Brighid: Alchemical Goddess, Midwife, and Shield Maiden (Cardiff University Pagan Society)

The genealogy of the holy maiden Bride,
Radiant flame of gold, noble foster-mother of Christ,
Bride the daughter of Dugall the brown,
Son of Aodh, son of Art, son of Conn,
Son of Crearar, son of Cis, son of Carina, son of Carruin.

Every day and every night
That I say the genealogy of Bride,
I shall not be killed, I shall not be harried,
I shall not be put in cell, I shall not be, wounded,
Neither shall Christ leave me in forgetfulness.

No fire, no sun, no moon shall burn me,
No lake, no water, nor sea shall drown mc,
No arrow of fairy nor dart of fay shall wound me,
And I under the protection of my Holy Mary,
And my gentle foster-mother is my beloved Bride.

- Carmina Gadelica

I’ve been a devotee of the Celtic (mostly Irish) Goddess Brighid (otherwise known as Bride, St. Bride, Bridey, Brigit, Brigantia, and Britannia) for several years now, yet have been loath to put my experiences and knowledge of her into writing. It seems that Brighid keeps surprising me and showing a different aspect of herself to me, becoming ever more complex the more I think I know her! One thing’s for sure though – no matter which Gods and Goddesses I explore and form a bond with, in the end I always go back to Brighid, like a daughter to her Mother. And what kind of daughter of an inspiration Goddess would I be if I could not write…?

Brighid of the Triple Flame

Most commonly, Brighid is seen as a triune Goddess of fire, with three different kinds of fire in her command: the fires of healing and purification; the fires of inspiration that burn in the heart of the poet and artist; and the fires of the forge wherein blacksmiths shape and rework metal. As the flame of healing Brighid burns illness out of people; thus, her healing is often painful and abrupt rather than gentle and she comes across as a stoic matron rather than a caring and simpering nurse! As a Goddess of inspiration, she gives people the spark of creativity to help them write, sing, play, create, or draw… She is the Celtic version of a Muse called upon by Bards in both the ancient and modern sense of that term. Finally, as a patron of the smith’s fire, Brighid is in charge of shaping and moulding people’s lives and personalities. We ourselves choose to enter the fires of the forge, allowing our experiences throughout life – be they mundane or spiritual – to shape us, change us, and transform us. We become the metal which is heated and hammered, heated and hammered, heated and hammered to perfection over a long, labour-intensive process. In this sense Brighid is not a ‘nice’ Goddess – she is not fluffy, gentle, and sweet. She demands a lot from those who call upon her: simply that they live up to their fullest potential and continually transform themselves and their lives for the better, not being afraid of change. She asks that we destroy what is unnecessary in order to progress; that we burn out our illnesses (all those neuroses and issues we all have); and that we follow our hearts and be inspired continually by the divine spark within each of us. It sounds easy at first, but walking in Brighid’s footsteps is challenging, sometimes exhausting, but always worthwhile.

It must be pointed out that whilst Brighid is depicted in a triple form she is not a Triple Goddess of Maiden-Mother-Crone variety. If she is ever spoken of/pictured in her triune form it is as three sisters who are alike, and the Celts (most specifically the Irish Celtic tribes) did not worship a Triple Goddess like the one revered by Wiccans today. She is also not a Moon Goddess as some people have said – I can’t see where this association came from, but my best guess is that it is linked to the assumption that she is a Triple Goddess, and the neo-Pagan preoccupation with Triple Goddesses also being Moon Goddesses (something that downright annoys me!)

Midwife of Christ

When the Irish Celts adopted Christianity (or what become Celtic Christianity, a marvellous hybrid of the new religion and the old) Goddess Brighid became St. Bride, presumably because she was so beloved that they couldn’t let her go into the depths of infamy and demonization! In this new form she was hailed as the Midwife of Christ, helping Mary to give birth to the Son of God. Due to this, St. Bride was often (and still is) called upon by midwives and women in labour, people who look after children, and those involved in birthing new projects, to watch over them and add her blessing. St. Bride was also credited with converting pagans to Christianity – in particular her father, a renowned Druid, who she conveyed the simple truth of Christianity to by creating a cross out of straw on the floor before him. Other stories tell of how people who called upon her were miraculously unharmed by fire (which would make sense considering St. Bride’s origins are found in a fire Goddess!)

Goddess of Spring

Even before her sainthood the Goddess Brighid was associated with new life – but this time the life of the earth and livestock after the harsh depths of Winter. The flame of Brighid was envisioned as the tiny glimmer of light that starts to make itself known around the time of Imbolc (late January-early February), which slowly spreads through the land and awakens it from its icy slumber.

