Writing Brigit


Writing Brigit

Many years ago I wrote my first Brigit prayer. Poem. Blessing... I have been writing them ever since, but seldom publish them. Some are carefully researched and crafted, some are simple and straight from the heart. (Belated update: I did eventually publish a book called A Brigit of Ireland Devotional - Sun Among Stars. It contains many of my Brigit poems and prayers, essays, and resources.)

The prayers and blessings of my sisters in the Daughters of the Flame and other Brigit-loving women and men, living and long-dead, fill me with surprise and delight, as well.

I would like to share some of these writings with you.

Following is the one that signs off each of my emails, a reminder to guide my words and intentions with care when I write to anyone. It's as good a place to start as any.


Flame Offering

In the name of the three Brigits

I light the candle of my heart

May I offer it to everyone

gentle and steady

warm and bright



10 December 2019

“Bird of Three Realms” by Mael Brigde



Bird of Three Realms

Brigit’s swan
smooth-necked
glimmering thread
embroiders every realm
draws them nearer to each other
one to one
to one

wings whistling
strong-shouldered
she slips
from the cushioned sky
settles
on the silver-furrowed lake

with one swift push
she breasts
the unresisting glass
drifts   wings curled above her body
digs her beak in argent waters
plucks the floating cress

she hisses at the stranger
open-mouthed
shakes her coal-ridged forehead
sets her foot like blackthorn’s trunk
on damp and yielding earth
feeds along the threshold
of the realms

Brigit’s swan
her shape given the fleeing
gold-chained lovers
her feathers
on whom rain beads and
—harmless—
falls
are sewn together in
the poet’s journey cloak
give vision flight

bird of three realms
she sees
the trembling sky
feels
the shivering waters
hears
the earth grumbling
beneath her feet



Image: Mute swan (Cygnus olor) looking for food in waves, Windermere, England. By Michal  
            Klajban [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]