This Irish Saint will help us save the world
A Lenten meditation on a pagan goddess, reflections on religious syncretism and the contemporary applications of myth.
As the wheel of the year slowly turns, bringing us from the introspection of winter to the hopeful emergence of spring, two ancient traditions–one pagan, and one Christian–offer a contemplative window into understanding a multitude of contemporary crises.
This year, February the 14th marked not only Valentine’s Day, but also Ash Wednesday, the start of the Christian tradition of Lent. A period of reflection, sacrifice, and preparation for Easter, Lent encourages Christians to ponder the deeper meanings of solitude, sacrifice, and renewal.
The Lenten tradition rests on three pillars: justice towards God (prayer), justice towards self (fasting), and justice towards one’s neighbor (almsgiving). Together, these form a triune contemplation that is meant to invoke Jesus’ wandering in the desert for Forty days and Forty nights.
But the month of February also marks the start of an older tradition that offers the hope of renewal and announces the coming of spring, and no, it’s not Groundhog Day.
The pagan festival of Imbolc–honoring Brigid, the triune goddess of pre-Christian Ireland–takes place annually on February 1st. This date also marks the Christian Feast of Saint Brigid of Kildare, Lá Fhéile Bríde.
A period of reflection, sacrifice, and preparation for Easter, Lent encourages Christians to ponder the deeper meanings of solitude, sacrifice, and and renewal.
These two observances–a Christian feast and a pagan holiday–together mark the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, reminding the faithful that they are already halfway out of the dark.
What is perhaps even more compelling than this curious instance of religious syncretism is the figure at the heart of both celebrations: Brigid, in her triune legacy as goddess, saint, and woman.
Brigid in Hagiography
The figure of Saint Brigid is a curious one in the lush tapestry of Irish spirituality. Her holy attributes, deeply intertwined with the natural world, reflect a sanctity that transverses the realms of physical and spiritual healing. In her reverence, there is a recognition of the inherent sacralization and interconnectivity of all life.
She is the guardian of the hearth, and she ensures the fertility of the life-sustaining earth. Stories of her miracles illustrate a life steeped in the love of God and creation. They speak of Brigid as one who could turn water into healing ale, bend light into solid form, and wrap her cloak over acres of land.
Saint Brigid’s holy attributes, deeply intertwined with the natural world, reflect a sanctity that transverses the realms of physical and spiritual healing.
The Mary of the Gael
These beautiful tales, woven about her like the strands of her sacred cloak, have made Saint Brigid a symbol of boundless generosity and protection to the Irish church, and to Christendom more broadly. Along with Saint Patrick and Saint Columba, she is one of three patron saints of Ireland. Saint Brigid of Kildare is not only the patroness of healers, poets, and blacksmiths but also of livestock farmers and dairy workers.
Renowned for her boundless compassion and practical miracles, Brigid as Saint stands out as a figure associated with conflict resolution, distinguishing herself from contemporary saints by her diplomatic approach to violent situations. Stories about this aspect of her legacy, focusing on her grounded and sensible solutions to potential strife, make her a particularly relevant figure for contemporary reflections on conflict resolution.
For Ireland, the figure of Saint Brigid weaves a legacy rich in compassion with holy threads as lush as the verdant fields of her native home. In her revered guise as Saint, she becomes the custodian of life's sacred thresholds, the embodiment of nature's eternal rhythms. Birth, growth, dissolution, and renewal—each cycle imbued with her semi-divine grace, mirroring the regenerative spirit of the world itself.
These two observances–a Christian feast and a pagan holiday–together mark the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, reminding the faithful that they are already halfway out of the dark.
Brigid in Myth
The saintly figure of Brigid bears striking parallels to a far older figure in Irish mythology. Before her halo was ever painted in the church at Kildare or in the annals of Christian hagiography, Saint Brigid danced through the pre-dawn mists of pagan Ireland as Bríg, goddess of healing, smithing, and poetry.
The daughter of the mythic Dagda and a member of the legendary Tuatha Dé Danann, Brigid whose name stems from the proto-Celtic term meaning ‘exalted one,’ stands out in Irish mythology as a triple deity. She is said to have had two sisters, both with different aspects, and both bearing her same name.
