Mael Brigde - A Brigit of Ireland Devotional: Sun Among Stars

In late 1992, Mael Brigde founded Daughters of the Flame, an international, interfaith Brigidine flame-keeping group for women. Her aim was to rekindle the perpetual flame burned by Saint Brigits order in Kildare, Ireland until the 1600s. She lit their initiatory candle on Imbolc 1993, unaware that on that same day in Kildare the Catholic Brigidine Sisters were also relighting her flame. Mael Brigde publishes a general interest Brigit blog, Brigits Sparkling Flame (2004), and a Brigit poetry blog, Stone on the Belly (2015). She is widely read in Brigidine literature and her paper, A Long Sip at the Well, reviews dozens of Brigidine books, from childrens picture books through popular nonfiction, poetry, plays, and novels to academic texts. Another paper, The Mythical Pairing of Brig and Bres: Its Origins and Meaning in Cath Maige Tuired, discusses among other things the case for Brigit as sovereignty goddess.

Both are available on Brigits Sparkling Flame and Academia.edu. In addition to maintaining the Daughters of the Flame and her blogs, Mael Brigde has contributed Brigidine essays and poems to a number of books, assisted others in their researches, led webinars on Brigit and Brigidine devotion, and created three online classes for those wishing to learn more about Brigit and grow closer to her. The first, Discovering Brigit, introduces Brigit and many of the ideas associated with her. The second, Stepping into Brigit, guides the seeker into a deepening connection with her. The third, Journey with Brigit, Goddess of Poetry, is a longer, intensive class that explores reading and writing poetry as a sacred act, offering meditations, historical information, and the model of both ancient and modern Irish poets.

Sun Among Stars has been long years in the making, and over that time many people have helped to make it both possible and rewarding for me to continue with it. Sun Among Stars has been long years in the making, and over that time many people have helped to make it both possible and rewarding for me to continue with it.

I am enormously grateful to them all. For her many (and not always immediately obvious!) blessings and continuing inspiration, I thank Brigit. For tending her flame and working for peace and reconciliation, I thank the Brigidine nuns. Sisters Mary Minehan and Phil OShea of Solas Bhrde I thank especially for extending a warm welcome to me long ago and for being so respectful of my Neo-Pagan path. This gift had a great impact on my spiritual life. For her passionate enthusiasm for these poems and the memories they evoked of her childhood in Kildare, I thank Irene Shirley.

When I questioned whether I, who had not been raised in Ireland, should be writing them, she showed me how much they meant to her, and urged me to carry on. I am deeply grateful to the scholars whose works I have relied upon, with all their differing conclusions, and to the Neo-Pagan and Brigit communities for answering and asking countless questions and being companions on this journey. I thank Anne Key (Goddess Ink) and Kimberley Moore (Mystery School of the Goddess) for giving me a means to offer Brigit courses, and to Vyviane Armstrong (Land, Sea, Sky Travel) for inviting me to teach at her online Brigit conferences. To the participants in my classes who have shared their insights and inspirations: I am blessed by your generosity. I thank Erynn Rowan Laurie, who took my ardour for Brigit seriously early on, and who encouraged and supported me in my devotion to and understanding of her throughout the years, directly and through her own research and writings. My inexpressible thanks go to the Daughters of the Flame, past and present, who have lived this devotion with me for decades.

Your presence has shaped my life. Special thanks to Ani Greenwood, Erynn Rowan Laurie, Donna Amaral, Josie Davey, Lily Miller, Gail Nyoka, and Nichole Cardillo for your support of me in my role of chief cook and bottle washer to the Daughters. To my sister in Bride, Heather Upfield, who touches my heart and tends with me our shared contemplative, lay monastic vision: thank you, dear fellow hermit. Warm thanks to Morgan Daimler and Orlagh Costello for taking the time to think with me about Brigit, for their written contributions to this book, and for their own diligent and heartfelt offerings to the community. Those who contributed to the nurturing, polishing, and presentation of these writings, the members of the Kyle and Shadbolt writing classes, my mentor and friend, Eileen Kernaghan, my wonderful editor and friend, Cllie Rich, I give great thanks for your endless encouragement, thoughtful critiques, and unflagging generosity. Finally, eternal thanks to Kelly Johnson, Kathryn Boegel, Susan Pinkus, and Lorraine Arnott, who have always respected my relationship with Brigit, and behaved as though my writing really mattered to them.

My sincere apologies to anyone I have overlooked on this page. Go raibh mile maith agaibh go leir.

Thank you for purchasing A Brigit of Ireland Devotional Sun Among Stars. I hope it has contributed in some way to your understanding of Brigit or your devotion to her, as its creation has enhanced my own. If you have a few moments, please feel free to add a review of the book to your favorite online site. You are welcome to be in touch through any of the following links.

Sweet blessings of Brigit on you. Mael Brigde

http://www.obsidianmagazine.com/DaughtersoftheFlame/index.htm Brigits Sparkling Flame (General): http://brigitssparklingflame.blogspot.com/ Stone on the Belly (Brigit Poetry): http://stonebelly.blogspot.ca/ https://www.facebook.com/mael.brigde Brigits Portal: Classes, Gatherings, Poetry, Tools https://www.facebook.com/BrigitsPortal/ https://twitter.com/MaelBrigde https://soundcloud.com/user-617834076 Discovering Brigit (Introductory): http://mysteryschoolofthegoddess.net/2017/12/16/discovering-brigit-goddess-and-saint-with-mael-brigde-open/ Stepping into Brigit (Goddess Activation): http://mysteryschoolofthegoddess.net/2017/12/16/stepping-into-brigit-goddess-activation-course-with-mael-brigde-open/ Journey with Brigit, Goddess of Poetry (Immersion Course): http://mysteryschoolofthegoddess.net/2018/01/21/journey-with-brigit-goddess-of-poetry-with-mael-brigde/ See Conferences in the Resource List for information on obtaining them from Land, Sea, Sky Travel. (writing as Casey June Wolf) A Long Sip at the Well (Brigit book reviews): https://www.academia.edu/10198450/A_Long_Sip_at_the_Well_Brigit_Reviews The Mythical Pairing of Brig and Bres: Its Origins and Meaning in Cath Maige Tuired (Revised): https://www.academia.edu/15429641/The_Mythical_Pairing_of_Brig_and_Bres_Its_Origins_and_Meaning_in_Cath_Maige_Tuired_Revised_ Panetta, Amy. Mael Brigde, Founder of the Brigits Sparkling Flame Blog and Daughters of the Flame Flametending Group, Discusses Her Work, Celtic Feminine Podcast (March 8, 2018). https://www.thecelticfemininepodcast.com/single-post/2018/03/08/Mael-Brigde-Founder-of-the-Brigits-Sparkling-Flame-Blog-and-Daughters-of-the-Flame-Flametending-Group-Discusses-Her-Work PAGANISM & SHAMANISM What is Paganism? A religion, a spirituality, an alternative belief system, nature worship? You can find support for all these definitions (and many more) in dictionaries, encyclopaedias, and text books of religion, but subscribe to any one and the truth will evade you. Above all Paganism is a creative pursuit, an encounter with reality, an exploration of meaning and an expression of the soul.