In writing this, I must first declare, that I’m not a theologian, scholar or expert of any kind.
I’ve Celtic blood in me and grew up, listening to the old people and learning from the land, I also had to listen to what I was taught in School.
In my home and childhood, the 1st of February was such an exciting time, racing up the bogs to see and hear the frogs spawning, was a huge delight, it was the start of hope and Spring! In the sheds, the cows were beginning to calf, which meant a lot of late night visits with my Dad, in the dark of night, sitting on the hay, smelling all the scents of reality, nature and life.
My first memories of this time were of leaving out the “Brat Bride” a white cloth or rag that would be touched by Brigid, as she passed by. For someone with a huge imagination, this fuelled endless visions of the woman flying through the sky, tapping all with her magic wand.
Of coarse, in school, we learned of a “saint brigid” a girl who converted to the new religion, gave butter and food to the poor. When her father (a horrid Pagan) looked in the pantry, all was restored as good as new!
She also, asked a horrible Pagan Chieftain for land, she asked for all her cloak would cover, he mockingly agreed. When she laid down her cloak, it grew and grew, until it covered all his land, so, he had to relinquish it and convert.
An old lady, who was our neighbour, would gather the rushes and we would make crosses together, sending them out across the globe.
Growing up, I found the story of Brigid's cloak a bit weird, never knew why, until later on, I started reading and realised I was a Celt, paganism was my heritage and began to discover, question and learn.
The story of Brigid’s cloak, bothers me because it has Brigid using trickery and device to what she wants! It resonates back to the idea of Eve, the apple and the idea that a woman can never be trusted, no matter how much revered! I also felt the Celtic Chieftain was hard done by, he was only believing in what he believed as right. Her cloak had more to do with the land, the Goddess was now awakening.
Putting that bigger Debate to one side, It’s more productive to talk about the Goddess Brigid and of ways and reasons to honour her at this time.
1) The Brát Bride is a piece of white cloth, that you leave outside, either on the night of January 31st or February 1st, Brigid will bless this and you keep it for the year. It is said to have healing powers, especially with childbirth, when a cow was calving, we would take the Brát and a christian medal to bless the animal (the old Gods and the new). I’ve been a bit mad with my Brát this year, but will cut up and give out as gifts! I also made a piece of felt, inspired by yesterday's fantastic clouds!
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| My own Brát Bride |
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| A felt piece, left out last night |
2) The cross is probably the most well known features of Imbolg, I hope I’ve covered everything about about here in my video;
3) The Biddy or the Brideog is a doll, simple in design and carried around the community, a bit like the wren boys in December. The Biddy is a bit more sinister, its more influenced by the sap rising and a bit of scamping as well. I remember, the first biddy I saw was when about thirty people all dressed up, cramped into our house, singing, dancing and conducting mayhem, they had an accordion, drums and a bugle, it was about 10 o clock at night, fun and scary at the same time, they were collecting money for charity, a practice that still goes on, n Kerry today. My Dad would always fondly remember himself and his cousin's wife , practising and swapping genders for the night, confusing everyone!
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| The Biddies I remember were crude rag dolls |
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| The Brideog must have started as a corn/rush Dolly of sorts |
4) The 1st or 2nd of February is a great time to start gardening! Winter is still in our midst, but you break up the earth, as Brigid is creating growth, repot some plant or even begin to plan your garden, if you’re in a city, set some mustard or cress, something that doesn't take too much care to grow, so as to avoid disappointment! Great as well, to grow something you can eat.
Over the last decade, we have become divorced from the land and see it only as monitory value, interest rates and Negative/Positive equity, the land is a life giving source and should treated, worked and valued more respectfully. Even taking a walk in Nature and really seeing and feeling what there is to see and feel, or just feeding the birds!
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| Dug up the vegtable patch, getting ready for gardening. |
From a very young age, I've always been fascinated with Mother Nature and the seasons, back in 2004, I put together my first "Glitter na Gig puppet show about Spring taking over the throne from Winter, it and many other stories toured very successfully throughout the country and beyond, I've taken time out to write up the collection and film the shows, here is an excerpt;
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| The Spring Puppet. |
All this unrest made Winter curl his upper lip as if to smile and he forgot his looming departure. suddenly, the puffing and howling of Polaria shattered the silence of Winter's icy court, as she breezed in, as a blue haze from the sky. He greeted her kindly and worshipped her great work, but then declared his fear to Polaria, soon they would be melted and replaced by a warm glow, destroying their fiendish work. Polaria refrained from answering for a moment, only looked out ahead of her and waited.
Winter thinking she had not heard him, growled at her, to get her attention.
Polaria calmly declared
"We don't have to give up the throne, Winter"
Winter jumped off his cold silvery seat and pleaded
"Carry on, Polaria, what do you mean?"
Polaria
"If we get Spring to reject the throne three times and not tell her the magic word
Winter "tà-hay-len"
Polaria
"Not tell ANYONE the magic word we mustn't mention it at all, it is too powerful to bandy about"
Winter nodded in agreement and questioned further "but how could he stop spring taking the throne? The cycle of the seasons is unstoppable and Mother Nature could surely"
Polaria "if what I've heard is right, soon, we won't have to worry about Mother Nature"
Polaria whispered an awful plan into Winters ear and they both laughed thinking of "Winter forever"
Polaria blew herself out of sight and left Winter thinking to himself the wonders of eternal cold and the prospect of a very prolonged reign. Suddenly, the air took on a beautiful scent and a slight sense of hope wafted throughout the land, Badger and all the animals felt a hint of happiness and the trees stretched out their buds for a moment. There was a faint sound of fairy music, the magical tone of petal bells could be heard from the West, cobweb drums and beautiful voices started reaching across the sky.
All that heard, took a deep breath and exhaled with the words
"She's coming, Spring is finally coming!"
Sure enough, glimmers of a turquoise gown with silver trimming could be seen through the now ever so slightly regenerated branches, wisps of golden hair were seen in the sky and there was a warm feeling spreading across the hearts of all the creatures throughout the land. Soon, Spring had composed herself and with all the vibrancy of her youth and innocence of her mind, she headed up the mountain touching branches and starting the buds to grow,as she went, blowing warmth on the little birds, giving them all the hint of a new lease of life, making merry with all the animals, until she arrived at her destination-Winter's throne.
Happy Imbolg to everyone!
