{"id":3173,"date":"2010-02-01T01:10:51","date_gmt":"2010-02-01T06:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=3231"},"modified":"2010-02-01T15:44:05","modified_gmt":"2010-02-01T20:44:05","slug":"lets-spell-it-out-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2010\/02\/01\/lets-spell-it-out-13\/","title":{"rendered":"Let’s Spell it Out"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cauldron of Inspiration with Brigit, the Lady of the Sacred Flame<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

February begins with a Sabbat that is usually celebrated on February 2nd<\/sup>.\u00a0 Although it has many names, it is usually referred to as Imbolc or Imbolg (pronounced em-bowlg or immol\u2019g) meaning \u201cin the belly\u201d (being pregnant with life) or Oimelc (pronounced oy-melk) meaning \u201cewe\u2019s milk\u201d (nourishing life).\u00a0 Other names for this day are Disting-tid (Norse), Laa\u2019l Breeshay (Isle of Mann), and Candlemas (Saxon; \u201cmas\u201d meaning \u201cfeast\u201d, not a Catholic word).\u00a0 As this is the day of Brigit, be she goddess or saint, this day is also called White Brigit\u2019s Day, Feast Day of Saint Brigit (Irish) or Feast Day of Saint Blaise (an Armenian saint that has a King arthur connection and may be the goddess Brigit in disguise).<\/p>\n

Brigit is the Goddess of Inspiration and the Lady of the Sacred Flame.\u00a0 As a goddess, she is usually referred to as Brigit, but after her demotion to sainthood, she was usually called Brigid.\u00a0 Brigit has many other names, but to keep things simple, I will continue to refer to her as Brigit here.\u00a0 Although her holiday falls at a time of the year where both light and warmth are waxing, her day is about the light, not the heat.\u00a0 This is expressed through candlelight, torchlight or firelight.<\/p>\n

Fire has been considered sacred for thousands of years and the practice of tending it goes back to the Greeks and continued on to \u201cSaint Brigid\u201d and her \u201cnuns\u201d.\u00a0 Brigit\u2019s lineage can be traced back to other goddesses with fire associations such as Juna, Minerva, artemis\/Diana, Tanit (Lucifer or Lucia, the Son of the Morningstar Venus, not the Christian \u201cSatan\u201d), Hecate (they both have crossroads connections) and Hestia (Greek) or Vesta (Roman).<\/p>\n

The Name Hestia or Vesta means \u201cdwelling place\u201d, as in the womb of the goddess, the cauldron or Holy Grail Cup, as she is the mother of the Sun God.\u00a0 Although her name came to mean \u201cfire\u201d, \u201cHestia\u201d means \u201c a house\u201d or \u201ca dwelling\u201d as it is derived from the word \u201ches\u201d or \u201chese\u201d, meaning \u201cshelter\u201d, \u201cto protect\u201d or \u201cto show mercy\u201d.\u00a0 Hestia to the Greeks and then after her Roman \u201cadoption\u201d as Vesta, was the goddess of domestic life and it was believe that she resided in every household, the reason for her shrines.\u00a0 She was also sometimes called Ashta, another name meaning \u201cfire\u201d and she was referred to the Goddess of Fire.<\/p>\n

Fire was so sacred to the Greeks and Romans that select women were chosen to tend the sacred flame in temples built to Hestia\/Vesta.\u00a0 In the time of the Romans, these were called Vestal Virgins.\u00a0 This practice was also found throughout history in other parts of the globe, sometimes because of the Collective Consciousness and sometimes from Roman occupation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Scandinavia, the priestesses of Freya, who were generally kings\u2019 daughters, <\/em><\/p>\n

whose duty it was to watch the sacred fire, and who were bound to perpetual virginity, <\/em><\/p>\n

were just an order of nuns.\u00a0 In Athens there were virgins maintained at the public expense, <\/em><\/p>\n

who were strictly bound to single life.\u00a0 In Pagan Rome, the Vestal virgins, <\/em><\/p>\n

who had the same duty to perform as the priestesses of Freya, occupied a similar position. <\/em><\/p>\n

