Brighid the Bard, the Inspirer of the Fire in the Heart and Mind, which produces song, music, poetry, stories, writing, eloquence, theatrical performances, and the harp. Although the oral tradition was extremely important to the Celts, and there were people who spent their lives gathering and remembering the stories of their people, Brighid is said to have invented “talking marks,” the Ogham, or writing. And since all of these are associated with the Element of Air, She is also an Air Goddess.
Her center of worship is Kildare, from the Gaelic “Cill Dara” which means Church of the Oak, which illumines a Druid past. This was built on a site which contained a perpetually tended flame. Her Eternal Flame. It was said to be an ashless fire, which indicates that it must have originally been made with tallow, oil, or even butter. Later, as wood was used to keep the flame alive, it was said that the ashes miraculously disappeared. The tradition is that there were 19 priestesses of Brighid, representing the 19 Year Cycle of the Celtic “Great Year”. Each priestess tended the fire in turn through a 20 day rotation. On the 20th day of each rotation, the fire was said to be tended by the Goddess Herself. It burned for centuries and for long after Christianity came to the Isles until in 1220, the Archbishop of Dublin decided that nuns tending the perpetual flame of Brighid, now St. Brigit, was too connected to pagan beliefs and practices and ordered it extinguished. After the death of the Archbishop, the nuns rekindled the ancient flame and it burned again without break until the Reformation around 350 years later, when the entire convent and church was closed. In modern times, several decades ago, The Flame was lit again, and is tended, by nuns.
