> [!quote] Morgan Daimler. Pagan Portals - Brigid (p. 3). > A pan-Celtic Goddess, Brigid is found across a variety of Celtic cultures; in Ireland (in Irish) she is Bríd, or Brighid, which has been Anglicized to Bridgid or Bridgit; In Scotland she is Bride and in Wales she is Ffraid. In Old Irish her name was Brig or Bric, in Middle Irish she was Brigit, while in Celtic Britain she was Brigantia, and in Gaul she was Brigandu. I am dubious of the neo-pagan instinct or tradition to flatten deities from different pantheons into a single deity, often dedicated to a single domain or to a simple god and goddess duotheism. The [[Brigid]] I have encountered in my dreams, prayers, and meditations is distinctively Irish in character, specifically encouraging me to learn the Irish Language as an act of devotion. I have prayed about this and have not received a clear answer. My impression is that this is a mystery for each person to seek for themselves and follow the path they find there. # The Metaphysical Problem The root problem of all spirituality is how we understand the spirits we encounter in the work and craft. Are they aspects of our psyche? Are the separate beings? Are they a reality in and of themself? Are they aspects of another transcendent force or being? My answer to these questions is yes. In brief, I believe in One God, the One Life that I call HaMakom Chiuteinu, "The Place of our Aliveness," who is also known as YHVH and Elohim in the Jewish and Christian Faiths. This God is a mutually interactive verb relating the relationship between two subjects where each is the object of the other. God is a process. Through this lens, the distinction between Elohim (a god) and the Elohim (the council of the gods) evaporates. As a panentheist, I believe God is in all and all is in God. God is in me, but I am not God. I am in God. It might be handy to see deity as a [[God is a Fractal|fractal]]. The image of God is there, but the totality is beyond the confines of the beyond the scope of the limited perspective of viewing the individual. To me, Brigid is a goddess, one of the Elohim, but not the totality of God. As a human, I understand things that are not me by the mental models and understandings I have in myself. All knowledge passes through my imagination and resonates parts within me. Our life experience will always color all our experiences. The commonality between the Brigid I work with and what I hear from others who work with her is huge. We are encountering someone filtered through our own experiences. That is why my answer is all the above. # The Cultural Problem The other issue with a pan-Celtic Brigid is cultural. I don't want to ignore the differences between these cultures. I don't what to pretend that all Celtic peoples are a monolith. This gets even more fraught when we consider Maman Brigitte from Haitian Vodou, who is connected to Brigid of Kildare. Whether we believe Brigid is a metaphysical reality or a cultural character, the question of the various cultural incarnations of Brigid poses an issue: Should we incorporate them into our understanding of Brigid and if so, how? As stated above, I believe that a real Brigid exists, and like all of reality, she is also a fractal. The branch that we call Brigid is connected to and related with the other Brigids. They are not equivalent, but they are the same. To say that another way: They are not interchangeable, but they are interconnected. ![[Fractal.jpg]] # Brigantī, the Proto-Celtic Brigid Brigantī is the reconstructed name of the Proto-Celtic name, title, or deity. While we have no evidence that such a deity or hero existed, if we are going to use the fractal model for Brigid, Brigantī would be the name of the branch containing the many Brigids. Since we know nothing for certain about Brigantī, including whether she ever had devotees, I use this as a name and not as a focus of devotion. Brigantī is the root of the tree of Brigid, in theory. # Brigandu/Brigindo, the Gaulish Brigid > [!quote] [Oxford Reference](https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095527516) > Goddess of eastern Gaul known only from inscriptions, thought to be identified with Brigantia and Brigit. Brigandu is attested by inscriptions and place names throughout Europe. We have none of her stories, or any other information other than her name. Brigandu is where Brigid comes into history, but with no real detail about her. # Brigantia, the Gallo-Roman / Romano-British Brigid We know so little about Brigantia, and what we do know comes from such