02/03/2021
Love this take on Brigid, Celtic goddess, later revered as a saint in the Catholic Church.
We don’t have to believe in literal gods or goddesses to connect with archetypes. Archetypes are still useful ways or relating to cultures, energies, and cycles.
And it’s important to reflect on how the degradation of both women and Indigenous traditions all over the world have disconnected us all from women’s wisdom, which is very real. There is a way to honor both the healthy masculine principle of science and the healthy feminine principle of intuition.
May the healing energy of Brigid’s fire cleanse and forge us all in new strength. 🔥🔥🔥
Today is the festival of Brigid, the ancient Celtic Goddess of water and fire, the holy well and the sacred flame. It was also known as Imbolc or Oimelc, ewe’s milk, the time of lambing, of birth and spring’s beginning.
Here in Northern California it is indeed the moment when the first fruit trees begin to blossom. The manzanitas are in flower with tiny, waxy bells, and we have finally gotten enough rain to green the land.
Brigid is the patroness of poetry—and at Biden’s inauguration we felt the power of the poet to heal and inspire in Amanda Gorman’s words. Poetry is truth, and while we are not all wordsmiths, we can all commit be truth-tellers, to be vigilant in countering lies and disinformation, and to speak truth to power.
Brigid is also the patroness of the forge. As the days lengthen and light returns, and as we head into the eleventh month of lockdowns and pandemic deaths, it feels a bit as if we’ve all been laid out on her anvil and hammered hard. May this tempering make us stronger. A smith can forge weapons, but also tools. May we become the strong tools that can build a more just world.
And Brigid is the patroness of healing. Today we hear lots of talk about healing—but true healing is not the same as soothing, or covering over a wound without lancing it first. To heal, a wound must be exposed and abraded. To heal this country’s wounds, we need cleansing truth, and accountability for the harm that has been done and continues to be done by systems of injustice. No wound can heal when it is continually reopened. But when we stop the harm, lance the sepsis, and apply the right balm, we can draw upon great powers of resilience.
Brigid, bathe us in your healing waters. Raise your flame of truth! May we drink from the well of renewal in this fresh, green spring!
Holly Bond is a qualified mindfulness teacher (MBSR-QT) and registered yoga teacher (RYT). We can bring mindfulness to anything and anything to mindfulness.
