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Here's a post on my relationship with Brighid and my work as a Flamekeeper, which was founded by Canadian Mael Brigide many years ago. I thought you all might enjoy it:

B is for Brighid: Goddess, Saint and Lwa

Here in the Okanagan Valley, the signs of spring are everywhere.

Beannachtaí Féile Imbolg! Beannachtaí Féile Bríde. Blessings of Imbolc! Blessings of Brigid's Feast! At Imbolc we are at the crossroads of the winter, six weeks past winter solstice, six weeks until spring equinox. 

The first days of February have been clear, frosty, but the sun has such a seductive heat in Ireland even in February. They say that weather like this augurs more cold, as the Cailleach is yet to release a vice-like grip on the land.  If it had been overcast and mild then the springtime was come.

She giggles!
     “Knock Knock.”
          “Who’s there?”
               “Change.”
                    “Change Who?”
“Well, that’s always the question, isn’t it?”

    The NEW ONES are stirring. Feel the vibration of Nature in February. Every-thing in potential, teeming underground, sap rising, hibernation ending. It can be hard to believe, sometimes, that change will come. Imbolc is Her promise.
     As Above (the Equator):Imbolc/Candlemas is the day to honor the Goddess Brigit of Ireland, powerful in the success of Her worshippers’ adaptation. Her sacred flame was kept burning by priestesses, then by nuns, into the 16th century, and relit at Kildare in 1993. It is burning there tonight. Celebrants light every lamp in the home, build fires high, keep one candle burning, mindfully, all night long.
     So Below (the Equator): In Brazil, on February 2^nd, a day now consecrated to “Our Lady of Seafaring,” thousands of Candomble practitioners gather on the beaches at dawn, sending flower offerings out to sea for “The Queen of the Ocean,” the Goddess Yemanja, deity of fisher-people and shipwreck survivors, the female principle of creation, and the spirit of moonlight.
     Greetings Imbolc! Blessings Candlemas! Offerings to the Sea!
Carolyn Myers © Mother Tongue Ink 2014

Brigid
of the Sacred Oak.
Brigid
of the Sacred Flame.

Sacred smith
shape our lives
in the cauldron of destiny.

Ignite our creativity
forge our passions.

Spill forth
in the language of poetry
falling leaves
and hot metal.

Brigid
Sacred Guardian
Keeper of flame
hope and hearts.

Enliven our work
guide our steps
inspire our message.

Thank you.

(modified from earlier poem: Woodspriestess: Brigid)

Last year I came across a traditional Irish hymn to Brigid, Gabhaim Molta Bríde. Struck by its haunting tune, taut metaphors, and the precision and restraint of its lyrics, I sat down with a prose translation and an Irish dictionary to work up an English version that would fit the tune while remaining as true as possible to the original text.

The song was first collected in the 19^th century. How old it may be is impossible to say. But reading M. L. West's magisterial Indo-European Poetry and Myth, I cannot fail to be impressed by just how faithfully this hymn preserves the characteristics of ancient Indo-European hymnody. In style and content, Song of Brigid compares with the hymns of the Rig-Veda.

It delights me that the song applies as well to goddess as to saint. One can hardly help but admire a hymn that can be sung by pagan and Christian alike.

Invocation can be a magickal act unto itself, meant to bring strength, healing and attunement. Invocation can also be an important part of a ceremony.

 Tarot cards can strengthen the magick of your invocation.