy
Storm Moon ~Medieval English
Sucker Moon ~Anishnaabe
Trapper’s Moon ~Algonquin
Trees Pop Moon ~Sioux
Wild Moon ~other
Wind Moon ~Creek
Winter Moon ~Taos
Wolf Moon ~other

Source

The Celtic Goddess Brighid

I'm sharing today a transcript of a talk about the Celtic Goddess Brighid given by Wrenn O'Neil. Enjoy!

Thank you everyone. My story is about the great Celtic goddess Brighid. I say Celtic because she is part of what many people call the “Old Religion” of western Europe, including Great Britain and Northern Europe. In Ireland she is called Brighde, in Scotland, Bride; in Northern Europe, Brigantia; in France, Brigandu; and the modern day name Bridget is the Christian name for her. And there are also different ways of spelling “Bridget” as well! As you see, worship of our Mother Goddess is widespread throughout Northern Europe and it continues to this very day.

Just as there are many names for her, so are there many tales about her. What I will tell you today are the most popular aspects of the mythos of Brighid. Before the beginning of the world, there existed only one being, and her name was Danu, which means “Waters from Heaven.”

She flowed down from the sky onto the dry, unfinished earth and created the oceans and rivers that flow all over the world. She finished her work by creating the Danuvius River (now called the Danube). Along her river, a tree grew up named Bíle, and through their union, they had a son named Dagda, which means, “The Good God.” After that, Danu had more children who became good gods known as Tuatha Dé Danaan- the Children of Danu.

Then, continuing the legacy, the Tuatha Dé Danaan had descendants who became the Celtic people, who, in turn, dispersed throughout Europe and into the British Isles. As one legend goes, Brighid was the daughter of Dagda and Danu, and when she was born, there was a tower of fire over her head that reached to the sky. This is one reason why Brighid’s element is fire. However, many times Brighid is seen as one aspect of Danu, instead of being Danu’s daughter.

Brighid has been so popular in Ireland, that there was no way for Christianity to suppress her. Instead, the earliest missionaries to Ireland made up a story about a girl named Brigit who was the daughter of a Christian slave and a Druid, but she soon converted to Christianity. She did numerous good deeds so she became canonized as Saint Brigit. Essentially, all of her virtues, attributes and life events were the same as the goddess Brighid. It was merely a way of converting the Celts to Christianity.

Brighid is known as the Triple Goddess, having both three forms and three specific attributes. Her three forms are of the three forms of women: first, the maiden or virgin; second, the mother; and third, the old woman or hag. This is where Brighid is seen as the Earth Mother because her three forms are inextricably related to the cycle of crops in relation to the seasons. She takes her role as a Maiden on February 1st during the Imbolc rituals, where she represents the virgin earth that has not yet been planted with crops. During the ritual a little corn doll, called the Corn Maiden, is dressed in a white wedding dress and wears a crystal around her neck. She is set in a little basket as her bridal bed, and a wand with ribbons and flowers is laid on top of her representing her husband Bress. Brighid then becomes impregnated and during Summer and Fall, she is the Mother, giving birth to the crops and ushering in the Harvest.

Then, on August 1st, the Corn Maiden (now Corn Mother) is placed in a little trunk where she can rejuvenate herself to become the Corn Maiden on Imbolc the following year. Soon, winter comes and Brighid becomes the old crone, representing a land that is barren and in the process of death. But this time of barrenness must take place in order for the old crone to complete the cycle and once again become the Maiden. Thus, all three forms of women are important, even as a crone, she is still a vital and valuable aspect of womanhood.

As for her three specific attributes, she is the Goddess of Poetry (also seen as a Muse), Smith craft, and Healing/Fertility. In one British legend, Merlin came in contact with Brigantia and she gave him visions of the history of Britain and then extended his vision into the cosmos and beyond. She gave the art of Smith craft to the Celtic people, which was a trade held in high esteem, as it was necessary for their everyday life.

Brighid is also the goddess of healing and she has wells all across Ireland known for their healing attributes. Once, two lepers came to Brighid to ask for healing. She instructed them to go into one of her healing wells and for one to wash the other. As he did, the leprosy on the other was healed. However, when it was the healed one’s turn to wash the other leper, he was repulsed by the leprosy and tried to run away. Brighid stopped him and struck him with leprosy once again, for his selfishness. She cleansed the leper who had not been cleansed and he was healed.

Brighid has close ties with fire and especially the fire of the house- the hearth. It is a place for the family to warm themselves, cook food and stay alive during the winter. She also has close ties to sheep and cows and is said that she watches the animals when they are out in the pasture. One story I read, told by an old Irish man, tells of how “Biddy takes care of her own” by watching over the sheep and cows during rain and mists. Biddy is a type of alteration to Brighid, so if anyone ever calls you an “old Biddy” take it as a compliment! I think it is interesting that these words have negative connotations in modern day society, but back when they were originally used, Biddy, hag and crone were simply names for old women, and not in a disrespectful or derogatory sense.

I see that my time is up, so I leave you with this thought: scholars have estimated that Brighid and her mother or other aspect, Danu, are quite possibly the oldest known goddesses who have been worshipped continuously, with no break, to this day.

