The Three Fold Brighid - Goddess, Saint and Druidess

The 1st or 2nd of February is the sacred day of Brighid, the triple formed Celtic Goddess, Saint and Druidress.

 

Within Irish mythology, Brighid (whose name means, amongst others, "exalted one") was one of three daughters of the Dagda, the chief God of the Tuatha de Danann, all of whom were named Brighid.  She was also the wife of Bres (a Fomorian) to whom she had a son named Ruadan.

 

Only a Week to Go

As the Spring Equinox has come and gone, not only does the beat of the earth seem to be steadily speeding up as we approach the warmer months of Summer, but so too does the year.  Next week it will be October ... shortly after that, Bealtaine will be celebrated and then the Wheel will be moving around to Mid Summer.

I am finding myself wonderful just where has the year gone ... am I ready for long hot days of Summer yet, especially with our soaring southern heat?

Early Spring by Alfred Lord Tennyson

Once more the Heavenly Power
Makes all things new,
And domes the red-plowed hills
With loving blue;
The blackbirds have their wills,
The throstles too.

Opens a door in Heaven;

From skies of glass
A Jacob's ladder falls
On greening grass,
And o'er the mountain-walls
Young angels pass.

Imbolc in the Southern Hemisphere

As the first rays of the morning sun creeps through the gap of houses and across my back yard, the ground almost shivers with anticipation of its subtle warmth.  Winter is finally losing its grip upon the land, making way for Imbolc, the season of rebirth.

It is within a collection of Irish medieval myths known as “Tochmarc Emire” that the word “Imbolc” is first mentioned.  Within the story of the wooing of Emer by the Ulster hero Cu Chulainn, Emer sets a series of challenges for the young hero include him going sleepless for a year.  The calendar she refers to is denoted by the “opening of the four seasons”, with one of these seasons being named as Imbolc, marking the beginning of Spring when “the sheep are milked and Spring’s beginning".