Of a Goddesses and Saint: A Meditation on the Liminal

Of a Goddesses and Saint: A Meditation on the Liminal February 1, 2025

Saint Brigid
window

Thus have I heard. And which I repeat.

Brigid was born in 451 in County Louth. Traditions say her mother, Brocca was a Christian Pict slave. Baptized, tradition says, by Patrick himself. Brigid was said to exhibit signs of holiness from early on, including giving away her father’s money and goods to the poor.

She became a nun, and with seven companions are celebrated as the first nuns in Ireland. She was eventually given “abbatial powers,” authority similar to that of a bishop. Brigid founded convents and monasteries and churches. She is also said to have founded a school for the preservation of art.

Brigid is said to have died at Kildare on the 1st of February, in 525.

And so the 1st of February is her feast.

At least so say the ancient songs…

Now, I believe it was at least likely there really was a Christian of the name, Brigid, a nun and abbess.

But it seems hard to avoid the mixing of that good lady with that other good lady of the same name who preceded her.

That Brigid is one of those triple goddesses so loved by the ancients. And today, the 1st of February is also Imbolc, an ancient festival marking the beginning of Spring, half way between the winter solstice & the spring equinox. And. This day, the 1st of February is also the goddess Brigid’s feast.

I do love these places were mysteries meet. And where it is sometimes hard to untangle one song from another.

As Augusta Gregory writes of the goddess Brigid was “a woman of poetry, and poets worshipped her, for her sway was very great and very noble. And she was a woman of healing along with that, and a woman of smith’s work, and it was she first made the whistle for calling one to another through the night. And the one side of her face was ugly, but the other side was very comely. And the meaning of her name was Breo-saighit, a fiery arrow.”

Brigid is the goddess of Wisdom. And wisdom is considered one of the principle attributes of the saint Brigid.

And I think this the most important thing. Here with this holy woman, at once a Christian saint and an ancient goddess, and the wisdom that can spring up from between.

The liminal.

I think a lot of the meetings of worlds, and especially of the between and betweenness of these things.

That liminal.

I have found in my life that we live and breathe and take our being within the meetings of worlds. The problem is the two of these things are not actually two. Nor, are they precisely one. We live a dance between the many things. And when we are a little fortunate, we notice.

This noticing is a great gift.

It shows the wonder of it all. When we open our hearts to the realities we find our vision complicated, mysteries emerge, the divine erupts into the ordinary.

And, here we are. Today, when so much is going on. Hard times. For many very hard times.

And I think of that place between. The liminal. Its power. Its possibilities. And from that place, and through those ladies, I pray for wisdom for all of us. Something in short supply. But, also, something desperately needed.

May a pause to consider the goddess and the saint, patrons of the wise heart; open our hearts to the deep wisdoms that can heal and carry us forward…

About James Ishmael Ford
James Ishmael Ford's most recent book is the Intimate Way of Zen, available from the publisher Shambhala Publications, your local bookstore, or any online book vendor... You can read more about the author here.
"Brigid is a Goddess, and She will be worshipped as such. May She help Ireland ..."

Of a Goddesses and Saint: A ..."
"This is helpful - thanks for sharing it."

Abandon Hope? A Zen Meditation
"I grew up Christian. To me Buddhism and Christianity are better kept separated. They are ..."

Francis Xavier and Early Buddhist Christian ..."
"These days Goa is the place to be. Out here, Saint Francis Xavier is venerated ..."

Francis Xavier and Early Buddhist Christian ..."

Browse Our Archives

Follow Us!