Paniteowl:

Please keep all personal comments to IM...wait for Annie to open the floor for questions ..

Cloudburst:

class?

ANNWYN:

Guys..we may have baby attack like last week..so need to kinda keep things moving....if we don't get it in this week...I quit!

PAniteowl:

Everyone be on their best behavior...exclude without comment any harrassers {G}

PAniteowl:

and now...HERE'S ANNIE }}}}}}}}}}}

ANNWYN:

Some of this may be repetitive if you attended last week...and some I won't recover

Last week I talked about trying to simplify my own studies and work within the craft and hoped to do so with this class also...the problem is that even the most simple symbol often has many implications or awakens other thoughts or leads to another door. That really I guess is not a problem but is the beauty of our religion, and in my opinion is the map to all your magical work. You must maintain focus but also be able to receive/retrieve/connect with all the energies available.

In creating a ritual or meditation etc. for a specific work of Sabbat/Esbat you should be looking at the meaning of what you are preparing while also allowing the meaning to come to you. In looking at Imbolc, I have hear it said that it is the one holiday that has so little information written about it...much has been lost with also their being the suggestion that it was not celebrated at all. Keeping in mind of course that YOU are your best teacher...the work you do..the experiences you create with your work are what's real for you as a witch

The idea of limited info on Imbolc on the surface appears true...you get a very basic description from most sources that it is a time of beginnings. It is the time of lambing/first milk of ewes...presided over by Brighid...preparing Brighids bed...welcoming her in...festival of lights/candles - return of light/warmth to the earth...first planting..consecration of farm tools...time of augury/divination for year ahead. If you take any one of these associations, the hidden vitality and potential expressed by Imbolc/Oimelc is tremendous and the measure of importance becomes paramount to the path you will work in the UPCOMING months.

Brighid herself is considered a triple Goddess and also considered to have two sides to her face one hideous and the other lovely. We have the xian church both to thank and spank for the information available to us about Brighid. The church you know made her a Saint. Indeed she is supposed to have been midwife and foster mother to Christ...with an entire story of how she was a servant at the Inn from which Mary and Joseph were turned away...but served as midwife to Mary in the stable adjacent to the Inn...then sent to Ireland as a missionary...stranger than fiction I guess{G}. The church has retained a lot of info on the Goddess disguised under church rhetoric while maintaining the associations we assign to the Goddess. She is of course patron of childbirth and midwifery...she was also called upon to bless children...I have a sample of such a blessing for later if there is time.

She is sometimes said to be Danu herself...the Great Mother..and she is known as daughter of the great God...Dagda. Some say she was born at exactly sunrise with a great flame rising from her head to the heavens signaling the birth of a great babe...the church took this as the start signaling Christ birth. We would attribute it to Brighid herself it is this flame some say that was guarded AT likdare it was guarded by sisters of the church...the Daughters of the Flame...Nine who are "ingheau Anndagha..." reminiscent of the nine muse that tend the fire of he Cauldron of Annwn...of rebirth...while the number of 19 keepers of the flame is traditional..later 19 rather than nine sisters guarded this flame. 19 being associated with the Celtic Lunar cycle of 18.61 years. The flame was extinguished one in the 13th century...relit only to be extinguished again..but it is my understanding that it was relit for Imbolc last year.

Brighid is known as the shining one...Breo-saighit...(Bree o say it)...fiery arrow...Breo from an Irish word meaning firebrand or torch...Breoch..meaning glowing but others suggest her name means Great or High one..an Irish root Brigh = Power..and a Sanskrit "Brahti..." - "high one". The latter seems most applicable considering Brighid's far reaching impact in varying areas of Western Europe under slight variations namewise...but with overlying implications. She was honored by poets and soldiers alike..being a central form of nature and strong woman. She is the "summer of life and the moon of mystic fertility." Although she is the harbringer of spring..she is not yet spring, although she will be Earth Mother in full bloom come Summer...She will steadily move forward to reclaim that which is hers in the endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth

Brighid is said to be able to breath life back in to the dead..as she turns the night of winter toward the day of summer...Imbolc is the dawn of spring. The two faces of Brighid belong to the Maiden and the Crone... Callieach Beur possibly the other face of Brighid..her associations with dark..the spiritual realm...cold.. Imbolc is the "time of the maiden who bridges the gap from the Dark Queen of the Underworld to the Red Mother of Life and Plenty." The mystery here is the unity of Death and life through the Promise of rebirth. Although Imbolc belongs to the Maiden..it is the "rekindling of Motherhood of the goddess". The modern festival for St. Brigit...corresponds to a time of purification following childbirth...40 days for males...80 days for a female child the preparation of the Goddess again for motherhood that is integral for the return of the ripeness to the earth and the aspect of Mother Goddess as protectress of all life.

