Celebrating Imbolc & Goddess Brigid
– this time? It’s personal
I’m sure you know of the Goddess known as Brigid. She’s one of the most popular deities in the pagan spiritual movement. Sometimes she’s seen as three sisters, other times as a triple deity. Some of Her domains are poetry, healing, and smithing (creation of tangible things). While I have all of these things in my personal and spiritual life, that’s not why I honour Her.
Her followers are famous for flametending rituals or cills. They are famous for tending and caring for local public waterways. They are famous for learning and speaking Gaelic. They are famous for weaving rushes for crosses to protect their homes. I don’t do any of those things. Goddess knows I’ve tried.
I honor Her for different reasons than most. The Goddess Brigid and I got personal. We got close. We got “real” in a way I could finally understand.
She came to me in a dream, disguised as a waitress. She took away my food. She took away my seat at the table. She took away my husband’s food. She slacked at her own job in attending other patrons at restaurant. A “snake oil” salesman came into the establishment and pestered the customers. She didn’t throw him out.
She made me so damn mad that I lost my temper.
For reference, I do my best not to lose my grip on my anger at any given point in time. When angered, I’m not coherent – or nice. I scream. I yell. All the fires inside me roar – and burn everything in sight. I am a dormant volcano. When I finally blow my top? I take an entire coastline of friendship and several hundred square miles of social niceties with me.
So there I am, no place at the table, starving and seeing that those around me are also not getting the nourishment they need. I knew that I was treated unjustly. I knew that the charlatan had fake magic potions. I knew that Table 9 needed more napkins and Table 19 needed more hot sauce. So I lost my spiritual sh_t.
I let the fires inside me roar. I fed it the injustice given to me and the patrons of the restaurant. I fed it the anger that someone would willingly not care for those in their charge. I fed it a good dose of magical “b_tchslap” that I wanted to dole out to so many who take advantage of others in weaker states and positions. Yes I got angry; then I got busy.
Instead of letting the rage boil me from the inside out, I stepped up and moved the “waitress” out of the way. As I yelled at Her (yes I know, just go with me on this), I did the job. I tossed out the snake oil salesman. I got Table 19 their hot sauce, fed my husband, got Table 9 more napkins and more. I took over and moved Her out of the way.
In my dream state, since She clearly wasn’t doing the job, someone had to step in to the role and take care of the people. I did the job. I took care of the people and myself, all while yelling at Her from the top of my lungs.
Sigh. Yes this is where lucidity crept in to my dreaming mind.
The “waitress” just took it. She just stood there while I ripped Her apart. I stopped and realized that I couldn’t see her face. She was a glowing being of light that I could not focus on literally. That’s when I realized who She was – and panicked.
A little boy popped up at Her side. I’m sure that it was my patron god Lugh – goofy smile, mousy brown hair bleached blonde by the sun. He smiled and merely said “Sorry about that.”
This is where I woke up and had a spiritual meltdown. This is also the reason why I honour Her. This is where Brigid and I got personal.
Brigid – the triple goddess, the lady of the hearth, the forge and the well deity of early spring, goddess of the sun, keeper of the flames – does not want me to be flametender. She doesn’t want me to tend the local waterways. She doesn’t want me to learn Gaelic or weave rushes. She doesn’t want me to solely write poetry or become and black, copper or silversmith.
She wants me to care for the people. She wants me to use my skills to make magic – to protect the people. She wants me to release the fires inside me, not just in anger, but in confidence that I can and I will do what needs be done.
In some ways I am Darlugdach, Her pupil. This was my dream of coal filled shoes. Instead of intense desire for someone that would sway my faith, I had the intense desire not to be in the spotlight. I didn’t want to be the heavy in any situation where I had to make hard choices. I wanted all the magic, but was too afraid to do the work – in case I made a mistake.
This dream changed all of that.
I honour Brigid because it’s personal. She has shown me all of Her within myself. To not take up Her mantle goes against everything I am. Her flame burns within me. The lesson of the dream was to let it burn, bright and hot, to let the heat of the Fire work to help others.
Why do you honor Her?
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The first Mercury Retrograde for 2016 happens on January 5 at 8:05 am EST and goes direct on January 25 at 4:50 pm EST.
To be clear, I set a time for my fasting. I had a protein shake for early breakfast and set my fast end for dinner. As a diabetic and compulsive snacker, you can see where this would be difficult for me. It lasted eight hours. While I stuck it out with only having water, coffee or tea, I thought of my ancestors. From both sides of my family, my ancestors were labourers, farmers, soldiers, hard workers and harder spiritual workers. They came from not so poor families themselves. While everyone could read and write, not everyone had three meals a day, or even a bed to sleep in at night. They worked long hours in risky places for less than optimal pay even for the times. They served their countries and put their lives on the line for their families and friends. If they could make that sacrifice, surely I could stick out eight hours. If you ask my friends, they may regale you with stories of the feasts that were held in my home. Food is how we celebrate life and death. This time, I chose to recognize not just the lives of my ancestors. I recognized all they sacrificed so that I would have a better world to live in and make the world a better place for others. And so I did. After eight hours, I had my first solid meal. It was plain food. I don’t even remember what I had. I do remember thanking all those of my blood who only had one meal a day – maybe – for all that they have done for me and for their sacrifices.