Some scholars hypothesize that when Christian saints first came to Ireland, they utilized indigenous understandings of the triune nature of the goddess Brigid to explain the Christian concept of the Holy Trinity.
Brigid and Religious Syncretism
Brigid's presence is depicted as the flame—ever burning, ever nurturing, a perpetual beacon of hope and renewal for her people. This aspect of her nature would carry over into her later incarnation as Christian saint.
It would not be the only part of her legacy that survived. The cult of Brigid was popular throughout pagan Ireland, and the reverence of her later depiction as a Christian saint was no less widespread. In some instances, scholars hypothesize that these two forms of devotion actually represented a single cult, wherein the same devotees who prayed to her at the morning mass would attend evening ceremonies at her pagan wells.
Before her halo was ever painted in the church at Kildare or in the annals of Christian hagiography, Saint Brigid danced through the pre-dawn mists of pagan Ireland as Bríg, goddess of healing, smithing, and poetry.
Through this synthesis, Brigid exemplifies the beauty of Christian syncretism, showcasing Christianity's tendency to intertwine with pre-existing pagan traditions worldwide, and inversely, how those traditions adapt to embrace Christian elements.
Today, the cult of Brigid survives most visibly within a Roman Catholic Sisterhood known as the Brigidine Sisters. Even their devotion to the figure of Saint Brigid has never been fully purged of pagan elements, as symbolized by the two-hundred-year-old oak tree that flowers in their monastery grounds. The tree was a gift from the Order’s founder and acts as a sacred symbol of Ireland’s pre-Christian past, now sacralized into the Celtic Christian tradition.
Brigid in History
It remains difficult to extricate a figure like Brigid of Kildare from the mists of myth and hagiography and place her into the pages of history. Historical debate rages regarding whether she existed as all as a real person or was merely a convenient Christianization of a pagan fertility cult.
The little evidence that exists of her real identity is so shrouded in mythic symbolism and miraculous tales evocative of magical realism that it is difficult to know where the facts of her life stop and her legend starts.
Nevertheless, multiple medieval sources insist that the woman Brigid founded two monasteries at Kildare, one for women, and another for men. They also insist that she was ordained as a Christian bishop, a remarkable title for a woman in patriarchal Christian Ireland to possess. These sources further assert that her successors as Abbess of Kildare shared the title of bishop until a drastic revision of Ireland’s ecclesial hierarchy occurred around 1152.1
It remains difficult to extricate a figure like Brigid of Kildare from the mists of myth and hagiography and place her into the pages of history.
If she did exist, Brigid stands out as a truly remarkable woman within the Christian tradition and the pages of history. Not merely an abbess and a saint, but a female bishop. A woman of significant power and influence who wove together the cross and the oak and is remembered by her countrymen as the ultimate symbol of rebirth and possibility.
Brigid, Lent, and our modern predicament
Regardless of her historicity, Brigid stands out as an extremely important figure within both pagan and Christian Ireland. Her story has taken on not only mythic significance but also contemporary relevance for her devotees.
But what contemporary relevance does a 1500 year old legend about a goddess-saint have for modern Ireland, and indeed the world? According to many Irish, quite a bit. In a historic moment for the young nation, Ireland celebrated the first instance of Saint Brigid’s Day as an Irish national holiday last year, on February 1st, 2023.
We must find new ways to sacralize the mundane aspects of our lives and reclaim, for a new generation, a forgotten reverence for the natural world.
This remarkable achievement was the result of a groundbreaking campaign to honor Brigid’s legacy by an activist group called Herstory. Their campaign not only elevated cultural consciousness around an important figure in Irish history and mythology but also marked a pivotal moment of unity and recognition for women across Ireland.
“Brigid is Celtic goddess, Christian saint, and a symbol of feminine power and compassion, who transcends religion or spirituality, making her inclusive and appealing for all faiths and none” writes Laura Murphy, poet in residence at Herstory.
