Brigid's Day
In Veneration of the Goddess
I fell in love with Brigid many years ago, long before I sipped from her sacred well in Ireland. Long before, trembling, I tied a rag on her prayer tree on the Hill of Tara and begged for help. Brigid is the ancient Celtic goddess of healing, poetry, and metal-crafting. She is my source of strength and inspiration.
People venerated Brigid, as Mother Goddess for thousands of years. Much later, in the fifth century, an abbess took her name. Along with her nuns, this Brigid built a monastic settlement in Kildare, which means Church of the Oak. She prayed. She healed. She performed miracles. And in time, the people proclaimed her a saint. Brigid appears in my stories. Even lends her name to one of my major characters.
“And you are?”
“Dylan McBride.” He reluctantly shook the outstretched hand.
The tall, muscular priest was a good head taller and as he pumped Dylan’s arm, the veins in his neck stood out. “McBride. That means, follower of St. Bride. I wrote a paper once on Bride or Brigit, which is her other name. She’s the patron saint of Ireland.”
“Aye, she is. St. Brigit founded thirty convents in Ireland. Her flame burned in Kildare until her nuns were raped and driven out in the Twelfth century.” Dylan cleared his throat and spit sideways into the shrubs. “I’ve written papers too.”
Sunday, February 2nd is Brigid’s day. In the ancient pagan calendar, this marks the midpoint in the Dark Times between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox for those of us in the north.
Fifteen hundred years after her death, Brigid is still beloved in Kildare. Last year, her devotees marked her death anniversary, and Ireland proclaimed her the first Irish woman to be commemorated with an annual public holiday. Over centuries of strife, her bones had been scattered, but last year fragments were returned to St. Brigid’s Parish Church. If ever you visit Kildare, Solas Bhride is a Christian spirituality center led by the Brigidine Sisters who welcome “people of all faiths and of no faith.”
Brigid symbolizes the divine feminine, the beauty of art, the healing of the sick and injured, and veneration of the land, the trees, the animals, and all sentient beings. If you seek solace in this shifting world of shadows and feel fearful in these tenuous times, look to Brigid. Find a willing tree (always ask first) in a nearby wood and create your own Rag Tree. Tie a ribbon infused with your prayers upon her branches and ask for what you need. She helped me one day in Ireland when I felt all was lost, and she’ll help you too.
Author News
On February 25, I’m launching The Witch Killer. This series rebranding is an incredible journey I’m undertaking this year. Inspired by a talk given by thriller writer, Jonas Saul, on the island of Amorgos in Greece last September, I made the decision to change my pen name and re-release my books updated, reformatted, and re-covered, for a new audience. Of course, now that I’ve opened up to Estrada again, he’s started whispering about book six, which he wants to set in Greece.
It’s a heap of work, but the revitalizing of my books has given me new life. In many ways, I am my books. It’s inspired me artistically and creatively, and given me back my youth—or maybe that’s the Clinique kit I bought in the Black Friday sale. Hmmm …
Here’s a sneak peek at the new print cover for book 1 and a few links to my new self. Please follow me where you can. Alas, I’m a reborn author with few friends;)
Goodreads @183384153-harper-carr to read my latest reviews.
TikTok @harperwrites1003
Instagram @harpers_books
Blue Sky @harpercarr.bsky.social
What am I Reading?
Actually, I listened to James Marsters (SPIKE of Buffy the Vampire/Angel fame) narrate Jim Butcher’s Stormfront, Book 1 of The Dresdan Files. Wow. I was hoping for Marster’s English accent but, alas, I’m impressed, both with his ability to portray Harry Dresden, a casual, demon-fighting American wizard who traverses Chicago’s streets and investigates strange murders, and with Butcher’s masterful writing style.
This is the 25th Anniversary of Stormfront. If you’ve never heard of it, do look it up, crime and urban fantasy fans. There’s a fanpage here but that’s kinda cheating. Dresden reminds me of someone I know intimately. Yep. That’s right.
I love how Butcher handles the whole question of technology—whether to use it or not. I hate writing technology, especially because it’s changing so fast it dates your work almost immediately. Although Butcher wrote Stormfront in the days of the VCR, he avoids this sinkhole by making Dresden’s wizarding aura interfere with technology. Harry Dresdan is old school, a brooding bad boy who’s awful good, shy around women, and an intelligent, masterful fighter. And bonus—there are seventeen audio volumes, all but one which have been narrated by James Marsters.
Oh, Lord. Sorry, Estrada. Did you say something? I’m listening to Harry.
More to come . . .
I loved this! I’m going to find a willing tree. Looking forward to book six.
Thank you. Glad to hear it! This really does work. You can also mark sabbats this way.