Brigid: Goddess or Saint?
This author has been researching Brigid for the past three years and is intimately familiar with large parts of her history and lore, as well as Celtic culture. Brigid was originally a Celtic triune goddess who eventually, through a druidess, became Saint Brigid patron saint of Ireland.
Brigid was originally a Celtic goddess. The Celts are an ancient people who are still thriving to this day making them one of the oldest people groups in the world. Today the terms Celt, Celts, and Celtic are primarily used to refer to the people, culture, art, and languages of the peoples of Ireland and Scotland, as well as a few places in Wales, the British Isles, and the Brittany region of France. Many modern day Celts seek to connect
Celts didn’t share the gender preconceptions seen in most other cultures over the past 2500 years. Jobs were largely gender neutral. For example, women could become military leaders and druidesses. As druidesses, female Celts could lead important ceremonies and celebrations for their “tribe”. Women could own land, animals, and other things that were prohibited in other societies. Women also had authority to make their own life decisions, including whether to marry or have children.
Celts traced ancestry through their mother’s side, rather than their father’s. The most important male in a child’s life was their uncle on their mum’s side, rather than their father or grandfather. The importance the Celtic people placed on women and motherhood cannot be overstated. Rape was punished more severely than murder and rapists were never given leniency for any reason, although a murderer could be. Saint Brigid was extremely important in keeping things this way after the rise of Christianity in Ireland
The Celts also had little religious unity. While the Celts had hundreds of gods and goddesses, they only had approximately 33 primary deities, which were shared among the groups. The Irish Celtic oath “I swear by the gods my people swear by” (Jestice), exemplifies the strong local loyalty of the Celtic peoples to each other. Though primarily an Irish Celtic deity, Brigid was worshiped all over the Celtic world and through this she brings a sort of unity to the Celtic world, as all agree that she is to be revered
Brigitte-La-Croix or Grann Brigitte or Manman Brigittte - Goddess of money Brigitte LaCroix is a death loa. She is one of few loa who is depicted as a European with light colored hair and green eyes. Her symbols are a black rooster and weeping willow or the elm tree. She drinks hot peppers like her husband Baron Samedi. She protects the graves of the dead provided they are marked with a cross. She is invoked to help heal people who are close to death. She is associated with St. Brigid (feast day February 1) and Mary Magdalene (feast day July
The roles Anglo-Saxon women played in their society depended on the status they had in their community. As in most cultures, the roles of women in Anglo-Saxon society included mother, wife, caregiver, and teacher. Because Anglo-Saxon women had many different roles, I will only focus here on marriage, divorce, and their daily life in their society.
During the Anglo-Saxon time period, women had rights, but they were limited. The Anglo-Saxon time period began in 449 and it lasted until 1066 (Leeming 10). In the later times of that era, research proves that women were able to inherit and maintain control of that property (Leeming 10). Even if the women got married, she still held control of her property, and not her husband (Leeming 10). Although, the men of this time were supposed to be in control at all times, they did not have any other choice in that particular situation. According to David Leeming, “A prospective husband had to offer a woman a substantial (called the morgengifu, the ‘morning gift’) of money and land" (Leeming 10). The woman would make a decision to keep, sell, or just give the gift away. There were not many opportunities that were offered to women during that time. Because of the limited amount of things women could actually do, they often joined religious groups (Leeming 10). Christianity was actually one way that women were offered opportunity (Leeming...
From the beginning women were given a role in life they were supposed to live by. Women are the child bearer and most toke on the role of the healers of society. It seemed to be the primarily role of women to tend to the physical, mental and spiritual needs of other people. In the early European society, women were the religious leaders, guiding people through the different stages of their lives. As the warrior classes began to form, the role of women beg...
The Tuatha De’ Danaan were more a “godlike” people than anything else, although Celtic mythology would like to have us believe otherwise; “…the Tuatha De’, to some degree, became gods by the time they arrived in Ireland.” (Leeming, 81) This is due to the tradition of the Celts and their telling of the settlers of Ireland all being deities. “In accordance with Irish tradition, much of its history and mythology were viewed as one and the same- many diverse races of both gods and humans alike settling Ireland.” (Rosenberg, 369) We learn, though, that the Tuatha De’ are divided into two societal castes: deities and mortals. Those that were “deemed” deities were craftsmen, artists and noble combatants. The others, “mortals”, were farmers and field workhands. The Tuatha De’ Danaan “deities” were considered such as “…they were the gifted and powerful of their race.” (Rosenberg, 372) This is what elevated them to a godlike status; the ability to perform and execute tasks that required more than just the average education or experience needed by a simple farmer or worker.
Morgan Le Fay was an enchantress from the Arthurian legend, who possessed many good and evil powers. There are many who think that she may have originated from Pagan myths, and writings. It is very possible that this is the case as she has been associated with the Celtic goddesses Modron and Morrigan. It is therefore very likely that there is a connection between Morgan Le Fay and Celtic goddesses ().
My Classmate who traveled to Ireland last year was able to share with me about Saint Bridit, I was anxious to know about the great saints in Ireland. I was eagered to know about Saint Bridit because when I was born my mother named me Cassandra and back in Celtic tradition my name meant Prophetess and Godesss and Bridit was considered to be a Godess as well. While attending Ohio Dominican my instructor gave an lecture on Saint Bridit and women in the ancient Celtic Tradition, which drove me to write about Bridgit. I wanted to know who this women was who brought a powerful presence to Ireland, her name was so recognized that she was honored by man and women in highplaces.
