Brigid: History, Mystery, and Magick of the Celtic Goddess

by Courtney Weber

Lady of the Well, the Forge, and the Green Earth, I seek you. Warm my heart with your perpetual flame, Heal my wounds with your gentle waters, Cradle me in your mantle when I can walk no more, Brigid, I seek you.

Brigid could have seen the water as a flooding, damaging element and the great tree as an obstacle. Instead, she saw opportunity.

Ogma may have contributed literature, but poetry was considered a spiritual material of its own right that not only told stories, but preserved history and culture.

the Morrighan was not typically feared as a Demon-Goddess. In the time of the Celts, war was common and lives were short. War wounds, infection, and disease frequently meant a slow, excruciating death. Morbid as it may seem, the sight of the ravens might have been welcome

Not only is he undeterred, he has the courage to court her affections. Unlike tales from different pantheons (think of Greek Gods chasing and “ravaging” Goddesses or mortal women), the Dagda does not force himself on the Morrighan but charms her. Although their pillow talk is not particularly romantic, the two become the ultimate power couple. The Morrighan's wisdom is invaluable to the Dagda's battle plan and in the ancient Celtic world, Druidesses were often sought for their prophecies in the outcomes of battle.

there is no gain or improvement without journeying through a place of fear, and sometimes even destruction.

a woman, strong and fit, with powerful hands and shoulders, and hair braided into nine tresses. She wears a golden necklace, bright as the sun, twisted into intricate fashion. Her tunic contains many colors.

I will lead you home, I will guide you back, My waters will carry thee, My flame will guide thee. —“SEA SONG FROM BRÍD,” Gemma McGowan

The Celts and their Bards understood that the work of solid craft took many years and immense focus.

“Shortcuts lead to long delays.”

The idea of the long journey is that it ultimately means the end product will be all that much stronger. Brigid the Bard loves to help those who create.

is Brigid the Smith. The smith needs water to temper the steel after it has been forged, but also needs the Bardic spirit to inspire the shape of the work to be done on the forge. Brigid is a guardian of each of these distinct areas, but perhaps her most important guardianship is in where they all meet.

Fire demanded the same reverence of water and the arts and was yet another jurisdiction of Brigid.

Nineteen Priestesses tended the perpetual fire, the number possibly correlating with the nineteen-year cycle of the Celtic “great year.” Each Priestess would take a night to sit with the fire and tend it. On the twentieth night, the fire would be left for the Goddess to tend by herself. The nineteenth Priestess would say to the shrine, “Brigid, charge your own fire for this night belongs to you.”