Jason Mankey
Over the last few decades, modern Witches have used a variety of names for the holiday most of us today call Imbolc. Some of the earliest Witches called the holiday “February Eve” and celebrated on the last night of January. Other Witches used the name “Candlemas,” a Christian holiday celebrated on February 2. In the Reclaiming Tradition of Witchcraft, Imbolc is often called Brigid, the name of one of Celtic Ireland’s most famous goddesses and one of Catholic Ireland’s most famous saints.
Imbolc: The Many Faces of Brigid
In my personal practice, I revere Brigid as the “goddess who has always been there.” When Ireland went from Celtic Paganism to Catholic-style Christianity, out of all the deities in Ireland, it was Brigid who transitioned mostly intact from the old religion to the new (and she even got to keep her name). Later, Brigid’s name would be found in New Orleans Voodoo and Haitian Vodou as Maman Brigitte. There are a handful of ancient Pagan deities who have been absorbed into other religions, but Brigid has probably accomplished that more successfully than any other one.
Brigid is often referred to as a “Celtic goddess” but it’s more honest to say that she was an “Irish-Celtic goddess.” Just how far her worship extended over Ireland and the rest of the British Isles is an open question. There are some scholars that believe Brigid’s worship was limited to the area around Ireland’s County Kildare while others believe her worship was more far flung. The Romano-British goddess Brigantia is believed by some to be a version of Ireland’s Brigit (Hutton 1996, 135). That doesn’t quite make Brigid a universal Celtic deity, but it does extend her reach a long way.
Among the Irish-Celts, Brigid was a goddess of learning, prophecy, poetry, healing, and metalwork. Her association with metalwork and the forge, along with her name, might also indicate that she was a fire goddess. Brigid actually translates as “fiery arrow,” again linking her to fire and also perhaps to war (Hutton 1996, 135). This makes her similar to the Greek goddess Athena (Roman Minerva) who ruled over a similar set of attributes. In Irish mythology, Brigid is the daughter of the Dagda, one of the kings of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the gods of Celtic Ireland.
The myths involving the Catholic Saint Brigid are extremely varied. In some versions, she acts as a wet-nurse to the baby Jesus, and in other tales Brigid is a reformed Druidess who converted to Christianity and became a nun. Complicating things even further is a medieval Irish manuscript that lists over twenty-five different Brigids in Irish history (Hutton, 1993, 153)! It’s possible that one of these twenty-five different Brigids was an actual flesh and blood human being, but that real person was absorbed by the goddess Brigid. The idea that many Christian saints are transformed versions of ancient Pagan deities is often overstated, but in the case of Brigid, it is undoubtedly true.
Much of what we know about the goddess Brigid is directly related to what we know about the Christian saint of the same name, and the mythology and worship of the two figures is very much intertwined. Kildare Abbey is home to a sacred flame in honor of Saint Brigid, but it’s likely the fire kept at the abbey dates back to the worship of the goddess Brigid. Also interesting is the name of Kildare itself. Kildare translates as “Church of the Oak Tree,” hinting at more Pagan roots. The oak was not generally revered among Christians, making it unlikely for the namesake of a church. Sacred flames kept burning for over one-thousand years are also rare in Christian practice, making it far more likely that the custom was inherited from the Pagans of Celtic Ireland (Weber 2015, 11).
Many of the customs and symbols associated with Saint Brigid have become commonplace among Witches. Brigid’s Cross, generally consisting of four arms of equal length and a square in the middle, is commonly seen on drawings and statues featuring the goddess Brigid. While many believe Brigid’s Cross to be a Pagan survival, its origin is probably a Christian one, and in this case represents Witches borrowing from Catholics. Also probably a Christian tradition is Brigid’s Bed, a custom featuring a small handmade “bed” in which lies a corn dolly adorned with ribbons and other decorative items to represent Saint Brigid. In some parts of Ireland, Brigid’s Bed was taken door to door on the night of January 31 (Brigid’s Eve) in a way similar to trick or treating on Halloween.
Saint Brigid’s feast day is on February 1, the same day most Witches celebrate Imbolc. This suggests that Imbolc was probably sacred to the goddess of the same name as well. It’s believed that the word Imbolc has something to do with milk, and here the traits of the saint might lead us to a better understanding of the goddess. Saint Brigid was considered a friend and healer of animals, especially of livestock, and as a giver of grain. If the goddess Brigid is connected to the Celtic-Pagan celebration of Imbolc, it’s likely that the deity Brigid was seen as a goddess of animals by the Pagans of Ireland.
The cult of Brigid the goddess has spread far from Ireland and Christendom and can even be found in the Afro-Caribbean religions of Haitian Vodou and New Orleans Voodoo. There, Maman Brigitte (or Brijit) is the wife of Baron Samedi and is honored as one of the loa (spirits that intercede with the divine for humans) alongside her husband. (Alternatively, Maman Brigitte is sometimes also known as Mademoiselle Brigette and Gran Brigitte.) Both Maman Brigitte and Baron Samedi are Les Gede loa, meaning they are seen as loa of the dead. Both Maman Brigitte and Baron Samedi are traditionally honored as the first woman and first man buried at every cemetery (Dorsey 2005, 41–42).
While it’s commonly accepted that Maman Brigitte is somehow reflective of Brigid of Ireland, there is some disagreement. Interestingly, some Vodou lineages in Haiti sing a song about “Manman Brijit who came from England,” which suggests a link between the loa and the saint and goddess named Brigid. It’s common for the loa to each be associated with a Catholic saint, and it would make sense if Maman Brigitte was represented as Saint Brigid, but instead she’s more likely to be represented by the Italian Saint Rosalia (Tann 2016, 120). What’s not in doubt is just how powerful Brigid remains in the modern world in a variety of traditions.
References
Dorsey, Lilith. Voodoo and Afro-Caribbean Paganism. New York: Citadel Press, 2005.
Hutton, Ronald. The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1993.
———. The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Tann, Mambo Chita. Haitian Vodou: An Introduction to Haiti’s Indigenous Spiritual Tradition. Woodbury MN: Llewellyn Publications, 2016.
Weber, Courtney. Brigid: History, Mystery, and Magick of the Celtic Goddess. San Francisco, CA: Weiser Books, 2015.