> [!quote] Morgan Daimler. Pagan Portals - Brigid (p. 2). > The Old Irish word Bríg means: power, force, might strength, vigor, virtue, and authority (Quin, 1983). O’hOgáin believes Brigid’s name means ‘exalted one’, similar to the meaning given to the related British Goddess Brigantia of ‘high one’ (O’hOgáin, 2006; Ross, 1970). The name of [[Brigid]] fascinates me. I cannot help but notice how it is connected to power, force, strength, and authority, which leads me to connect her name with Nwyfre, or the energy/life force of the cosmos. As goddess of the Sacred Fire and Healing Well, this connection deepens, but she not a goddess of this pure energy, but she is the goddess of the trained, elevated, and authoritative use of it. Through her name, we see how this power is used in the poetic, creative, healing, and justice and peace making arts. # Is it a title? Some have theorized that Brigid, like the Morrigan, was a title and not a name. This does not ring true to me. Brigid appears to be a name with titles attached to it, and from my reading, no evidence exists of it being used in this way. If it were a title, would we not see someone called Name the Brigid or The Brigid Name? Instead, what we see in the record is one or more personages named Brigid, with titles attached to their name to express their focus or vocation. It is not impossible that Brigid was used as an epithet, much as St Brigid is called Mary of the Gaels. While I cannot discount this possibility, it would indicate that the person in question was working in the power, tradition, or with the same importance as Brigid, and thus tells as as much about her as it would about them. This makes the distinction less important, if such a distinction even exists. # Seeking Nuance The biggest problem with understanding ancient ideas or words is that the nuance natural to the native speakers of that language is lost to us. While it is impossible to reconstruct this nuance with in certainty, we can grope in the darkness in hopes of finding something true. The name Brigid derives from the reconstructed Proto Indo-European (PIE) word, bʰerǵʰ, which means "to rise up, ascend; to be elevated, up high" ^[[Wiktionary-bʰerǵʰ](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/b%CA%B0er%C7%B5%CA%B0-)] which is the root to several interesting words: - Flamen (latin)- priest - Fortis (latin)- strength, power - Brixtus (proto-celtic)- magical formula, incantation In these words, I can see Brigid's connection with poetry (the sister of [[magic]]), the forge, and justice maker. I can glean that the "exalted one" or "high one" gained this status through her strength, power, and [[magic]], and that these are rooted in the powers of life shepherded like her animals, or forged like the iron in the forge, with a mind and will of their own that can be worked with but not owned. She is a goddess of relationships, whether with words, animals, people, healing, or craft. One cannot force their will upon these things, but must understand them and their nature. They can be guided but not controlled.