scant material from Gallo-Roman and Romano-British religions of Late Antiquity. There may be enough to reconstruct Brigantia, or at the very least a version of her. > [!quote] [Oxford Reference](https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095527312?p=emailAIEPFQuLUYXZo&d=/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095527312) > British goddess at the time of the Roman occupation, a personification of the hegemony of the Brigantes. She was concerned with river and water cults, and a centre of her worship was in what is now West Riding, Yorkshire. She is probably identical with the Gaulish goddess Brigindo, known only from inscription. The Romans equated her with Minerva, while more recent commentators have seen a link with Brigit. The Brigantes lived in modern day Yorkshire, Lancashire, Northumberland, and Durham, and Claudius Ptolemy ( c. 100 – c. 170 AD), they were in Ireland too where they could be found in Wexford, Kilkenny and Waterford. ^[[Wilkipedia- Brigantes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigantes)] > [!quote] [National Museum Scotland](https://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-100-037-663-C) > Brigantia is shown in the guise of Minerva, patron goddess of engineers and of war. She is crowned and winged, holding a spear and a globe. The inscription reads: 'Sacred to Brigantia: Amandus, the engineer, fulfilled the order by command'. Brigantia was syncretized with Victoria, Tyche/Fortuna, and Minerva. She had the divine epithet Caelestis ("Heavenly, Celestial") which associated her with the constellation of Virgo and carrying the balance of justice. ^[[Wikipedia- Brigantia (goddess)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigantia_(goddess)] So let's reconstruct a rough idea of who Brigantia was. As Dea Caelestis, Brigantia was probably seen as a Divine Mother and goddess of Justice, associated with rivers, wells, and water. Through her association with Victoria, she was the embodiment of victory, hegemony, and right to rule. We see her as winged in her depictions as the spirit of Victoria. Since she was associated with Fortuna, she was a luck goddess dedicated to virtue or strength of character. Her association with Minerva adds [[5- Wisdom|wisdom]], law, the arts, trade, and strategy. This reconstruction tells us nothing of her stories or devotion, but does build an image similar to the Irish Brigid. # Brigid, The Irish Brigid Brigid, Brighid, Brid, Brig, or Bric, is a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann. She is the focus of most of my work and is discussed throughout the rest of my work. # St Brigid of Kildare, the Christian Brigid St Brigid of Kildare (c. 451 – 525) was the former chief druid of a temple of the goddess Brigid, whose life was harmonized and syncretized with the goddess. She is a branch off of the goddess Brigid who is distinct from and yet containing the pattern of the goddess that preceded her. # Bride, the Scottish Brigid > [!quote] Morgan Daimler. Pagan Portals - Brigid: Meeting The Celtic Goddess Of Poetry, Forge, And Healing Well (p. 17). > Her special day was Imbolc, called there ‘Là Fèill Bhrìde’, the feast of Bride, and celebrated as it was in Ireland on February 1st. The bulk of mythology in Scotland surrounding Bride on Imbolc places her in opposition with the winter Goddess the Cailleach. In some places Bride is seen as having a brother named Angus, seeming to reflect the Irish mythology, but in other areas Angus is Bride’s lover or spouse. Bride is the name of Brigid in Scotland, but like her Irish counterpart contains the pattern of the Scottish goddess Brigid in her devotion. Much of what we know about her is from the Carmina Gadelica and will be incorporated into our discussion of Brigid of the Tuathe and St Brigid of Kildare. The enmity between Bride and the Cailleach, who in some versions of the story in Ireland is the sister of Aine, transforms Bride into the goddess of spring. It makes an interesting cycle from Bride/Brigid in spring, Aine the burning sun in Summer, and the Cailleach in Winter. # Ffraid, the Welsh Brigid St Ffraid is the Welsh name for St Brigid of Kildare and may incorporate elements of older Brigantia tradition or a more specifically Welsh incarnation of her. # Maman Brigitte, Haitian Vodou Brigid Maman Brigitte, also known as Gran Brigitte, Grann Brigitte, Manman, Manman Brigit, and Maman Brijit, is a loa of Haitian Vodou. Out of respect for this closed practice, I will not be discussing her except to acknowledge her existence.