Gathering the women as the earth awakens
St Bride by John Duncan (1913)
Today is February 1st, also known as the Feast of Brigid (also Bridget, Brighid, Bride), a holiday for the pagans who worshipped the goddess for her healing waters in Ireland. For the Western agricultural calendar, this day is also called Imbolc, a Gaelic term which means, in the belly. She was so beloved by the masses that early Christians adopted her into the stories of Jesus and she became known as St. Bridget of Kildare, the midwife of Christ.
So many stories surround Brigid’s appearance. They say if Brigid visits you, she will leave sooty footprints on the floor near your fireplace. Women leave their favorite scarves outside on Imbolc eve and Brigid will bless them as she passes by. This of course will ensure that your scarf will protect you from headaches and sore throats. Poets and every type of artist envision Her as their muse of inspiration.
If you ever go to Kildare, you can meet with one of Bridget’s nuns, a lay sister who tends Brigid’s fires as a symbol of Christ’s continued love. Her pagan priestesses tended the same fires in ages past to ensure that the sun would return so that the crops could grow and animals would awaken from hibernation. The Irish bridge the pagan to the Christian world. They know their history, and they don’t deny it. Such a dichotomous paradox sometimes proves curious for my Catholic friends in the US.
But one thing I’m certain of is that the mythical figure of Brigid provides an opportunity for women to gather and participate in a ceremony seeking hope. I witness the response to the many Imbolc gatherings right now in my Northern Virginia region as a testament to a spiritual practice that craves harmony while beseeching a female deity.
A beautiful sentiment for a tough time of year in the northern hemisphere. The sun lasts a little longer in the sky but it is cold and dreary more often than not. Perhaps even more importantly, though, Imbolc is a soul stirring moment for finding support and encouragement. The midterms and the annual Women’s March in DC reveal the multiple indignities of rolled back rights and increased misogyny we face. Even the mention of the worship of a goddess in and of itself could be seen as an act of resistance right now.
The goddess Brigid offers us a way around imposed masculine ideals of superiority, heroism and God. No one wants to repeat notions of second wave essentialism. We call Brigid to address power dynamics related to gender. And in calling Brigid we seek a connection to our oldest DNA that honors spiritualities and healing practices that aren’t truncated by a patriarchal, hegemonic gender-limited ideology that often has maintained women are incubators to soul-bearing insemination. To study goddess theory in all of its intersectional potential means seeking the multi-gendered and multi-shaped expressions of divinity that have existed in humanity all over the world for 30,000 years.
For too long the idea that women’s bodies were doorways to original sin has taught too many women and girls to be ashamed of their bodies and deny their spiritual contributions. I am witness to the many women I gather with at Imbolc who are healing from wounds inflicted by their religious institutions. A circle of women of different faiths and multiple backgrounds provides a nurturing safe space to reflect and to pray.
Perhaps a Brigid circle is the lesser known women’s march, a vigil in the dark of winter, a place to spark emboldened intentions for women seeking resilience in the fight for social justice, where we can take a moment to listen to our own inner rhythms, where a new vision for spring and change may take root.