Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Goddess Energy-In the Footsteps of Bridget

The reason I'm even in Ireland is because of my great friend, Carol Lee Campbell. Although we had talked about going to Ireland one year ago,
never did we think at the time that we were manifesting this trip together with purpose and meaning.

Carol has created a set of stones, a meditation tool based on Goddess mythology called Crone Stones. She also teaches classes on this subject. And is currently writing a book. This has been her life's work, her study of Goddess Myth. The theme for this trip is titled, "In the Footsteps of Bridget."
Bridget is perhaps one of the most complex and contradictory Goddesses of the Celtic pantheon. Bridget can be seen as the most powerful religious figure in all of Irish history. Many layers of separate traditions have intertwined, making her impact complicated but allowing her to move so effortlessly down through the centuries. She has succeeded in traveling intact through generations, fulling different roles in divergent times. She was, and continues to be known by many names. Referred to as Bride, Bridey, Brighid, Brigit, Briggidda, Brigantia.

But this is not a history lesson on Bridget nor is Carol's work an anthology of knowledge based on Goddess myth. She is not reinventing the wheel for modern times. She is asking us to see the layers and teaches us to bridge the gap between many traditions so we can empower ourselves as women. There is a point to all of this after all
Carol's words:
By visiting the lovely town of Kildare we are witness to the amazing energy source that Bridget represents. The Catholics who live here love her and there does not appear to be a disconnect between pagan goddess and patron saint. Even in the church there is open discussion about the goddess named Bridget. While at the healing well, a small park-like quadrant of land which houses one of Bridget's many stone covered well-springs, families visited to let their children run around while mothers filled plastic bottles with the holy waters of the well which they say will be used topically for sick children and injured folk. The seamless line between mundane and sacred is refreshing. There also are subtle hints suggesting that Ireland's history contains an era where women served as leaders in the religious community. As one of the caretakers of the church said, only women were allowed into the area to tend Bridget's flame.
Her evolution from Goddess to saint linked Pagan Celtic and Christian traditions much the same way the cauldron of Cerridwen and the Holy Grail were combined in Arthurian legend. She acts as a bridge between the two worlds and successfully made back the transition back to Goddess again with most of her traditions retained. The worship of Saint Bridget has persisted up until the early 20th century with her Irish cult nearly supplanting that of Mary. She is commemorated in both Ireland and the highlands and islands of Scotland.

Brigit, ever excellent women,
golden sparkling flame,
lead us to the eternal Kingdom,
the dazzling resplendent sun.

Even in her NEW incarnation as a Catholic saint her previous existence is affirmed. The eternal flame at her convent at Kildare suggest its existence as having pagan and/or Druidic. The shrine at Kildare is assumed to be a Christian survival of an ancient college of vestal priestesses who were trained and then scattered throughout the land to tend scared wells, groves, caves and hills. These priestesses were originally committed to thirty years in service but after this period they were free to marry. The site for the monastery at Kildare was chosen for its elevation and also for the ancient oak found there, considered so sacred that no weapon was permitted to be placed near it. The word Kildare, comes from "Cill Dara," the Church of the Oak. The entire area was known as Civitas Brigitae, The City of Brigid."

A dialog between Molly and Carol: