The Transformational Energy of Brigid: A Reflection for Imbolc

"I will rest now at the bottom of Bridget’s well

I will follow the crow’s way

Footprint by footprint

In the mud down here

I won’t come up

Until I am calmed down

And the earth dries beneath me

And I have paced the caked ground

Until smooth all over

It can echo a deeper voice

Mirror a longer shadow

Then the fire may come again

Beneath me, this time

Rising beyond me

No narcissus-flinted spark

Behind closed eyes

But a burning bush

A fire that always burns away

But never is burnt out"

Bridget’s Well by Richard Kearney

Brigid, Goddess and Saint, whose feast day is celebrated on 1st February, is close to my heart. She is known of the Bringer of Light, the Herald of Spring, embodying the transformation of the earth from the darkness and dormancy of winter to the first signs of the new life and growth of spring.  She clears away the debris of winter, cleansing the energy to allow us to move forward with clear vision and positive intention.  But her message of transformation is deeper than a little spring cleaning.

Brigid is a Goddess and Saint of both fire and water.  In Kildare in Ireland, the site of St Brigid’s convent, St Brigid’s flame is kept constantly burning in her shrine by the sisters, and there are now many other Brigid’s flames across the world.  In Ireland there are many sacred wells dedicated to Brigid and pilgrimages are made to them to ask for her blessing at this time of year.  Brigid is patron goddess of poetry, healing and smith-craft.  The elements of fire and water combine in the forge, where raw materials are transformed into objects that are both beautiful and useful.

A Celtic seasonal story tells that the Cailleach, the crone of winter, can transform herself from a terrifying hag in the dark half of the year to the beautiful young maiden Brigid in the light half by drinking from the well of youth, and thus Brigid and the Cailleach are the same entity.  I believe that this archetypal feminine energy has much to teach us today about balance, healing and wholeness.

The heroic quest in world mythologies often includes gaining wisdom through an initiation involving embracing surrender, darkness and death, as symbolised by the Cailleach, hag or crone.  For example, a common Celtic tale tells of how the hero becomes king only when he kisses the hag, who transforms into a beautiful woman and reveals herself as sovereignty.

In the Irish story ‘Niall of the Nine Hostages’, the old women or hag is guarding a well.  When Niall’s four brothers ask for a drink of water, she tells them they must give her a kiss.  They all refuse, but Niall kisses and embraces the hag, whereupon she changes into the most beautiful woman in the world.  “What are you?” asks Niall and she replies, “King of Tara, I am Sovereignty . . . your seed shall be over every clan.” In order to access the life-giving waters of the well, the young man must embrace the dark face of the feminine.  He emerges from his initiation with the wisdom and compassion of maturity to a path of life-sustaining leadership.

In her article, 'Brigid: Cailleach and Midwife to a New World', Dolores Whelan says, “The cailleach is the embodiment of the tough mother-love that challenges its children to stop acting in destructive ways.. It is an energy that insists that we stand still, open our hearts, and feel our own pain and the pain of the earth. This is the energy that teaches us how to stay with the process when things are difficult.”

I found this a really powerful message.  In Western society we are all under pressure to be constantly doing things, to react quickly, to keep moving from one thing to the next.  There is little room for considered responses or for just being.  But if we are to live in right relationship with the earth I think it is important for us to value reflection and attentiveness, to consider consequences, and to allow life to unfold.

At Imbolc the maiden Brigid embodies the new life energy of the tiny spark of light that has been growing in the Cailleach’s dark womb since the winter solstice and now begins to emerge and transform winter into spring. The awakening of spring can only emerge from the deep sleep stillness of Winter.  Spring shows us that the possibility of transformation is always there, no matter how devitalised something appears.  Renewal can happen when we submit to the slow transformational energy of Bridget’s well.

As Philosopher Richard Kearney suggests in the poem “Bridget’s Well” the inward and downward journey into the deep well is the way to access Brigid’s life-giving and inspiring fire of passion that lies at the bottom. The journey deep into the darkness of the winter of our souls may be uncomfortable and painful at times, but eventually we find that inner spark that lives within us all.  Emerging from a clear deep space of stillness, this fire is full of potency, the inner light of truth guiding us into a new life of wholeness.

I have had my own experience of Brigid’s well.  Many years ago I was bullied by a superior at work over the course of several months. I began internalising all the negativity towards me, thinking it must be me in the wrong.  I dreaded going into work so much that I began to have panic attacks on the bus in the mornings.  One day I snapped and broke down.  My doctor signed me off work for six weeks.  By this time I was in such poor mental health that I couldn’t sleep or eat.  I was terrified of not finding a new job and applied frantically for everything I saw that seemed even vaguely suitable.  Luckily I was offered a new job within the first few weeks, which meant I was then able to concentrate on recovering.  

Not having work to fill my days was very strange at first.  I had to slow down.  I began to take long walks along with river and through the woods every day.  Walking in nature has always been restorative for me. I was also lucky to have supportive friends and family who helped me on the road to recovery. It took a long time to heal, but by the end of the six weeks I was ready to return to work.  I had begun to stop flailing around in the mud in the bottom of the well.  I had found find that divine inner spark that allowed me to see that the layers of self-loathing I had accumulated weren’t the true heart of me and I began to rediscover my self-worth.

Elizabeth Kubler Ross once said, “People are like stained-glass windows.  They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their inner beauty is revealed only if there is a light within.”

We live in dark and troubled times.  Such times bring out both the worst and the best in people.  Sometimes we may feel overwhelmed, but just as we cannot transform our shadow selves by ignoring them and hoping they will go away, we cannot transform the dark forces of the world by shutting them out.  It is only by bringing the dark things out of the shadows into the light that we can see them for what they truly are and slowly but surely begin to transform them.

I believe that Brigid’s fire has the power to inspire us to forge new relationships between each other, and between people and the land, to transform the winter wasteland of the world into a life-sustaining spring.

Let us be keepers of the flame of truth, meaning, love and deep connection.  

Let us be bringers of light to the world. Amen and Blessed Be.

The Coming of Bride by John Duncan, 1917