Watching Over Healing Waters

Throughout the British Isles – and especially in Ireland – there are springs and wells dedicated to Brighid or St. Bride/St. Brigit. To this day people, both Pagan and Christian, leave offerings at the holy wells and sacred springs – ribbons, statues, food, drink, pictures, and more… Sometimes this is simply to honour the guardian of the waters, but most often it is a form of prayer or magic, asking the Goddess/Saint for her help in their lives – usually for some sort of healing. One such well can be found in Liscannor, which is completely surrounded by votive offerings and other items – some that are obviously religious in nature, and some that are definitely not. There is also a very famous St. Brigit’s Well at Kildare – the same place where the legendary Flame of Brighid is said to have burned constantly (until put out by a bunch of monks, and rekindled several centuries later by modern devotees of Brighid) – which is extremely beautiful.

Alchemical Goddess in Glastonbury

Perhaps I am the only one to have looked at Brighid in this way, but the mixture in one Goddess of both fire and water so predominantly immediately suggests to me an alchemical Goddess. Two elements so completely opposed to each other, uniting in one place to form something better than both of them, is the alchemical process of the red and white, Sun King and Moon Queen, masculine and feminine coming together so completely that I find it difficult not to see a connection. Not a historical connection certainly – I am not trying to suggest that alchemy and Brighid have been linked factually – but in a poetic, symbolic manner the two work very well together. In this way, Brighid has become for me a Goddess of transformation and creation, exemplified in the Temperance card of the Tarot deck, with its image of a person mixing red and white liquid in a cauldron over flames.

Because of this – and because of Brighid’s associations as a healing Goddess – I have found her most strongly in the Chalice Well Gardens in Glastonbury. There, she is in the healing waterfall and the healing waters of King Arthur’s Court; she is in the votive offerings hung on the trees around the Chalice Well; and she is in the symbol of the gardens themselves: the Vessica Piscis, in which two circles interlock together, symbolic of two worlds/elements uniting to form a third.

It seems fitting to me that Brighid of the transformative smith’s forge has become Brighid of the transformative alchemical cauldron – she takes you into the flames and douses you in the waters (through the alchemical process or the heating-cooling process of blacksmithing) and through trial and error, pain and challenge, you transform into something better – just as she expects you to.

Shield Maiden of Britain

In her form as Britannia and Brigantia, Brighid is a protector of her people, her children, and her land. She is seen on our 50p coins, with her huge shield watching over Britain, and in ancient imagery with a long spear and rounded shield ready for battle. It is clear here that Brighid is a Goddess who means business – no fannying around and reacting with love and light towards everybody and everything. Those who think she is a ‘nice’ Goddess maybe should try pathworking with Brigantia sometime... In this form, Brighid is a fierce protector and defender, and can prove to be an excellent ally in combat. She does not revel in battle or conflict, but instead she revels in solutions and ways of resolution – if fighting will bring something to its resolution, that is what she will do.

Brighid as Vodou deity…?

A recent addition to my understanding of Brighid came through studying Vodou – Vodou deities (lwa) in particular. One deity is Maman Brigitte – the wife of Baron Samedi. Both deities rule over cemeteries and death, mourning and funerals, and both love to dance and drink. But whereas the Baron is loud, raunchy, and crude (in the best possible way of course!) his beautiful wife Brigitte is more reserved, quiet, and interested in the mind. She is a lwa of justice and academia, of thought and philosophy, and is another deity that one wouldn’t call ‘nice’: she is, instead, effective. Straight-talking, wise, and a mother of the dead, Maman Brigitte came to Vodou when the Irish indentured servants brought St. Brigit (Goddess Brighid) with them to the Americas. As with most Vodou lwa the Catholic Saint found its way into African tribal religion that meant the slaves could practice their native religion under the guise of the accepted religion of their owners. Brighid became St. Brigit, who became Maman Brigitte.

How does a lwa of cemeteries and the dead fit into the Irish Goddess though? The answer is found in the stories of the Tuatha de Danaan in Ireland (specifically The Book of Invasions and the accounts of the battles of Mag Tuireadh) – in these stories Brighid’s son Ruadan is killed in battle, and Brighid begins to cry and weep for him in a particular fashion: she invents keening.

Enduring Goddess

The thing that fascinates me the most about Brighid is that she has endured in some form or another over centuries, and has found her way throughout the world even into the Americas in a religion quite different to that of Ireland’s old religion. She also appears to have many aspects, and when this becomes clear it is easy to see why Brighid is a Goddess so loved by neo-Pagans around the world; why she has an entire Order devoted to her worship today (Ord Brighideach); and why, once you start walking the path Brighid, you never quite stop.

Useful Websites

http://www.ordbrighideach.org/ - Ord Brighideach

http://www.conjure.com/RATH/ - The Rath of Brighid

Brighid: Alchemical Goddess, Midwife, and Shield Maiden

By Kim Huggens