RESOURCES FOR
CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE:
IMBOLC 2010:
CELEBRATING BRIGHID’S FESTIVAL AT HOME
(for parents and
older children)
By Eva Gordon, FoDLA Youth Religious Education Coordinator
Who is Brighid?
Brighid is one of the best-loved and most important goddesses of the Celts. She has been worshipped in several of the Celtic lands—Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany and probably in Northern England, as “Brigantia.” Her name has several other variants: Bride, Brid, Brigit, and Ffraid (in Wales). Daughter of the Dagda (the Good God), she is a Triple Goddess with powers of Healing, Poetic Inspiration, and Metal Craft. Brighid has several Healing Wells, the most famous one in Kildare, Ireland, where people still tie “clooties” or strips of cloth to nearby trees as offerings and prayers for healing. She has been guardian of the hearth, where the women of the house would recite charms to her for building a fire in the morning and “smooring” or banking the fire at night. Brighid is also known as the protector of children and mothers, and of cattle and milk. She was so important to the Gaels as a goddess, that when Christianity came to Ireland, she was still looked to as a saint. This has allowed many traditions surrounding Brighid and her holiday, Imbolc, to survive (as the feast of Candlemas, on February 2).
Imbolc is a very old holiday going back to a time when people depended on herding animals to survive. It marked the time of year when ewes started to give milk and lambs would soon be born—a sign that Spring would be coming, food would be available again, and life would go on. Brighid would be honored as the Spring Maid. In country villages, girls would make a corn dolly to represent Brighid and carry her in a basket from house to house, singing and collecting small offerings for her—shells or flowers.
The Holiday
But isn’t this supposed to be Groundhog Day? Imbolc falls on February 1, not on what we now call Groundhog Day (February 2). However, there may be an ancient connection between the two holidays. You may remember the Groundhog comes out of his hole and predicts the coming of Spring-- if he does not see his shadow. Imbolc is also a holiday that looks to the first signs of Spring, and people used to predict the weather at that time. There are several traditional verses that have been sung in Scotland and Ireland at this time of the year, that might remind you of the Groundhog—but have a Snake in its place! (Associated with healing and regeneration, the snake could be a symbol of Brighid herself.)
Early on Bride’s morn
The serpent shall come from the hole,
I will not molest the serpent,
Nor will the serpent molest me.
……..
The serpent will come from the hole
On the brown day of Bride
Though there should be three feet of snow
On the flat surface of the ground. [ 1]
Celebrating Imbolc at Home
How can you bring this beautiful, quiet holiday to life in modern times? Is it even relevant now, with most people living in cities, and no lambs, wells, or serpents in sight? Despite all our modern conveniences, it is still worthwhile to be aware of the changing seasons of the Earth, and the cycles of life and its renewal at this time of the year. At Imbolc, when we welcome Brighid into our home, we can also invite creativity, health, warmth and new beginnings.
Spring Cleaning is a very practical tradition in preparing for Imbolc. If your family has a fireplace, you could help to sweep it out and tidy around it. Also, a thorough cleaning of your room and getting rid of clutter will help you get ready.
You can turn a shelf or small table into a shrine for Brighid, decorated with shells, flowers, or other “found” objects from nature. A small bowl of clean water can stand for Brighid’s well. NOTE: A lit candle or incense should only be with parents’ permission, and never left unguarded. One safer alternative is a battery-powered LED candle.
A corn dolly can be made with dried corn husks or wheat stalks, tied with white yarn, placed in a bed-shaped basket, and decorated with lace, ribbons, flowers and shells.
You can weave wheat stalks or dried rushes into 3- or 4-sided “Brighid’s Crosses” to hang by the hearth or in the kitchen for good luck and protection. [ 2]
“Barm Breac” is a traditional sweet fruit bread for Imbolc. (Breac means “speckled,”and Barm, or beirm means “yeast” in Gaelic.) There are recipes available online or in cookbooks [3,4], but you can make an easy version by adding dark and light raisins to a boxed quick bread mix recipe. It is also good to serve and eat milk, sweet cream, cheese and other dairy foods at Imbolc.
Remember that the celebration of Imbolc starts the evening before February 1 ( on January 31), due to the ancient Celtic reckoning of days starting at sundown. One other custom you could try at that time is to hang a white ribbon on a tree or shrub outside the house overnight, and bring it inside the next morning. According to tradition, the ribbon can then be used in prayers for healing through the next year.
Here is a chant used in the Mother Grove of FoDLA, calling on Brighid as the spirit of Inspiration, in Scottish Gaelic and in English:
Brighid’s Welcome/ Fàilte Brighde
‘Bhrighde, Bhrighde, a
Bhan-dia dhealraich!
‘Bhrighde , Bhrighde,
fàilte ort!
‘S tu an lasair naomh
‘nar cridhe.
Thoir do sholas dhuinn
an-diugh!
[approximate
phonetics]
Vree-ja, Vree-ja van-jee yal-rikh
Vree-ja, Vree-ja fahl-cha ort!
Stoo an LASS-ur noov nar khree-ya.
Hohr do HOL-as ghooyn an-joo!
Brigit, Brigit, shining Goddess!
Brid O Brid, we welcome you!
Sacred flame within our hearts,
Bring to us your light this day!
(We use a traditional Scottish Gaelic tune for this song. I have found the same tune used for at least 3 songs: Sgèir an Òir by John Gow, Fail Illi Ho-ro mo Chailinn, a traditional song from the Isle of Lewis, and ‘Ille Dhuinn by Ann MacKay. Recordings of the first and third of these are available from the group Na Seoid and Margaret Callan, respectively. You could use another melody that you like… or make up your own!)
References