At Imbolc we particularly honor Brigit (related to the Irish for “bright arrow”), an ancient Goddess, possibly the same figure as worshipped in Gaul and in Britain under the name of Brigantia; some scholars also speculate that Brigit is another name for the Mother Goddess Dana (or Ana), who gave her name to the Pagan Irish Gods: the Tuatha De Danann (The Tribe of the Goddess Dana). In both Pagan and Christian sources, the figure of Brigit is clearly the focus of much of the Goddess-consciousness of Irish Celtic mythic and religious thought.
In Irish mythology, she was the daughter (or sometimes the sister) of the Daghda, the chief god of Druidry, and she was venerated as a Triple Goddess of Poetic Inspiration, Smithcraft and Healing. The functions of Brigit later became associated with a Christian saint of the same name, who supposedly lived just after the time of St. Patrick. One of many clues to identification of the Goddess with the Saint is that the feast day of St. Bridget is the same date as Imbolc, the festival always associated with the earlier Druidical Goddess Brigit.
St. Bridget is so important to Irish Christianity she is known to this day as “The Mary of the Gael;” indeed, the idea of St. Bridget as the midwife of Mary as she gave birth to Jesus is certainly fitting for the Goddess of Imbolc, the time of the year where fertility begins to return to the earth, and the ewes nourish their lambs with milk.
The few stories we have of Brigit are mainly the Christian tales of St. Bridget, but it is easy to see the face of the older Goddess behind the veil of the Saint. She is always associated with miracles of increase (of food, cattle or crops); wherever there was need she was able to create an abundance for the good of the People. St. Bridget also supposedly founded a church and a religious community at Kildare (in Irish, “the church of the oak,” and doubtlessly a former Druid holy place), where, appropriately, she lit a fire saying, “May this light burn forever in the world and may it never be allowed to go out.”
There is an ancient prayer, possibly adapted by Christians from Druid recitations of praise poetry to the Gods and Goddesses, known as “Brigit’s Mantle;” it is said that no harm will come to those who daily recite this prayer and place themselves under the protecting cloak of Brigit.
The genealogy of the holy maiden Brigit,
Radiant arrow of flame, noble foster-mother of the gods,
Brigit the daughter of the Dagda,
Dagda the Good God, the son of Danu,
Danu the Mother of all Things.
Brigit of the cloaks,
Brigit of the peat,
Brigit of the twining hair,
Brigit of the augury.
Brigit of the shining feet,
Brigit of calmness,
Brigit of the shining palms,
Brigit of the cattle.
Brigit, woman-friend,
Brigit, woman-helper,
Brigit, woman of grace.
Each day and each night
That I say the Descent of Brigit
I shall not be killed, I shall not be injured,
I shall not be imprisoned, I shall not be robbed,
I shall not be anguished, I shall not be abandoned,
I shall not be enchanted, I shall not be cursed,
Neither shall my power leave me.
No fire, no sun, no moon shall burn me,
No water, no flood, no brine shall drown me,
No earth, no sod, no turf shall cover me,
No air, no wind, no vapor shall sicken me,
No Fairy dart shall blast me,
Nor earthly being destroy me.
I am under the protection of the holy maiden,
I am under the shielding of good Brigit each day;
I am under the shielding of good Brigit each night.
Each early and late, every dark, every light.
Brigit is my companion, Brigit is my maker of song,
My gentle foster-mother, my beloved Brigit.
There are many versions of Brigit’s Mantle to be found on the Internet, and Drinking From The Sacred Well by John Matthews (Harper Collins 1998) is an interesting collection of lore about famous Celtic Christian saints and their relationship to earlier Pagan beliefs. In working with Brigit’s Mantle in meditation, I often find it helpful to verbally add into the text a protection concerning whatever situation I might be anxious about, and also to change the negative protections (for example, “I will not be hurt”) into positive ones (perhaps “I am always safe”). I’m sure that everyone reading this can create their own protective prayer (sometimes known as a lorica or “breastplate”) to Brigit that is meaningful and comforting to them.
May the light of Brigit’s eternal fire warm and cheer us, may her generosity bless us with abundance, and may she continue to inspire us to follow our path this Imbolc season and always.
Bright Blessings,
Michael
McGuinness (Secretary of FoDLA)
©2007 Michael Sean McGuinness