In her return of spring she brings a return of life...in the dark side she insure the continuance of life even through the dark months by relegating the spark of life to a protected space deep inside...it is this spark that will bring the hope and direction for the year to come...much like Cerridwen is the keep of the seeds

through winter, Brighid is the sacred fire... The Hearth fire of course was the center of many homes in ancient times...it was considered the center of life..both physical for warmth, cooking, light, etc and the inner fire that was the "flame of inspiration" ... human spirit is often depicted as fire. The hearth was also a symbol of the womb transformation of the physical through fire to be born again we can of course draw similar comparison to the cauldron of rebirth. A very simple ceremony conducted at Imbolc is the preparation of Brighids bed..where an icon of Brighid usual of the last grain from the harvest the year before and dressed in her finest was designed to promote a blessing upon the heart fire the success of this ritual... a visit from Brighid insured a good year ahead for the safety and protection of the family and good crops, etc.

Other large shows of sympathetic magic..urging the return of light/warmth were processions of torches culminating in giant bonfires. Other references are made to the serpent emerging from its hole. I look at the above rituals as they move away from church influence, as a progression from a much older expression and exchange of energies between man and the Primal Mother. Here the church's involvement in the knowledge retained about the Goddess becomes a problem as it divorces our memories from the primordial mysteries by focusing on the "light" aspects and covering the deeper fertility emblems that are distinct in the serpent associations with Brighid.

We know the church does not hold high regard for either the snake/serpent or for women{G}. Look again at the time differential between purification for girl/boy children. The snake represents the deep sacred energy also is closely tied to Goddess worship in nearly every culture. It us the supreme symbol of regeneration., the ability to overcome death...the sloughing of its skin to start anew...it is intimate with the earth, symbolizes above and below and represents the unified sexual or life forces of male and female which combine to generate new life...

The wand laid across Brighid is done so usually to form an X...a rune symbolizing union. Although there is a form of serpent worship at Imbolc whereby a stocking is filled with peat and then beaten to enact crushing the serpents head...it is probably a bastardization of an earlier ritual where the serpent was actual venerated....even called forth as this primal life force.

"Early on Brighid's morning
The serpent shall come from the hole
I will not molest the serpent
Nor will the serpent molest me..."

As the Sabbat Imbolc is about fertility that of the Earth and renewal it is also of our own inward fertility and potential there are "ancient myths of a dragon/serpent guarding a mysterious and symbolic treasure perhaps refer to lost secrets of fertility - a hidden power running in fertility currents throughout the countryside". To the ancients...the cosmic serpent spirit of earth and water was everywhere known as the energy source of life - healing powers...oracular powers, fertility and maternal blessings belonged to this spirit all of which belong also to Brighid...Perhaps she is the serpent itself...as we see the serpent also in the garden of eden

It is interesting that Brighid was married to a Fomorian to form an alliance between the Fomorians and the Tuath Danaan...The Fomorians possibly were an ancient peoples representing the darkness night chaos...not necessarily evil as often depicted but keeper of the spirits of the land and the destructive or dark side of nature...but with an intrinsic knowledge also of primal fertility rites..which over time would be thought of decidedly as dark. Perhaps the alliance of the Fomorians and Tuath are a union of our dark sides..without which the continuance of life would not be..now this is just my speculation..In addition, there are passages such as:

"The daughter of Ivor shall come from the knoll
I will not touch the daughter of Ivor
Nor shall she harm me
The head will come off the Caiteanach
(Possibly servant...and possibly rather than killing the snake it is an unleashing of these powers of fertility
The daughter of Ivor will come from the knoll
With tuneful whistleling
(the invention of the whistle is attribute to Brighid)"

"On the day of Bride of the white hills
The noble queen will come from the knoll
I will not molest the noble queen
Nor will the noble queen molest me..."

Now...in my little pea brain...to surmise...that this Brighid..this high one also may represent the queen of the Sidhe....this along with the very base attributes of the serpent brings a deeper meaning to the simple task of preparing of corndolly all dressed in white...and the purpose of me taking you down this road is to say...think carefully of the symbolism in your rituals...

