Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon my Darlings.   This week’s Femme Fatale Friday will be my last Imbolc-themed post this year.   I will be focusing on the Great Goddess Brigid, who is the deity most deeply associated with Imbolc, which is also the National Holiday St. Brigid’s Day in Ireland, as of last year!   

I want to begin with the different names and titles that Brigid is called.   She is known as Brigid, Bride, Fiery Arrow, The Bright One, Lady of the Shores, The Ashless Flame, and Moon Crowned Queen of the Undying Flame.   Her name is spelled countless ways, with Brigid and Brigit being common, and her name is often traditionally pronounced as ‘Breed’ or even ‘Bridie’.  Being that she is a pan-Celtic Goddess, meaning that she was worshipped across the Celtic world with Ireland, Scotland, and Britain all having connections to this Goddess, having many names is not surprising.   

She is famously a Great Goddess who is associated with Healing, Music, Poetry, Prophecy, and Smithcraft.   She has an association with the production of ale and is greatly connected to fertility and childbirth.   The fertility and childbirth aspect connects to the name of her holiday being Imbolc, which means ‘in the belly’ and references pregnancy and takes place during lambing season, also very appropriate given Brigid’s association with baby animals!   She holds dominion over the realms of Wisdom, Education, Learning, Sacred Fires, and Holy Wells!

Imbolc is considered to be Brigid’s birthday, a time to celebrate new beginnings.   It should be noted that in some parts of the Celtic world, Brigid was also venerated on February 13.   Her main elements are fire and water, due to her role as a Matron of the Sacred Flame and Matron of the Holy Wells, although many consider her to be a primarily fire deity due to her dominion over Smithcraft.   Famous elements attributed to Brigid are the Cauldron, the Spinning Wheel, and Metal-Working Tools.   The association with Metal-Working Tools is due to her connection to Smithcraft and her favoring of Smiths among her followers.   Brigid also has much love for followers who are Poets, Writers, Midwives, Artisans, and Snake Charmers!

Brigid has many animals that she holds as sacred.   These animals include Pure White Bulls, White Cows with Red Ears, Horses, Wolves, Pigs, Snakes, Swans, and Vultures.  She is deeply associated with the Oak Tree and the Number Nine.   Interestingly, her association with her sacred animals, trees, and number lends some explanation as to why Brigid was venerated throughout the Celtic world.   Oak is the most sacred tree to the Druids, which can show a connection between Brigid and the Druids.   The Number Nine is very sacred in Celtic cosmology in general, but is very associated with Avalon, which is intriguing due to the fact that Brigid has a shrine in Glastonbury, often believed to be the real-world location of Avalon! 

I want to end this post with a little bit of genealogy of Brigid.   She is most often said to be the daughter of the Dagda and is therefore a member of the Tuatha De Danaan.   However, it must be noted that Brigid is believed to be a much older deity, who is pre-Celtic in origin, so that means that the association with the Tuatha De Danaan would be a later connection.   It is also true that when Christianity began to take over, the Church chose to align Brigid with Saint Brigid of Kildare.   This is because the Church wanted to convert Irish Pagans to Christianity, and therefore Brigid was demoted from Goddess to Faery Queen to Saint.   This was a very common practice of the time, to demote deities as the Christian period wore on.   That being said, she is all of these things, not just one in truth!   Finally, the last thing about Brigid’s genealogy that I want to mention is that Brigid is believed to have evolved into the Vodou Iwa, Madame Brigitte, who is famously the wife of Baron Samedi.   This is because the Scots and Irish indentured servants were transported to the Caribbean and it is believed that they brought the belief in the Goddess Brigid along with them!

I hope you have enjoyed this post where I shared some of the basic information associated with Brigid, the Great Goddess, and her holiday of Imbolc.   What is the most interesting aspect of Brigid in your opinion?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!    

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is Brigid.   I found the image on https://celticnative.com/goddess-brigid/.        

Tarot Note: I have a page offering tarot and oracle readings for those interested in these services!    I am very happy to be offering these readings to my treasured readers at White Rose of Avalon!  Link to page: https://whiteroseofavalon.life/tarot-and-oracle-readings/

Further Reading

• Your Goddess Year by Skye Alexander
• Encyclopedia of Spirits by Judika Illes