The Sacred Flame
By: Aisling Bronach of House Shadow Drake
St. Brigit was the daughter of a Leinster Druid or nobleman named Dubhthach.
Dubhthach, although married, engaged in sexual relations with one of his slaves
named Broicsech. She became pregnant with his child and was sold to another man
because of the obvious objections of his wife. The man whom Broicsech was sold to
was a Druid, and when she had the child he cared for the babe as if it were his
own. When she was born, an angel came and told her mother to name the child Brigit.
The Druid, who is never actually named, acts as her mentor and teaches the young
Brigit everything he knows. As he was sleeping one day, three angels came and
baptized her. Eventually, when she is much older, the Druid searches for her real
father and takes her to meet him. Brigit performed many miracles, but also kept to
the old Druidic teachings as well. She was quite fond of beer and ale which is
obvious from most of the manuscripts that have been written concerning her. It was
also recorded that she was overly charitable, but was also capable of cursing just
as easily as she was of blessing someone.
Brigit's real father did not particularly care for his daughter. It is little
wonder the cause when we take into consideration that she was constantly giving
away all of his possessions to the needy and the poor. This conflict climaxes when
she gives her father's sword away. The sword in the Celtic beliefs was considered
to hold the very soul of the person to whom it belonged, so it is little wonder
that her father reacted such as he did. Dubhthach brought the matter before the
king who decided in the favor of Brigit, regarding the matter as an act of divine
intervention.
Dubhthach then tries to dispose of his daughter by marrying her off. She then
tears her eye completely out in a refusal of the marriage. Her father then agrees
that he will never make her marry someone that she does not wish to go to
willingly. It is after this episode that she and a group of female companions
together journey to Bishop Mel in Telcha Mide to become nuns. It is interesting to
remark that when she actually completed the ceremony, she chose the beatitude of
mercy to follow.
From what scant evidence remains, it is believed that she lived between 454-524
AD Her earlier life was spent studying under her Druidic stepfather. Once she
performed a miracle concerning the churning of butter so that it overflowed in
abundance. So thankful was her stepfather that he became a baptized Christian and
was said to have remained with Brigit for the rest of his life. It was said that
whatever she touched would multiply.
At this time, the lines between Christianity and the native pagan religion where
very difficult to decipher between. Before Brigit was born, it was prophesied that
she would bring the world of pagans and Christians together. This was further
emphasized by her birth, as her mother brought her forth as her first foot stepped
into the cottage entrance. In Ireland, a group of female Druids called the
ban-fa'thi were diviners very similar to the priestesses of St Brigit. The
original church which she built was Kildare, formerly Cill Dara or the church of
the oak. The oak, a prominent symbol in Irish religion is yet further emphasis of
the nearly indistinguishable boundaries between the two religions.
The priestess of St. Brigit maintained a perpetual fire at the monastery. It is
recorded that before the arrival of St. Brigit in Kildare, the filidh also kept
a sacred flame at the same location.5 The virginal nuns of the monastery were
called Inghean au dagha, or the Daughters of the Fire. Where as the actual
fire-keepers were referred to as Breochwidh.
The fire itself was fed with hawthorn branches. It was reported by Gerald of
Wales in the 1180's that no matter how much fuel was added the amount of the ashes
never increased.13 The fire was though to be inextinguishable because of the care
that was taken to keep it fed by the nuns. The actual area were the fire was housed
was 20 foot square and was sheltered by a stone roof.
People flocked to Brigit, and as her ministry grew she requested for Bishop Mel
to find land for her to build a city. Her only opposition was from a man by the
name of Aillil, son of Dunlag. No reason is given for why he was opposed to the
building of this city, but it can be assumed from historical texts that this was
probably due to the locality of his fort, Dun Aillil which was one of the ancient
religious sites of the Celtic peoples. It would also be a suitable place for the
building of a monastery as it was already deemed a religious site by the local
inhabitants.
A manuscript written by Cogitosus during the seventh century entitled, The Life
of Brigit, gives a fairly detailed description of the Kildare monastery. It was
said that both the bodies of Archbishop Conled and Brigit herself are buried one
each side of the church altar. The sarcophagi which contained their bodies were
reported to be covered with precious gems and metal. These were said to be
displayed in such a way as to form relief patterns and pictures of crowns. A
curious note discloses that the church which stood at this point in time was not
the original one. It had been built to accommodate the increasing number of
worshippers that were flocking to the monastery. The church itself was divided into
three oratories all which are contained within the same building. The reason for
this was that it allowed the males and females to be divided by sex, and let them
also take part in the mysteries of the church under the same roof. The last section
of the church is divided lengthwise. The females were always on the left-hand side,
whereas the males were always on the right. It was the males who were in charge of
the mysteries of the church as well as a sacrifice which was offered up to Jesus
Christ, an aspect of the Christian trinity.
It is thought that Kildare might have originally been a brudin. To be in the
brudins, means to be in the faeries. The brudins were a place were a magical
cauldron could be found and a sacred flame was kept all year round. They also
served as public feeding houses.
St. Brigit was often associated with the goddess Brigit. Part of the reason for
this may be due to the name of Brigit herself. Many of those were sought to follow
the Christian religion would naturally feel more comfortable with venerating
someone with whom they were already familiar with. The practices of the monastery
greatly resembled those practiced by the Druidic predecessors. In fact, the feast
day sacred to St. Brigit was the same as that of the goddesses Brigit; Oimlec,
February 1.
On Oimlec, the fire was extinguished and rekindled. The keeping of the fire was
considered to be an aberration to the church by the Archbishop of Dublin in 1220.
He was so shocked at the monastery that he ordered the fire to be extinguish. It
was his firm belief that Kildare was merely a revival of pagan fire-worshipping
under the guise of Christianity. A second claim was made during the reign of Henry
VIII which ordered the extinguishing of the flame and the closing of the monastery
itself. The fire was immediately re-lit the following year, and the nunnery was
reopened.
The worship of St. Brigit became so widespread that she came to be known as the
'Mary of the Gaels,' or Ban-chuideachaidh Moire in Gaelic. New legends arose which
depicted her as being the nursemaid of the infant Jesus. It is little wonder that
the help of St. Brigit was sought by pregnant women for aid in an easy
delivery.
On Oimlec, a Brideo'g, or corn dolly, was made and carried around from door to
door. Gifts were then given to the Brideo'g, usually small cakes and present. The
dolly was then placed into a small cradle and given a wand. The cradle was then
placed by the hearth. In the morning, if the marks of the wand could be seen in the
ashes of the hearth fire, it would be considered to be a prosperous new year
because Brigit had come to visit them.
She was considered to aid in the approach of spring and aspects of fertility.
St. Brigit was also closely associated with the Bride, and harmonious marriage.
Offerings were given to her to ensure a peaceful and fertile marriage. Much of what
was associated with the goddess Brigit was denoted to St. Brigit.
