After a trip to Glastonbury last year, I was guided to make 2020 the Year of The Goddess so the first Saturday of every month is dedicated to a different Goddess and whoever gathers to share the day connects to the Goddess through a series of practices: sharing the legends of the Goddess, meditation and movement, journeying and crafts.
In January we me the Cailleach and throughout the month explored the creation power of this ancient giantess, forming our own landscapes and halting anything that did not feel right for us.
The 1st February has long been associated with the celebration of Imbolc, a cross-quarter festival of the cyclic Wheel of The Year, and is the feast day of St Brigid, so the Goddess we met this month was, of course, the Goddess Brigid.
We first meet Brigid in pre-Christian times as a Goddess of the Tuatha de Danann - a magical race of beings who settled in Ireland, and thought to have originated in Greece. Brigid is the Goddess of healers, poets, smiths and childbearing. Different meanings of her name can be found: 'exalted one', 'Glorious one', 'the Fiery Power', power, strength, vigor, Goddess of the Well and Mother Earth, a symbol of sun and fire, but also with ties to water. Post Christianity Goddess Brigid morphs into St Brigid of Kildare with many holy wells in her name throughout Ireland. The legends of her generosity, magical powers and cunning are plenty and echo legends of other Goddesses and Saints, giving the suggestion of an archetypal energy found in all deities which we can connect to in ourselves - we make this connection through journeying.
Our journey to meet Brigid took us through the spiral of life to the lower world were she appeared as a Giantess clothed and cloaked in green, evocative of fresh fields of spring grass. Brigid is maiden, young and joyful - she crouched to welcome us and showed us a threefold ritual for connecting with her energy:
1. Through wisdom, reading, books
2. Through cleansing in blessed waters
3. Through embodying the fire and energy of the sun.
Her message echoed that of the Wheel of The Year - that like life, our lives run in cycles - there will be a time for study, a time for healing and cleansing, and a time to shine out, to take action and let passion guide you.
After the journey we made traditional Brigid crosses with irish rushes and thought about the things we love to do - automatically writing them down as we resolved to fill our lives this month with things we love, to find a way to love life and release stress.
The image of Brigid that remains with me is one of a young woman, very clear about how she wants to live her life, and quite capable of getting what she wants, sometimes on her own, guided by her compassion and healing values, sometimes with support from others - building her community of like-minded people to share a good life with - healing, celebrating, standing firm for their values yet with a lightness, ease and bubbling joy.
Wishing all the blessing so of this month.
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