 Cross was traditionally hung on the kitchen wall to protect the the house from fire and evil. Even today a Brigid's Cross can be found in many Irish homes, especially in rural areas.
In Christian mythology, St. Brigid and her cross are linked together by a story about her weaving this form of cross at the death bed of a pagan chieftain who upon hearing what the cross meant, asked to be baptized.
Gerald of Wales reported in the 12th century that a company of nuns attended an ‘inextinguishable’ fire at Kildare in St Brigid's honour. Although it had been kept burning for 500 years, it had produced no ash. Men were not allowed near the fire.
According to myth, Saint Brigid travelled to Glastonbury and set up a small chapel on Bride's Mound. She is one of the four holy people celebrated with a small stone monument in the Glastonbury Tercentennial Labyrinth.
Links to the Goddess DanuThe author Felicity Hayes-McCoy links St. Bridget to the Celtic Goddess Danu. The stories associated with St. Bridget are echoes of the ancient story of the Goddess Danu. Danu’s people were tribal Celts who brought her worship with them to Ireland along with their skill as herdsmen and their knowledge of farming crops. Danu was their fertility goddess whose powerful energy revitalised the earth each year in spring. There are stories of seeds waking to the pressure of her feet, and flowers springing up where her cloak touches the fields.
She was a powerful personification of fertility and in Celtic mythology, her marriage to the shining sun god Lugh combined the elements of light, heat and water which brought life to the fields in springtime. Danu’s name means ‘water’. Without water nothing can grow so, for the Celts, she was an image of the essence of life itself. And she’s the prototype of the medieval St. Bridget, who controlled the weather, cured infertility, blessed the housewives’ labour and increased the farmer’s herds. More ...
Alternative ChronologyThe chronology of Celtic Goddess Brigid transposing into the Christian Saint Brigid is not universally accepted. The first mention of the Goddess Brigid in Irish literature is in Cormac's glossary from the 10th century, there is no mention of the Goddess Brigit in the 8th to 10th century Mythological Cycle. So it could be argued that 5th century Saint Brigid predates the Goddess Brigid.
Ancient Solar calendarAncient cultures such as the Neolithic (Stone Age) people who build Newgrange in Ireland aligned their monuments to the major solar events, the Winter Solstice, the Spring Equinox, the Summer Solstice and the Autumn Equinox. The solar year was further divided to mark the half way points between the major solar events giving the cross quarter days of Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain.
Boyne Valley ToursPrivate Tours by Limousine or Mercedes-Benz Minivan. Pick up and return to your accommodation or cruise ship. Suggested day tour: Brú na Bóinne Visitors Centre and Newgrange, the 10th century High Crosses and Round Tower at Monasterboice, Hill of Tara the seat of the High Kings of Ireland, Bective Abbey and Trim Castle the largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland. More ...