Earth Goddess

In Ireland, Brigit was our Demeter, our ancient, pre-Christian earth goddess, honoured at Imbolc, the pagan fire festival which celebrated the start of Spring. Honouring Brigit, marked the return of the harvest season after the barren Winter, when the crops of the fields would grow once more. Christianity then used this pagan template to create ‘Saint Brigid’, whose feast day is the first day of February, coinciding with Imbolc. When I was a child, I remember making a Saint Brigid’s cross out of reeds and hanging it inside our hall door ‘to bring blessings’ to our family. The cross had obvious Christian associations, but its ancient meaning was to represent the Wheel of the Year, with its seasonal cycles of growth and fertility. Today, children in Ireland still weave Saint Brigid’s crosses and there is even something of a renewal in the honouring of Brigit as a nature goddess. It seems that her power is still alive, even after all the centuries of Christianity, bringing to mind J.G. Frazer’s lovely description of Saint Brigid as 'an old heathen goddess of fertility disguised in a thread-bare Christian cloak!'


Blessings on your table!

www.your-healthy-eating-helper.com