Imbolc

Spring has sprung

Saluting the Earth Goddess

Of the four cross-quarter festivals in the Celtic Calendar, Imbolc or St. Brigid’s Day was Ireland’s chance to show their appreciation to the Goddess or putative saint, Brigid. These customs are still very much alive and with us today. The Racontour Archive has completed its Celtic Calendar audio archive with a range of Irish voices. Imbolc, the revealing of the awoken Earth to its benefactors, is a key part of it.

Beside you is a drop-down menu of 14 audio clips from our Imbolc Folklore collection. Scroll through to hear each of them or go to our Imbolc Folklore page on Audioboom to choose your listening platform. Our Spotify playlist for Imbolc comes complete with Imbolc/spring tunes in between the lore.

An extended celebration

The harbinger of good days to come was there with an extra 30 minutes of light since the last solstice. There was much to celebrate, be it to a nature goddess or a benevolent saint who kept giving.

Dessie McCallion thinks the big miracle is that Christianity survived in Ireland for 800 years. The Irish Catholic church was the sustainer to an oppressed people. Prior to any invasion, Dessie maintains the precursor establishing such faith was to a woman in Kildare who started a monastery 1500 years ago.

A canny operator

Brigid was around at the time of St. Patrick – and is believed to have met him. Dessie argues Brigid had the advantage of having clout in the dying days of the pagan era handover to Christianity. Brethon law would have dictated as the child of a king, she got recognition. This gives her a foothold in society that others could not have enjoyed.

Rome was paying attention to the arrival of such a powerful woman and would have installed a capable bishop to get control of things. Controversially, Inishowen’s own Dessie suggests that Brigid was born in Donegal, not Louth!

Some Imbolc suggestions

The goddess Brigid presided over fertility, healing and domestic craft. Seen either as a variant of other European Spring goddesses or the incarnation of Danu, her appearance at this time of year coincides with new life and greater light.

There are a number of Imbolc rituals and customs that still survive and should be performed, either alone or with others at this time of year. we list off eight or so of these that can be easily replicated by you coming into springtime.

Brigid – a force of nature

It is easy to understand how Brigid capture the imagination of the Irish or indeed the knights of chivalry, who called their new wives brides in honour of her. An expert dairy woman and brewer who could turn water into beer no less! Prayers to St. Brigid could still the rain and the wind. Her 5th century fire burned for seven centuries straight.

Here, John Ward, lists off just some of the miracles that Brigid is famous for. One such miracle is the never-ending cloak with the king. Another is the broach that was found inside a fish’s stomach!

Brigid beliefs in Ireland

Dessie argues that the belief system in Brigid, Mary of the Gael, was important. It was the one that sustained the Christian people for so long and Dessie thinks expunging her from the saints in 1969 was harsh!

Pre-Christian nature survived on the notion of Mother Nature giving back. Between the two systems, Dessie contends that the Irish were given some degree of hope, be it a pagan goddess or a saint that may not have existed at all.

Unleash you atavistic tendencies

After the harshness of the bleak midWinter, the first signs of spring such as a bud or a snowdrop are a welcome relief. Here, Dessie talks about how the belief system was strong with the pagans. They acknowledged that there was a greater force at play and there’s a wealth of evidence to prove that. Growing up, we were all taught that the pagans believed in nothing, but here, that notion is firmly refuted.

We hope you embrace your latent atavistic tendencies and enjoy the wonders of this most patriotic of festivals on our audio archive, available on all platforms.

Brigit: Dublin City Celebrating Women this February

Go to our Celtic Calendar page

Bealtaine

Samhain

Lughnasa