The Goddess Brigid

Getting to know her unwavering force

Feb 01, 2024

I first heard of Imbolc in my 20’s. There was a site-specific dance piece called Imbolc: In the belly that I saw a flyer for. I was desperate to go. The performers and audience moved through a variety of Vancouver’s city landscapes and ended in a warehouse with a dancer sitting on top of a huge pile of dirt with a spoon.

“Oh my god,” I whispered to my friend, “I want to do that.”

I didn’t know what that meant, but I was entranced by this urban performance tethered to an old Celtic fire festival. It left me hungry for something. My soul was ravenous, but I didn’t know how to find what it was that had me so disturbed. I was as hungry for installation art as I was for a real connection to my ancestors, Imbolc, and the goddess Brigid, but I didn’t have words for that, so I writhed in the discomfort of being an unsettled artist, constantly longing for some kind of mystery. What I needed felt amorphous and far away.

I was conceptually aware of Brigid over the years. She was the Celtic goddess of spring, poetry, fire, healing, peace, midwifery, sovereignty and seemingly….everything, but I didn’t know her. She felt like a mysterious dream, unlike the Norse deities who were accessible and strong in my experience: teaching, healing, collaborating on art projects and client sessions, they were ever alive, surprising, and vibrant in my life.

Then the way cracked open and a little shoot moved up to the light, persistent and quiet like the snowdrops growing on Vancouver island right now.

I was in a session with a folk magic practitioner receiving a healing.

“I see a vision of you as an emanation of Brigid,” She said near the end, “emanating her medicine in the world, what she stands for.”

I was flabbergasted. Was the practitioner off or this was just a fuzzy metaphor? Because in all my years of spirit work, Brigid still felt elusive to me. I felt touchy about it, because I wanted to connect with her, but somehow it felt impossible.

After the session, I decided to keep an open mind and be on the lookout for this goddess, in case there was a relationship ready to bloom. When I went into trance states I scanned the guides who appeared, looking for her. I welcomed her. I made an offering. She didn’t appear beyond a fleeting glimpse though, and I was tending other spirit guide relationships, so I let it go again.

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Weeks later, I reached out to a Restorative Justice facilitator to start a repair process around a terrible harm that had happened in my life. Just hours after I hung up the phone, the goddess Brigid finally showed herself in her full force. I was walking back home from the ocean and she suddenly enveloped me. Her warmth and power soaked my back and then my shoulders. It was as though I was in a cloud of her. She radiated truth and justice. She was yellow, gold, a gentle breezy light. Her soft compassion and unshakable strength were inseparable. She showed up large and clear, pulsing her name to my body in a way that I knew it was her and definitely none of my other guides. She felt new and familiar at once. She felt like home. Family. My mother, my sister, my friend. She held me in her light murmuring, “Yes, yes, yes. You can do this.”

Brigid of Imbolc by theBusyPagan on Etsy

In the months that followed Brigid rarely left my side. Her presence became a balm: a gentle fire that held me softly. She didn’t impose and she didn’t rescue me. She stood by my grief throughout the Restorative Justice process and many times said, “Keep going.” I finally got to know something of who this vast yet deeply personal goddess is.

Brigid breathes freedom and healing into the world. She doesn’t shy away from going into hard places to resolve conflict, but she listens wisely for the right time. She skillfully moves through areas of suffering until peace thrives where war, isolation, and bitterness once were. She is an unwavering force of healing and resolution.

As Imbolc nears, many of us are still carrying unprocessed grief about the horrific world events of recent months. If you find yourself running from grief and working hard to suppress it, Brigid may be an ally for you. If you are in despair about the state of the world, Brigid may be a support for you. If you find yourself asking What can I do? in response to all the suffering that you see, Brigid may help show you which actions are a good match for you. Read on for Brigid practices and a message from her.

Brigid stands with a drum in one hand and a staff in the other. There is a cauldron in front. Her hair looks like fire. She is standing in front of water. It is a whimsical painting. — Brigid the Bright by Tessa Mythos - Prints available

An Imbolc Practice

This Animisma episode has so much great information about Imbolc, including a wonderful practice to honor Brigid. Ideally you have four white candles and 30 minutes, though if you feel called to Brigid and you don’t have the materials, you can improvise.

A Message from the Goddess Brigid

In the 9 days leading up to Imbolc (which falls on February 3 this year - halfway between winter solstice and spring equinox), I am doing a mini digital detox - avoiding short attention content, limiting phone and computer use, and instead turning my attention toward Brigid herself and the changes happening in the land where I live.

After days of gently turning my intuitive antennae toward Brigid, I contacted her through mediumship and asked her a question. This is the message that she gave me permission to share with you: