Brighid’s Fire Meal Blessing
The goddess Brighid is well known as a keeper of the hearth fires in the home. As such, she is often associated with matters of domesticity, including cooking and kitchen magic. If you’re prepped a meal and you’re getting ready to dig in, take a moment to bless your food in Brighid’s name.
Brighid is the lady of flame,
the fire that cooks our food!
Hail to her and to the hearth,
and may our meal be good!
Thanks to Brighid Meal Blessing
In some modern Pagan traditions, it is customary to offer a blessing before a meal, particularly if it’s being held in a ritual context. At Imbolc, it’s a season to honour Brighid, the goddess of hearth, home and domesticity. Celebrate her role as a goddess of the home fires, and offer this simple blessing of gratitude before your Imbolc feast.
This is the season of Brighid,
She who protects our hearth and home.
We honour her and thank her,
for keeping us warm as we eat this meal.
Great Lady, bless us and this food,
and protect us in your name.
End of Winter Meal Blessing
Although Imbolc isn’t truly the end of winter–and depending on where you live, you might be right smack in the middle of the worst weather of the season–in many traditions, it is a time to look forward towards the spring. It’s a good time to honour the idea that the days are starting to grow a little bit longer and that soon, the harsh cold winter will be coming to an end. Feel free to hold off on this prayer until it’s a little more seasonally appropriate for your area.
The winter is coming to an end
The stores of food are dwindling,
And yet we eat, and stay warm
In the chilled winter months.
We are grateful for our good fortune,
And for the food before us.
Prayer to Brigantia, Keeper of the Forge
The goddess Brighid was known by many names. In parts of northern Britain, she was called Brigantia, and was seen as a keeper of the forge. In this aspect, she is associated with smith craft and cauldrons. She was connected to the Roman goddess Victoria, a deity who was the personification of victory in battle, as well as loyalty. In some legends she is invoked as Minerva, the warrior goddess. Although as Brigantia she is not nearly as famous as her Brighid aspect, she is seen as the goddess who bestowed the title of Brigantes upon a pan-Celtic tribe in England’s border region.
Hail, Brigantia! Keeper of the forge,
she who shapes the world itself with fire,
she who ignites the spark of passion in the poets,
she who leads the clans with a warrior’s cry,
she who is the bride of the islands,
and who leads the fight of freedom.
Hail, Brigantia! Defender of kin and hearth,
she who inspires the bards to sing,
she who drives the smith to raise his hammer,
she who is a fire sweeping across the land.
Prayer to Brighid, Keeper of the Flame
Among her many other aspects, Brighid is the keeper of the flame, and this simple prayer honours her in that role.
Mighty Brighid, keeper of the flame,
blazing in the darkness of winter.
O goddess, we honour you, bringer of light,
healer, exalted one.
Bless us now, hearth mother,
that we may be as fruitful as the soil itself,
and our lives abundant and fertile.
Prayer to Brighid, Bride of Earth
In many modern Pagan traditions, the Imbolc sabbat is a time to celebrate Brighid, the Celtic hearth goddess. Among her many other aspects, she is known as the Bride of Earth, and is the patroness of domesticity and home. This simple prayer honours her in that role.
Bride of the earth,
sister of the faeries,
daughter of the Tuatha de Danaan,
keeper of the eternal flame.
In autumn, the nights began to lengthen,
and the days grew shorter,
as the earth went to sleep.
Now, Brighid stokes her fire,
burning flames in the hearth,
bringing light back to us once more.
Winter is brief, but life is forever.
Brighid makes it so.
Smooring the Fire—A Prayer to Brighid
Alexander Carmichael was a folklorist and author who spent nearly five decades travelling around the highlands of Scotland collecting stories, prayers and songs. His most noteworthy work, the Carmina Gadelica, is an interesting blend of early Pagan tradition mixed with the influences of Christianity. Smooring the Fire is from Carmichael’s Carmina Gadelica, published 1900, and is a Gaelic hymn to Brighid, honouring the tradition of smooring, or dampening, the hearth fire at night, and particularly on the night before Imbolc.
An Tri numh (The sacred Three)
A chumhnadh, (To save,)
A chomhnadh, (To shield,)
A chomraig (To surround)
An tula, (the hearth)
An taighe, (The house,)
An teaghlaich, (The household,)
An oidhche, (This eve,)
An nochd, (This night,)
O! an oidhche, (Oh! this eve,)
An nochd, (This night,)
Agus gach oidhche, (And every night,)
Gach aon oidhche. (Each single night.)
Amen.
Brigid Crosses are traditionally made from reeds but can be made from several alternatives so long as they are pliable. Willow also works and is good for the symbolism. It needs a long soaking and is perhaps not the easiest to work with but makes a wonderful cross. Go for a walk, see what you can find in the hedgerows and on the river banks, use straws or even cut long strips of paper.
