Brigid (aka Brigit, Bridgit, Brighid, Bride) is a complex goddess whose mythology appears to be heavily influenced by various Celtic tribal traditions. She is associated with healing, poetry, smithcraft, wisdom, magick and fertility. On this day we make offerings to the Goddess of Commerce, Grain and Health – Cerridwen.
If you’re looking for prayers or blessings to celebrate the sabbat of Imbolc, here’s where you’ll find a selection of original devotionals that bid farewell to the winter months and honor the goddess Brighid, as well as seasonal blessings for your meals, hearth, and home. Feel free to adjust or modify these prayers as you need to, in order to fit the themes of your own magical tradition and beliefs.
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Prayer To Goddess Brigid
Imbolc gets its name from the Irish Gaelic Oimelc, which translates to “ewe’s milk.”
Other celebrations that fall around this time include the Roman Lupercalia, Egypt’s Feast of Nut, and Candelmas.
Traditionally, this sabbat is held to honor the Celtic goddess Brighid, patron of hearthfires and domestic life.
Brighid’s Fire Meal Blessing
Brighid
Brighid is well known as a goddess of healing. foxline / Getty Images
The goddess Brighid is well known as a keeper of the hearth fires in the home. As such, she is often associated with matters of domesticity, including cooking and kitchen magic. If you’re prepped a meal and you’re getting ready to dig in, take a moment to bless your food in Brighid’s name.
Brighid is the lady of flame,
the fire that cooks our food!
Hail to her and to the hearth,
and may our meal be good!
Thanks to Brighid Meal Blessing
In some modern Pagan traditions, it is customary to offer a blessing before a meal, particularly if it’s being held in a ritual context. At Imbolc, it’s a season to honor Brighid, the goddess of hearth, home and domesticity. Celebrate her role as a goddess of the homefires, and offer this simple blessing of gratitude before your Imbolc feast.
This is the season of Brighid,
She who protects our hearth and home.
We honor her and thank her,
for keeping us warm as we eat this meal.
Great Lady, bless us and this food,
and protect us in your name.
End of Winter Meal Blessing
Cook pot over a hearth fire
Farluk / E+ / Getty Images Plus
Although Imbolc isn’t truly the end of winter–and depending on where you live, you might be right smack in the middle of the worst weather of the season–in many traditions, it is a time to look forward towards the spring. It’s a good time to honor the idea that the days are starting to grow a little bit longer and that soon, the harsh cold winter will be coming to an end. Feel free to hold off on this prayer until it’s a little more seasonally appropriate for your area.
The winter is coming to an end
The stores of food are dwindling,
And yet we eat, and stay warm
In the chilled winter months.
We are grateful for our good fortune,
And for the food before us.
Prayer to Brigantia, Keeper of the Forge
The goddess Brighid was known by many names. In parts of northern Britain, she was called Brigantia, and was seen as a keeper of the forge. In this aspect, she is associated with smithcraft and cauldrons. She was connected to the Roman goddess Victoria, a deity who was the personification of victory in battle, as well as loyalty. In some legends she is invoked as Minerva, the warrior goddess. Although as Brigantia she is not nearly as famous as her Brighid aspect, she is seen as the goddess who bestowed the title of Brigantes upon a pan-Celtic tribe in England’s border region.
Hail, Brigantia! Keeper of the forge,
she who shapes the world itself with fire,
she who ignites the spark of passion in the poets,
she who leads the clans with a warrior’s cry,
she who is the bride of the islands,
and who leads the fight of freedom.
Hail, Brigantia! Defender of kin and hearth,
she who inspires the bards to sing,
she who drives the smith to raise his hammer,
she who is a fire sweeping across the land.
Prayer to Brighid, Keeper of the Flame
Among her many other aspects, Brighid is the keeper of the flame, and this simple prayer honors her in that role.
Mighty Brighid, keeper of the flame,
blazing in the darkness of winter.
O goddess, we honor you, bringer of light,
healer, exalted one.
Bless us now, hearth mother,
that we may be as fruitful as the soil itself,
and our lives abundant and fertile.
Prayers to Goddess Athena
Prayer To Athena
by Liz “Morning Dove” La Posta
Oh, wise Athena with your spear and shield, protect me and my family from
injustice and harm. Council me with your wisdom so that I may make the best decisions. Grant me success in my endeavors, but keep me humble so that I might not become condescending to others. I thank you for the many times you have guided me on my Path. Share with me your mysteries and I will do my best to follow. Athena my Goddess, I pray this in your sacred name, and I vow to always be your faithful dedicant.
brigid goddess
Brigid (/ˈbrɪdʒɪd, ˈbriːɪd/ BRIJ-id, BREE-id, Irish: [ˈbʲɾʲɪjɪdʲ, ˈbʲɾʲiːdʲ]; meaning ‘exalted one’ from Old Irish),[1] Brigit or Bríg is a goddess of pre-Christian Ireland. She appears in Irish mythology as a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the daughter of the Dagda and wife of Bres, with whom she had a son named Ruadán.[a]
She is associated with wisdom, poetry, healing, protection, blacksmithing and domesticated animals. Cormac’s Glossary, written in the 9th century by Christian monks, says that Brigid was “the goddess whom poets adored” and that she had two sisters: Brigid the healer and Brigid the smith.[3][4] This suggests she may have been a triple deity.[5] She is also thought to have some relation to the British Celtic goddess Brigantia.
