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Brid
Brid
(pronounced "Breed"), also Brigit, Brigid, Bride, Brighid.
Her name comes from the old Irish word "brigh" meaning power,
renown.
She was a daughter of the Dagda and one of the great Mother Goddesses
of Ireland. At one time, the whole of Ireland was united in her
praise. Her feast day is Imbolc or Oimelc (meaning "ewes-milk")
which usually falls on February 1st. The Christian church took
this feast and re-named it Candlemass. In Scotland, this is the
day on which Brid defeats the Cailleach Bheur (the Blue-Faced
Hag of Winter).
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by Celtwitch |
Brid
had an all female priesthood at Kildare and these priestesses were
charged with keeping her flame permanently alight. She is the Goddess
of fire, fertility, the hearth, all feminine arts and crafts, healing,
occult knowledge, witchcraft, blacksmithing, animal husbandry, poetry
and divination. She is also a guardian of children. A major Celtic
personal deity, she was Christianised as St.Brigit of Kildare who
was said to have lived from 450-520 C.E. and founded a female Christian
monastery. In reality, Brid's shrine at Kildare was desecrated and
christianised.
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