For those of you who don't know what Brigid is, I will explain for thee.
Brigid is the goddess of the flame and of the water, inspiration, the cow, heather, healing and much more. There are a lot of stories about her. Here's one...
Once, there was a brother and sister, Alex and Brigid. They lived in a small village. They loved winter, building snowmen, sledding, having snowball fights, but after months of cold, freezing, deathly winter, they grew tired of huddling by the fire to keep warm and not freezing while they slept at night. One day, they asked their mother a question, "How long will winter last? When will spring come?" She said, "Light a candle tonight and look into it, maybe the goddess Brigid will come, she is your namesake after all." So, that night, they lit a candle and looked into it. After a little while, the flame seemed to grow, and grow, higher, and higher, until the goddess Brigid appeared in front of the two children. Her hair a blazing fire, her skin as dark as ancient wood, her hands strong. "Why have you summoned me?" She asked. "I am named after you." Brigid said. "And we want to know when winter will be over and spring will come." The goddess looked down at them. "When all the fires burn bright and the holy well runs clear." And she finished. The next day, Alex and Brigid went out to all the houses in the village to see if all the fires burnt bright. At every house, a roaring fire sat in the hearth, gnawing at old wood. At every house, they asked if the people there knew of any holy well in the forest. No one did. Only one house was left, Old Man Mad Dog's house had no smoke coming from the chimney. He was known to be dangerous, and the children of the village were told not to go near him or his house. Alex and Brigid went up to his door and knocked. No one answered. They went inside and found Old Man Mad Dog lying on his bed, feverish and cold. Alex and Brigid made a hot soop and lit his fireplace, and cleaned his house, until it was warm and smelled a little less like a pigsty. "I don't like children much, but I guess I should thank you." He said. "That would be the polite thing to do." Said Brigid. "Do you know of any holy well around here?" Asked Alex. "The only well I know about is deep in the woods, and it's full of trash." Alex and Brigid went to find the well. It was full of trash, but the two scooped mud out, and pulled bottles from it, until they could see clear water. Suddenly, the goddess Brigid appeared. "Thank you, children. All the fires are lit, and my holy well runs clear." A smile like daises on a field spread over the goddess's face. "When will spring come?" Asked the two.
"Spring will come when winter is over." And with that, she was gone.
I got the story from a book called Circle Round by Starhawk
Here are some images of Brigid
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Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteNice!
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