Speaker: Wrenn O'Neil

The Goddess Brigid

In the Scottish Highlands and Islands the rebirth of nature is celebrated on Candlemas, or St Bride’s Day on 1 February. The tradition has weakened but the same feast has been celebrated since time immemorial. At its height, bonfires were lit on hilltops and there would be a festival with some young maid crowned with candles and honoured in Brigid’s stead. Candles were lit in every window and homes in the Isles were decorated with early flowers and greenery. Bride’s Crosses or Wheels were woven from corn and hung around the house.

Women would also make a crib with a mattress of corn and hay. They called it Bride’s Bed and into it they tucked under a blanket a straw doll representing Bride, and beside her a wooden club. The crib was laid near the door surrounded by glowing candles. Food and drink were laid on the table and a decorated chair set by the hearth. Then just before they went to bed, the women of the house would call out three times: ‘Bride is come, Bride is welcome!’ Or they would go to the door and cry out into the night for Bride to enter their house.

Next morning everyone would search the ashes of the hearth, hoping to find an impression of Bride’s club. If they did it was the sign that they would have prosperity and a good crop in the coming year. The weather that day was also watched closely because, as the old saying has it:

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.

St Bride’s day, wherever it is celebrated, is one of the clearest examples of a pagan festival being adopted by Christianity because even the name has not changed. St Bride or Brigid simply took over the mantle of the pagan Brigid, chief goddess of not only the ancient Irish but Celts across a wide swathe of western Europe. The name in Gaelic means ‘bright flame’. In northern Britain she was called Brigantia, chief deity of the Brigantes tribe who were often led by warrior queens. Elsewhere she was called Brigit, Bride, Brighid, Brigandu and Berecynthia.

Whatever the precise spelling, Brigid was a triple goddess. Or, as it was sometimes put, there were three sisters all called Brigid who were the patronesses respectively of fertility,poetry and smithcraft.

As goddess of fertility Brigid was concerned equally with humans, animals and vegetation. Everywhere she walked, flowers sprang up under her feet. In her shrine it was always springtime and her herds never ran dry of milk. Brigid was the patroness of midwifery and of healing generally. She was particularly associated with sacred springs and holy wells, to which people would bring prayers and offerings to ward disease and barrenness. These wells were adopted by her Christian successor and many continue to be places of pilgrimage today.

As goddess of poetry, Brigid was keeper and dispenser of inspiration, the ‘fire of the soul’. The symbolism of water and fire is combined in the Cauldron of Inspiration, of which she is the keeper. She invented the Ogham alphabet and it is said of both pagan and Christian Brigids that they were struck in their forehead on birth by a shaft of fire from heaven.

As goddess of earthly fire, the third Brigid was the patroness of metalcraft and all smith-work. In legendary battle her preferred weapons were the spear and arrow, and indeed one interpretation of her name is ‘Flaming Arrow’.

Brigid’s festival was one of the four main events in the ancient Celtic calendar because it marks the invisible rewakening of Nature within the cold earth. It was also sometimes called Oilmec, ‘Ewe’s Milk’ because it opened the season of lambing.

On Brigid’s Night the maiden goddess of fruitfulness and abundance replaces the somber hag who took possession of the year at Samhain (Hallowe’en or All Saints Night). The grim goddess of reckoning and mortality is replaced by the smiling one of hope, full of virginal gaiety, beauty and promise.

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Brigid's Day

It is tempting to view this tender goddess of the early Spring only as she is pictured in Scottish artist John Duncan’s famous picture, The Coming of Bride: a wide-eyed, golden-haired girl, encircled by children. But behind her girlish innocence is the power of a once-great ancestral deity, Brigid, whose name means “The Exalted One,” queen and mother goddess of many European tribes. She is also known as Brigid, Bridget, Brighid, Brighde, Brig or Bride and some scholars consider her name originated with the Vedic Sanskrit word brihati, an epithet of the divine.

The 10th century Cormac’s Glossary describes her as the daughter of the Daghda, the “Great God” of the Tuatha de Danaan. He calls her a “woman of wisdom… a goddess whom poets adored, because her protection was very great and very famous.” Since the discipline of poetry, filidhect, was interwoven with seership, Brigid was seen as the great inspiration behind divination and prophecy, the source of oracles.

She is said to have had two sisters: Brigid the Physician and Brigid the Smith, but it is generally thought that all three were aspects of the one goddess of poetry, healing, and smithcraft. Elsewhere she is described as the patron of other vital crafts of early Celtic society: dying, weaving and brewing. A goddess of regeneration and abundance, she was greatly beloved as a provider of plenty who brought forth the bounties of the natural world for the good of the people. She is closely connected with livestock and domesticated animals. She had two oxen called Fea and Feimhean who gave their names to a plain in Co. Carlow and one in Tipperary. She was also the guardian of Torc Triath, king of the wild boar, who gave his name to Treithirne, a plain in West Tipperary. These three totem animals used to raise a warning cry if Ireland was in danger.

Some Irish rivers bear her name, as do places as far apart as Breconshire in Wales, Brechin in Scotland and Bregenz in Austria, which was once the capital of the Brigantii tribe. This tribe was under the tutelage of the goddess Brigantia, who is thought to be another aspect of Brigid. The most powerful political unit of Celtic-speaking Britain, the Brigantii mostly held sway in Northern England, where place-names and rock-carvings still echo the presence of their mother-goddess.

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