Your Invitation!

From January, 2007:

On Friday evening, in the Back Hall, sacred space created for the purpose of honoring Brighid, and our spiritual quests as circle sisters who share the magical path throughout the old Celtic wheel of the year, awaits those who feel called. Come to honor Brighid, and to rededicate yourself to a personal task, process or journey; come to invoke healing, guidance, and/or inspiration at Brighid's well.

Come to seek vision, in Her holy flame or bright waters; come to be transformed and to shed winter's cloak in anticipation of new growth and regeneration. Please plan to arrive in sacred space and be welcomed therein, between 7:30 pm and 7:45 pm. The sanctuary will be held in silence, save for soft background music and the occassional chant anyone who is present is welcome to join in on.

How long you spend in ritual or meditation will be up to you, and whatever guidance you seek from the Goddess. Brighid's gifts await, for you to contemplate, enjoy, create, sample, and share. You may also wish to offer any wreaths or gardlands to the fire available (those created for ceremonies past are traditionally released at Imbolc), so feel free to bring those along. This is not a public gathering and you will be intimately supported in the company of only a small handful of other female friends.

This Imbolc offering is extended as a part of my own personal dedication as a keeper of Brighid's flame in solidarity with other devotees worldwide, but most especially in Ireland and Scotland this year, with support from my sisters, and beloved partner. Please read on below for a little herstory and further information! You may wish to bring a cushion for chair or floor comfort ...there will be hands-on activities for you to engage in if you so choose, and altars at which to meditate. Also, please bring your own unscented candle and holder, if you wish to light it from Brighid's flame. Blessed Be, So Mote it Be!


Photo: It is an ancient Celtic custom to tie clooties (rags, or strips of cloth) to wishing trees by holy wells in order to engender healing for oneself or another, or simply as offerings. This one is next to the Hill of Tara, from where one can see all four corners of Brighid's Emerald Isle.

A little Herstory

From January, 2007: Brighid's Holy Day will be celebrated this year in Kildare, Ireland, by devotees of both the Goddess Brighid and Saint Brighid from around the world. For many She is one and the same, and a bridge between the worlds. 2oo7 marks the centenary of the re-establishment of an order of Brigidine Sisters in Kildare. (in 1807 by Catholic Bishop Delaney, who in commemoration planted an oak tree which still stands today in Cill Dara- meaning, Church of the Oak). On Feb. 1st, 2006, the President of Ireland lit Brighid's Sacred Flame in the town square where it will continue to burn in perpetuity.

Last year I was blessed to have Brighid's flame passed on to me twice in Ireland. First of all by Mary, pictured below with her holy candle, and then by the Sisters of the Brigidine order who were responsible for rekindling Brighid's flame at a Peace Conference in 1993, re-invigorating this ancient link to pre-Christian Ireland that had been forced underground after the perpetual flame was extinguished by a Pope in the 1600's. It is speculated that the flame may have originated up to 1000 years earlier, with the Goddess inspired Druidic priestesses that long preceeded the advent of Saint Brighid's egalitarian monastic order in the 5th century AD.

Coincidentally, I was also gifted the flame in the early 90's here in Canada from a circle sister just returned from Kildare. In solidarity with cells of flame keepers now spread around the world, I look forward to sharing Brighid's healing light this Imbolc with other sisters in my own community who hear Her call!

Mary of Kildare, Daughter of the Flame

Receiving Brighid's flame from Mary was one of the greatest gifts Mike and I received on our travels in Ireland. We felt guided serendipitously by the hand of the Goddess and our adventures affirmed as a sacred pilgrimage ... from my amazing healing at one of Brighid's Holy Wells, to our chance encounter with this special woman just the day before our departure home to Canada. Mary encouraged our visit to the Brigidine Sisters, who welcomed us into their beautiful sanctuary and shrine to Brighid with open hearts. I have superimposed this photo of Mary extending her candle to us over an image of a woven willow bower next to Brighid's Holy Well in Kildare (pictured to the right)

The Celts believe that the spirit of the flame resides in the wick...and so the sacred flame is passed on from one wick to another.....