I just starting reading a delightful book by Lunaea Weatherstone entitled “Tending Brigid’s flame.” As someone who resonates with Brigid the goddess as well as the saint I enjoyed discovering Weatherstone’s reverence for both.

Here are two excerpts from the book:

“Why include a saint in a book largely intended for Pagan readers? To put it plainly, it’s because the saint and the goddess are one and the same. She never left. No other Western goddess has an unbroken history of worship. No other goddess has been clung to so passionately by her devotees, no matter what other canons of faith they accepted. To write a book about Brigid without including her saint aspect would be denying half her powers: The power of endurance, the power of practical love, the power of bridging differences.”

“It’s a mistake to pooh-pooh Saint Brigid as if she was a Brigid imposter, a pale substitute for the great goddess who preceded her. I was predisposed to dislike her, but the more I learned, the more she appealed to me.”

I am also someone who appreciates the aspects of both the goddess and the saint. I have an icon of St. Brigid above my altar that, for me, represents both. She is the bridge that can bring Christians, Pagans, and those who are somewhere in-between, together. I know few forms of the Divine that are capable of doing this. She inspires and empowers me to follow in her footsteps and try to do the same. Blessed Imbolc to all!

Copyright ©2024 by David Taliesin, http://www.sabbatsandsabbaths.com