St. Brigit and the Goddess Brigit

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 22 May 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Moonklad	22 May 2003
Greetings everyone, I am planning a trip to Ireland next year (the trip I have been wanting to take all my life!!!) and I am becoming increasingly taken in by the legends and history of the St. Brigit and the mythical Goddess Brigit. It seems there are several versions and opinions as to the history behind each which seem to mingle and mesh until its almost impossible to distinquish between the two. I am planning a trip to visit Kildare, Ireland which is particularly significant in Her history. I was wondering if anyone on this list might have any info on the comparisions of St.Brigit and the Goddess Brigit or if by chance anyone might be from Ireland that could offer any insight. I am particularly interested to find out how the Irish people today feel about the pagan legend of one of their saints. Do they feel that it is blasphemy? Do they embrace it? Do they consider the two completely separate? Blessings, Moonklad

Kiama	23 May 2003
I'm not from Ireland, but Brighid is my patron Goddess, and I've dedicated myself to her for this life. It is well-known that when Christianity arrived in the British Isles, one thing the Christians did was to change many of the more popular deities into saints. I'm certainly not bitter or angry about this, since I doubt Lady Brighid would be so well-known and I doubt we'd know so much about Her if it wasn't for Christianity preserving Her as a saint. Originally, Brighid was a Goddess of Fire: The fire of the hearth, the fire of the forge, and finally the fire of healing. At a later time She was also Goddess of milk and cows, and the festival of Imbolc was dedicated to Her. It is said that she was a triune deity, in that she had three sisters, also called Brighid. This explains the three different aspects of Fire which Brighid ruled over. In the earliest Irish texts, Brighid is the daughter of the Dagda (the good God) and Danu (Earth Goddess, particularly revered by the race of peoples known as the Tuatha de Danaan). In these texts, she was the first person in Ireland to cry (Or 'keen'), when her son was killed in battle. She was also entrusted with the realm of midwifery and poetry by her father, the Dagda (Pronounced doy-da). It is said that a flame was kept at Kildare in honour of Brighid (Pronounced Bree-id if its spelled like this, but Bridge-it if spelled Brigit.) and was tended by 19 priestesses. Some say they were sacred prostitutes, others say they were sacred virgins. Either way, it does bear a striking resemblence to the cult of the Roman Goddess Vesta (Vesta is where we get the term 'Vestal Virgin' from,) since that Goddess (Or the Greek version, Hestia) also ruled the hearth fire, healing, midwifery, etc, and had priestesses. When Brighid became a saint, her name gradually changed to Bride, or Bridey, or Biddy in some places. One legend said that she was the midwife to Mary, Mother of Jesus. Other legends say she was just a very pious, very Christian woman, who was named after the Goddess Brighid. Either way, many would say she's the early Irish-Christian version of the Madonna. The flame at Kildare was kept burning for a long time (I think it ran on into centuries, but don't quote me on that!) by nuns, until the priests who were there at the time got a little annoyed, and extinguished the flame. In the early 1990's, the flame was re-kindled, and is now kept by people all around the world. Ord Brighaideoch (I think that's how it spelled) do this, and it's not just Pagans who join them... Christians, agnostics, anybody who feels close to Brighid in any of Her forms, be it St Bride or Lady Brighid... If you do a search for 'Brighid' on the net, you should come across their site. Anyway, I hope some of this helps. Kiama

The St. Brigit and the Goddess Brigit thread was originally posted on 22 May 2003 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.