Book Review: Tending Brigid's Flame by Lunaea Weatherstone

There are some books that I can take a lot of information from and use it in my Craft and this is a book that definitely inspires that feeling. Although it focuses on one Goddess, Brigid, it does mention several other Celtic deities and deities that can be traced back to Brigid from Greek, Egyptian, and even German culture.

Weatherstone focuses most heavily on the fire aspect of Brigid. She does mention that Brigid is an Earth Goddess, a fire Goddess, and a water Goddess but tends to stay more concerned with her flamekeeping aspect. Although I appreciate this as I personally see Brigid more as a fire Goddess and evoke her as such, I felt the balance of the elements was very skewed in one direction and her other aspects became very lost throughout the book. I'm sure this was not the author's intentions but I had hoped to see more on her water and earth aspects as I feel like those are not as thoroughly investigated.

She was superb in her descriptions of flamekeeping for the Goddess Brigid and how to properly devote oneself to Her fully and completely. Many of her crafty ways of devotion I plan to incorporate into my own Craft as I feel very connected to Brigid. Her devotion methods were very simple and would easily fit into anyone's daily routine. Brigid's attributes are what I aspire to have. Her generosity, strength, and courage are all desirable aspects that I, myself, wish to embody. Through devotion and discipline, I plan to incorporate this more.

The book gives a lot of incite into different ways of devotion such as scrying, meditation, divination in respect to tarot, runes, and from natural messages, flamekeeping, writing, poetry, and much more. Some resources described I had never thought of before. After reading this book, I took up the art of jewelry making as a devotion to the Goddess in her smithcrafting element. I use metal to bind the beads together and created my own set of Goddess beads. Although the Goddess is related to fire and I tend to think of her mostly in this way, I found myself drawn to blue and green colored beads for my prayer beads. I was more drawn to her water and earthly aspects during creation, something the author says to just do without thinking why.

Weatherstone is very good with her citations and giving incite to many forms of prayer and worship. She incorporates poetry and scripture from all kinds of books, some of which are Christian. She explains that we shouldn't shy away from certain forms of art just because they are of a different theology but instead to make them our own. I certainly agree with this mindset because in staying away from certain literature we are limiting our minds.

This book can teach people a lot about this wonderful Goddess and all of her glories. Her animals, her plants, her stones, her love, her warmth, her hospitality, her courage, her strength, her forge, her hearth, and her teachings.

Brigid's Cross

Brigid's Cross is a symbol that has been around for quite sometime. It is associated with the Celtic Goddess known as Brigid and also with her saintly aspect. Traditionally, it is created from rushes but it can also be made from other materials. It is represented with four arms and a square shape in the middle and has associations with the sun. These are usually created on Imbolc or St. Brigid's Day as decoration and are a symbol of the Saint/Goddess. Making the cross itself can place a person into a meditative state. They were hung over doorways and windows as a symbol of protection.

If you're wanting to make your own, the best material to use when starting out are pipe cleaners. You'll need quite a few to get a good cross going. I recommend using at least 30. There are many online tutorials and one of them can be found here.

Here is one that I created for Imbolc:

Discovering the Goddess Brigid

I have known Brigid for a very long time but since Imbolc is around the corner I've decided to get to know her more intimately than before. While perusing the books as this neat metaphysical shop down the street from me, I came across a book with a blaring title that made me have to buy it. Now mind you I'm a very big fan of used books so I rarely buy them brand new, but this one called to me so loudly that I could not ignore it. The book is called Tending Brigid's Flame by Lunaea Weatherstone. I've basically dived into it and I'm learning quite a lot about Brigid not only the Goddess but also the Saint.

At first, I wasn't too thrilled to be reading about the Christianized version of my beloved Goddess but then I realized that her saintly aspect is an important part of who she is. Whether Brigid was an actual person or not, the idea of her is what is so magical. In Celtic times, she was considered to be a threefold Goddess. She had three sisters all of the same name but representing different aspects. She's the keeper of the flame within the hearth. She adores generosity and hospitality to all who are looking for an ounce of kindness. She is an Earth Goddess grounded in the warmth of the home. She is a water Goddess who watches over the sacred wells. She is a fire Goddess. She is a patroness of poetry, metalcrafting, livestock, medicine, the arts and much more! Really, there isn't anything this Goddess can't do.

She is considered the daughter of the Dagda and one of the Tuatha De Denann. She has even been said to resemble Athena and Minerva for her cunning wisdom and her craft. Imbolc is her Sabbat and her fire festival. It is also known as St. Brigid's Day and is celebrated on February 1st. She is truly a Goddess to study and can be found ingrained in the Celtic tradition. Upon this Imbolc, take time to get to know her and how you can honor her in your life. Invite her into your home where she opens doors between worlds. You'll be able to feel the warmth radiating throughout your home.