Back if I might to the light side of Brighid...

"Behold the flame of inspiration
Let us acknowledge the Lady on her day
Every day and every night
That I say the genealogy of Brighid
I shall not be killed
I shall not be harmed
I shall not be put into a cell
I shall not be wounded
No fire, no Sun
No moon shall burn me
No lake, no water
No sea shall drown me
For I am the child of Poetry
Poetry child of Reflection
Reflection child of Meditation
Meditation child of love
Love child of research
Research child of Great Knowledge
Great Knowledge, child of Intelligence
Intelligence child of Comprehension
Comprehension Child of Wisdom
Wisdom, child of Brighid."

And with that and fear of crying baby...hehe... I open the floor for questions

Elenya:

{{{{{{{{{{Annie}}}}}}}}}} Thank you!!!!!

Cloudburst:

re: crushing the serpent's head?

Red Deer:

excellent Annie!

ANNWYN:

yes?

melilot:

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{ann}}}}}}}}}}}}}}} just great

ANNWYN:

about head?

Cloudburst:

...could be this is saying begone to the death aspect 'cause it's not his turn anymore{G}

JOHARI:

Thanks Annwyn2

JTull:

Great Annwyn2 Thanx

ANNWYN:

BTW...if any one has own insights about this

please share with me

BRICK36:

many thanks annwyn

Cloudburst:

serpent positive but very deathy

ANNWYN:

Thank you guys

PAniteowl:

Good job Annie {G}

Cloudburst:

{{{{Annie}}}}

ANNWYN:

not understanding Cloudburst

ANNWYN:

Thanx PA

Cloudburst:

OK, the snake is one of the good guys, but tied to the death part of the life/death cycle

Red Deer:

kinda like sexuality, eh Cloud?

ANNWYN:

neither good nor bad

Cloudburst:

and spring is more life-ish. symbolic sacrifice of the deathy part to make room, maybe

oh, RD, really{G}

ANNWYN:

speaking of lake..be sure and look at the water associations with Brighid...wells and lakes...

also this fertility energy underground...????ley lines

Cloudburst:

ley lines, IMHO yes

ANNWYN:

another symbol is the wand...and also her own

silver/white branch....

melilot:

and lets not forget to praise the little one for letting her get through class {G}

Red Deer:

and snakes live underground

Cloudburst:

Yay BABY!!!!!

ANNWYN:

very shamanic implications and again back to a primal fertilty type correlation...just no time to go into everything

Red Deer:

I meant that Christianity made snakes and sex BOTH bad - probably because of their associations with our religion

ANNWYN:

yayayay little one..

Cloudburst:

oh, right, RD - now I get it{G}

ANNWYN:

also snakes bad because they are so closely associated with the Goddess...whom the church wanted to wipe out

Cloudburst:

definitely

ANNWYN:

below ground aspect associated with darkness...as would be the sexual correclation...

dark = evil per church

Red Deer:

snakes = religious visions / experiences for the priestesses & priests

ANNWYN:

also messenger of underworld

Cloudburst:

vision for just anybody= problem for the power of the rising church way back when

THORSSON:

okay, is there any sort of connection between the goddess and why the serpents are on the symbol of medicine?

Red Deer:

because for one who develops immunity over time to their venom (such as by being purposefully bitten just AFTER a snake feeds and has discharged most of its venom) a fully charged snakebite is a POTENT hallucinogen (if you've got the right kind of poisonous snake)

ANNWYN:

THorsson there is and I can't remember it right now but will check it out for you.

Cloudburst:

...which is how the Greeks got the idea of using snakes as an image for visionary healing, RD?

Red Deer:

perhaps... the practice is older than the classic greeks, but they may have been aware of it... or the caduceus may be older than they as well

Cloudburst:

no book research on this, RD, but I *think* the caduceus belonged to the earlier folk in Greece and the hellenes sorta liked the symbol and took it over

Red Deer:

you know the Minoans were bigtime snake folk as were the Egyptians... ever wondered just WHY Cleopatra chose adder venom as her poison?

Cloudburst:

god point, RD...oops, I meant GOOD point, but come to think of it...

ANNWYN:

guys..gotta scoot...have a feeling I'm in hot water as it is{G}

Cloudburst:

BB Annie. great job

ANNWYN:

Merry Part all

Elenya:

Thanks again, Annie