Reflections on my recent festival celebration.
(Image description: A photo of my Brighid altar. Three pictures of Brighid the Healer, Brighid the Poet, and Brighid the Smith are toward the back. A copper solar disc, glass candle holder, a Brighid doll, a vase with yellow flowers, and various items are in the front. Some Brighid brats and candles are to the left and right of the Brighid doll. A glass of milk, an incense burner with a burning stick of incense, a lighter, a rustic three-armed Brighid’s cross, and a lit up tree are in front, with a blue, Celtic knotwork covered cloth beneath them.) Credit: My own work.
As of this post, I hope your Lúnasa or Imbolc was filled with joy and the season’s blessings. Given how the fire festival fell on the calendar, I’m recounting how my holiday went.
While this holiday is technically the start of autumn, it’s still quite hot here. However, what late summer reveals is just the start of a lengthy shift toward shorter, darker days. In that regard, I’m looking forward to the shift toward that time. Cooler temperatures will eventually and thankfully follow.
My celebration was simple as always, beginning with lighting my lantern. I gave Brighid some rose-scented incense, milk, candlelight, and a poem.
Brighid-Brigantia, Harvest Maiden
Hail, Harvest Maiden!
To Brighid,
Lovely One with twining hair,
You breathe life into the plants so multitudes will be fed.
You sustain our souls with Your sacred flame.
Brigantia,
Nymph who Nourishes,
Mighty Protectress who fights the anguipeds,
who bring blight and discord,
Your healing waters replenish
the parched souls.
Brighid-Brigantia,
the One who leads with
Your guiding star
through the days and seasons,
O Lady of my adoration,
You have my gratitude for all that You have provided!
Hail, O Heavenly, Liminal Queen!
Afterward, I did the seasonal reading for the next three months and received Tinne, Úr, and Fern. When I saw them, I wasn’t entirely sure what to think about this combination of letters. It didn’t feel particularly negative, but it was definitely a complex reading.
I had to take a few days to have some idea of what I would need to contemplate for the next little while. Tinne is linked with creativity, mastery of skills, metals, techniques, and divine influences related to those things. Úr is the soil that’s related to the dead, but also the seedings sprouting from it, death and rebirth combined in various cycles. Lastly, Fern centers around emotional and physical protection, as well as being prepared.
As far as I can tell, it relates to my artistic skills and getting back to those abilities connected with my ancestors. That could mean returning to leatherworking and weaving. It involves working through grief, but also practicing these skills to bring about the mastery of them.
Not only those things, I sense that Brighid wants me to continue to strengthen my magical abilities that I have already been working on. It feels like an intensification of the groundwork I’ve already sown. With this being the start of the harvest season, there’s still tasks to do before resting. I feel joy will be found during these activities, but I feel She wants more dedication to them on my part. With all three letters, there’s a tactile earthiness to them, a need to use my hands to manifest necessary things in the world.
I sense there could be more to discern within this reading, but that’s what I have for now. I’ll need to keep an eye out for anything else that could be hidden within the letters’ contemplation.
May you have a blessed and happy season!
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