Joseph Campbell called it the "Masks of God." For us to see a light that too bright, hear a sound that is too loud, a glory that is too great, we must put a mask upon it. That mask might have gender, male or female, and for me that mask is the Celtic Goddess Brigid. Her name is actually a title meaning "the Sublime One."
 Art by Miranda Gray & Courtney Davis |
Brigid has three areas of patronage: healing, poetry and smithcraft. Thus she is know as a triple goddess. Although often seen as a maid and honored with the first signs of spring, she reveals a crone aspect in her wisdom of the forge and a matron aspect as muse to the Bards. As a transitional deity between winter and spring, Brigid is often depicted in two forms: the "Cailleach" or old crone of winter, and a fair young maiden of spring. She is also associated with the hearth, fertility and agriculture. She is associated with fire showing her to be a solar goddess making her lineage quite ancient. As men rose in dominance, the sun deity became male and women were represented by the shadows of the moon. |
I would conclude that Brigid is a composite of many earlier goddesses who came together as communities merged and civilization grew. I list just a few of the many links about Brigid.
A Brigit's Cross