“It’s been over 1500 years since St. Brigid walked these lands and longer still since the time of Goddess Brigid, yet She has much to offer us today.”
The Lessons of Brigid
I tend to agree with Laura’s assessment. In a world ripped apart by strife and hurtling towards ecological extinction, I cannot imagine anything more worthy of a Lenten reflection than the undying cult of a healer goddess-saint who mends the rifts between mankind and the natural world.
You see, Brigid is also the goddess of inspiration. She appears in legend to offer novel solutions to dire problems that beset her community. Perhaps that is why I find her so very compelling.
The explicit project of Refuse Dystopia is to weave together the lessons of history, myth, spiritual insight, and political awareness in order to sow the seeds of hope within the consciousness of a population on the brink of despair.
To do this, we must find new ways to sacralize the mundane aspects of our lives and reclaim, for a new generation, a forgotten reverence for the natural world. Who better to guide us on this journey than the beloved figure of Brigid, who guards the hearth and the field, and reminds her wayward children that they are not earth’s parasites, but its gardeners?
A personal anecdote
Brigid has a larger significance in my own life than perhaps I have let on. Several years ago, I discovered in some book on Gaelic folklore, an interesting connection between myself and the goddess-saint.
The legacy of Brigid's cult persisted in various forms, notably through nomenclature. Those devoted to her cult—known as the Servants of Brigid—ventured first from Ireland to Scotland and then further abroad, bearing the name of their venerated saint and beloved goddess.
In Gaelic, "Mac" signifies "son," hence, as these "sons of the servants of Brigid" settled in Scotland, their designation, Mac Giolla Bhríde, underwent a series of transformations, ultimately leading to one of it many anglicized variants, McBryde.
A Lenten reflection
During this season of Lent, I have spent time reflecting on this bridge between ancient devotion and modern identity, as well as the significance of my name to the history of Christianity and Scotch-Irish history.
I believe that those who bear Brigid’s name ought to take the opportunity to weave her legacy of devotion and service into their own identity. For me, bearing the name McBryde is not merely a marker of my lineage but a clarion call to embody the essence of Brigid herself—a synthesis of strength, compassion, and creativity.
Brigid exemplifies the beauty of Christian syncretism, showcasing Christianity's tendency to intertwine with pre-existing pagan traditions worldwide, and inversely, how those traditions adapt to embrace Christian elements.
We are, all of us, servants of a greater purpose, tasked with carrying forth the wisdom of our forebears into the complexities of the modern world. In embracing this heritage, even if only symbolically, I find not merely a beautiful connection to my past but also a guiding light for my future.
My discovery of this profound connection to Ireland's healer saint has imbued me with a sense of purpose: to lead a life that reveres Brigid's spirit—by fostering peace, nurturing creativity, and advocating for the marginalized.
In a way, my name has come to symbolize my vow: to live deliberately, in service to the values that Brigid herself represented across the ages. To bring the light of her flame into a broken world, and to remind them that we are already halfway out of the dark.
Who was born by the light of the rising sun? By whose light did Ogham dawn? Who is the bridge between heart, hearth and home? Who inspires the words of the poet? Who ignites the draoícht of the Druid? Who fuels the strength of the Warrior?
I am the gentle light that guides you. The fiery arrow that carries you. The blazing fire that fuels you. I am She who is Goddess. I am She who is Saint. I am She who is Strength. I am She. I am Sí. I am Sidhe. Is Mise Bríd.
– Laura Murphy
Callan, Maeve. "The Safest City of Refuge": Brigid the Bishop. In Sacred Sisters: Gender, Sanctity, and Power in Medieval Ireland. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2019, 85
I love Imbolc!
Remarkable to read this exquisite piece from an unlikely yet absolutely likely embodiment of Brigid. A young male dark academia heartthrob in the United States. An inspired humanitarian, activist, earth protector and healer with a lineage and name that is the very essence of Devotion to Her. I can’t thank you enough for this imbas-infused piece Charles. It is powerful. Full of her Grá (love), neart (strength) & eagna (wisdom). I hope it reaches many hearts. Much needed balm, as I read this Patrick’s weekend.