Even in Peru, during the reign of the Incas, the same system prevailed, <\/em><\/p>\n

and showed so remarkable an analogy, as to indicate that the Vestals of Rome, <\/em><\/p>\n

the nuns of the Papacy, and the Holy Virgins of Peru, must have sprung form a common origin.\u00a0 These were young maidens dedicated to the service of the deity, <\/em><\/p>\n

who at a tender age were taken form their homes, and introduced into convents, <\/em><\/p>\n

where they were placed under the care of certain elderly matrons, mamaconas, <\/em><\/p>\n

who had grown grey within their walls.\u00a0 It was their duty to watch over the sacred fire. \u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

From \u201cThe Two Babylons<\/p>\n

Why were these young ladies, their occupation and the fire held in such high esteem?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fire of Vesta was regarded as one of the grand safeguards of the (Roman) empire. <\/em><\/p>\n

(It) was kept with the most jealous care by the Vestal Virgins, who, for their charge of it, <\/em><\/p>\n

were honored with the highest honors.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

From \u201cThe Two Babylons<\/p>\n

So ingrained into the people\u2019s psyche the importance of this sacred fire, that even after Paganism was outlawed in Rome, the temples survived and the practices remained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe \u201cgreat serpent of fire\u201d was cast out, when by the decree of Gratian, <\/em><\/p>\n

Paganism throughout the Roman Empire was abolished-when the fires of Vesta <\/em><\/p>\n

were extinguished, and the revenues of the Vestal virgins were confiscated\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

How strong was the hold that Paganism had in the Imperial city, <\/em><\/p>\n

even after the fires of Vesta was extinguished, <\/em><\/p>\n

and state support was withdrawn from the Vestals; <\/em><\/p>\n

but the Emperor yet spared the statues of the gods which were exposed to public view; <\/em><\/p>\n

four hundred and twenty four temples or chapels <\/em><\/p>\n

still remained to satisfy the devotion of the people.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

From \u201cThe Two Babylons<\/p>\n

\n

Brigit was no different than Vesta; history repeated itself, the fires were to be extinguished as they were in Rome, but the flames would burn on.\u00a0 Even after her \u201cdemotion\u201d to sainthood, Brigit simply chose to evolve to survive.\u00a0 She became the first nun in Ireland and created a small community of seven virgins at Croghan Hill.\u00a0 Later it was said that she moved to a new location, into a cell at the base of an oak tree (oaks being sacred to the Druids).\u00a0 This tiny community grew into a nunnery and monastery, the famous center of learning at Kildare; or \u201ccill-dare\u201d, meaning \u201coak-cell\u201d.\u00a0 Seven nuns grew to be 19 that tended Brigit\u2019s flame and many daughter convents peppered Ireland from this original one.<\/p>\n

In her goddess aspect, before her demotion, Brigit also had a cauldron (that she may have obtained form her father) and one of the jobs of what would become \u201cnuns\u201d was to tend to the flame beneath it.\u00a0 In many of his books, Raven Grimassi makes the case that many of the practices of the Celts actually come from the Greeks and Romans, and this is also one of them.\u00a0 The Greeks had nine muses, who among other things inspired humans, and Brigit originally had nine fire attendants and one of her powers as a goddess is to inspire humans.\u00a0 Brigit can do many things, but for the purposes of this spell, we will tap into the power of the Sacred Flame of inspiration.<\/p>\n

THE SPELL<\/p>\n

If possible, perform this spell either at your hearth, but if you don\u2019t have one, you can simply substitute your kitchen stove (the modern-day equivalent).\u00a0 Preferably perform this spell either on or as close to February 2nd<\/sup> as you can.<\/p>\n

Supplies<\/p>\n