Saint Brigid shares many of the goddess’s attributes and her feast day, 1 February, was originally a pagan festival (Imbolc) marking the beginning of spring. It has thus been argued that the saint is a Christianization of the goddess; a form of syncretism.
Prayer to Brighid, Bride of Earth
Woman Outdoors in Snow
Elena Alyukova-Sergeeva / Getty Images
In many modern Pagan traditions, the Imbolc sabbat is a time to celebrate Brighid, the Celtic hearth goddess. Among her many other aspects, she is known as the Bride of Earth, and is the patroness of domesticity and home. This simple prayer honors her in that role.
Bride of the earth,
sister of the faeries,
daughter of the Tuatha de Danaan,
keeper of the eternal flame.
In autumn, the nights began to lengthen,
and the days grew shorter,
as the earth went to sleep.
Now, Brighid stokes her fire,
burning flames in the hearth,
bringing light back to us once more.
Winter is brief, but life is forever.
Brighid makes it so.
Smooring the Fire—A Prayer to Brighid
Alexander Carmichael was a folklorist and author who spent nearly five decades traveling around the highlands of Scotland collecting stories, prayers and songs. His most noteworthy work, the Carmina Gadelica, is an interesting blend of early Pagan tradition mixed with the influences of Christianity. Smooring the Fire is from Carmichael’s Carmina Gadelica, published 1900, and is a Gaelic hymn to Brighid, honoring the tradition of smooring, or dampening, the hearth fire at night, and particularly on the night before Imbolc.
An Tri numh (The sacred Three)
A chumhnadh, (To save,)
A chomhnadh, (To shield,)
A chomraig (To surround)
An tula, (the hearth)
An taighe, (The house,)
An teaghlaich, (The household,)
An oidhche, (This eve,)
An nochd, (This night,)
O! an oidhche, (Oh! this eve,)
An nochd, (This night,)
Agus gach oidhche, (And every night,)
Gach aon oidhche. (Each single night.)
Amen.
prayer to brigid for imbolc
Like so many of us around our planet these days, Coronavirus consumes my attention and energy. I don’t have much new to say, but I do want to offer a short prayer I crafted to Brigid for protection and health. Source material for this prayer came from Jason Mankey’s most recent book, Witch’s Wheel of the Year. While the Rituals he offers invoking Brigid are (of course) centered around Imbolc, I found them to be easily adapted to meet the current circumstances in which we find ourselves.
Brigid is a goddess of healing and protection. Public Domain photo by Andreas F. Borchert.
Social distancing, frequent hand-washing, all of the practical interventions that we’re putting into place (as best we are able) are all vital components of trying to mitigate an aggressive pandemic. As I keep telling folx, you gotta do what you gotta do to feel–and be–safe. For many of us, these critically important self- and community-care practices are in turn strengthened by our own faith practices. Leaning into our relationships with whatever or whoever it is we consider holy, not in place of scientifically proven methodologies, but in addition to plenty of soap and water, keeping our distance as much as possible, and essentially sheltering in place.
For me, that means leaning into my relationships with Hekate and with Brigid. I’ve added a request for protection to my morning prayers to Hekate, and I’ve decided to ask Brigid’s protection as well. As I finished my prayer to Brigid, I was moved to write and share a prayer for any and all who might feel moved to also ask for Her protection. I offer a short video of it on my Facebook page here, or you can read it below.
Prayer to Brigid for Protection and Health
Brigid, Goddess of healing, of community, of justice; protector, healer, and patroness of sovereignty, I light the candles of your shrine.
Great warrior Goddess, prepare us for the battles ahead that we all must face, alone and together.
You are She who would never forsake her children. When the New Religion forced its beliefs upon our ancestors, you stayed with them and then with us, transforming into something else so that you could remain among us unhindered.
Goddess of justice, You are She who will light our way in these dark times. I ask that you raise us up so that we may do your work.
May we be healthy, loved, and giving of our own love. May we, in the coming days, be protected from harm. May we be free of that which threatens our well-being.
Walk with us as you walk over this earth, sharing your power, wisdom and grace.
So May It Be.