First and foremost, the Celts were a linguistic group that originally hailed from the Bavarian and Bohemian regions of present-day Germany and Czech Republic beginning around 1100 BC. They slowly spread out and migrated to Western Europe (which included modern-day France) and even made it as far as Britain and Ireland. The Celts had 3 main social types: warrior heroes, poets and smiths. Warrior heroes dominated the culture and were the alpha dogs. They were tattooed from head to toe, had long hair worn in ponytails, and wore little to no armor when going into battle. Poets were also held in high esteem since they expressed praise for the warrior heroes. They wrote the great epic poems, as well as love stories and even the law of the people. S...
The return of light is the most basic theme of Imbolc as the sun makes the return bringing new life, healing and warmth. The Goddess, Brighid, appears to be the mostly widely and most common called upon deity during Imbolc and has been referred to as the most “unique” among the deities in the Celtic pantheon (Nock, 2007). The Celtic root of Brig means “exalted”, therefore Brighid is considered the bringer of civilization, contrasting from other deities who were associated with the features of the land – usually confined to a specific geographical area. According to lore, Brighid is the daughter of Dagda, who is known as the Celtic god of fertility and supreme deity of the land (Nock, 2007).
Cerridwen is a Celtic Welsh Triple Goddess; she represents all three stages of the goddess’ powers (maiden, mother, and crone). Her name is derived from the Welsh word “ceryd” which translates as “chiding love,” and “gwen” which means “white and blessed.” She is known as the goddess of death, fertility, regeneration, inspiration, magick, enchantment and knowledge. Cerridwens’ home is located upon an island in a lake, and is known as The Land Beneath the Waves. In Celtic Welsh myth Cerridwen had a cauldron named Amen, which was filled with a magical brew made from six herbs, that she called greal, which has become her primary symbol. She is married to a giant by the name of Tegidfoel, and through this union bore three children, a daughter named
Modern American culture thrives on the ancient religions of the Greeks and Romans. The Hellenistic myths are kept alive today in the popular culture of the western world. Yet little is commonly known of the religions and myths of the ancient people just to the north of the Romans; the Celts (7). The Celtic region spanned the British Isles, and the north western portion of the European continent from prehistoric times until the Roman invasion in the first century where the region shrunk to Ireland and Scotland (7). Though many conquered cultures managed to survive through Roman rule, the Celts did not (5). This essay explores the limitations of our knowledge of the Celtic religion, and ancient Irish culture, it details how we know what we know about Celtic beliefs, discusses the evolution of Irish culture from the early third century, up until the sixteenth century, and looks at the specific myths that have managed to survive to present day.
Henrik Ibsen once said, “A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day, which is an exclusively masculine society, with laws framed by men and with a judicial system that judges feminine conduct from a masculine point of view.”(Notable Quotes) Ibsen’s statement exemplifies what life was like for women during ancient times. In many of the organized ancient civilizations, it was very common to find a primarily patriarchal civilization in government as well as in society. The causing factors can be attributed to different reasons, the main being the Neolithic Revolution and the new found dependence on manpower it caused. As a result of this, a woman found herself to be placed into an entirely different view in the eye of society. In comparison to the early Paleolithic matriarchal societies, the kinds of changes that came about for women due to the introduction of agriculture are shocking. Since the beginnings of the Neolithic era, the role and rights of women in many ancient civilizations began to become limited and discriminatory as a result of their gender.
The ancient Romans often illustrated Cupid as winged child or baby. Who carried a bow and quiver full of arrows.While the idea that Cupid was a child with wings appealed to many poets and artists.There were also different conceptions of this important god.Cupid was the god of love in Roman mythology. The name Cupid is a variation on Cupido (desire), and this god was also known by the name Amor (love). It was
They worshiped Isis, an Egyptian Goddess, and also Mithra, an Iranian God, as well as the Greek Gods, and their own Roman Gods. The Romans took over the gods of peoples they conquered and established their festivals at Rome. Christianity draws heavily from Jewish culture, as Jesus was a Jew, but also bears the inspiration of the Roman Empire. A good example that Wikipedia gives is how the Romans included Greek, Anatolian, and East Mediterranean gods into their religion without adopting some of the cultish practices. The Egyptian goddess Isis, mother of the god Horus This image closely resembles the early Christian iconic art of Mary and Jesus, who, together with Astarte and other Near Eastern goddesses, influenced the rise of the Virgin Mary. The “sistrum”, a tinkling rattle that was shaken during ceremonies honoring the goddess, is the source of the bell that is rung at several points in a Roman Catholic mass. Another image that was adopted by Christianity was the Celtic High Cross, a pre-Christian symbol, which was later mixed and combined to form and symbolize the Christian crucifix. The High Celtic Cross is perhaps the best example of the link between pagan Celtic and Christian traditions and Armenian churches. The mixing of Christian traditions with these pagan, folk traditions resulted in religions such as Roman Catholicism, Irish Catholicism and Greek and Russian
The roles of women was an issue in medieval times and in The Canterbury Tales. In A Knight 's Tale, the women were portrayed as objects. To men they didn 't mean much. Women for them were there to help only when needed and didn 't hold an important role in society. Women were treated differently and had not much of importance.