ImbolgVernal

Equinox

Newsletter for Ar nDraiocht Feins South East Region

Issue 5

ADF: News of the

South East
Want to connect with
Druids in the South
East Region?
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through the ADF
website.
There are two, count
them , two Facebook
groups:
r nDraocht Fin South East
and
ADF South East
Region

Events in the Region; Imbolg

Spring Equinox

Virginia:
Three Branch River Grove
1/29/2017 @ 2:00,
Imbolc Ritual
Lakeside Park, 1110 Byrd
Ave, Chesapeake, VA

On Brigid
By Linda Sager Kazalski
Brigid is one of the central goddesses of the
Celts and patroness of the central arts necessary to the survival of the tribe. Where ever
the Celts migrated, we find Brigid.
Old Irish Brigit [brd] came to be
spelled Brighid by the modern Irish period.
Since the spelling reform of 1948, this has
been spelled Brd [brid]. The earlier form
gave rise to the Anglicization Bridget, now
commonly seen as Brigid.
Brghde/Brde (Scotland)

Grove of the Seven Hills,

2/5/17 @3pm,
Imbolg Rite
516 Orchard St.
Lynchburg, VA

Fraid (Wales) Because of Welsh pronunciation

mutations, her name changes to Ffraid in some
place names such as Llansanffraid = Saint Bride's
Village and Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain
Breo Saighead (the fiery arrow a folk etymology found in Sanas Cormaic, but considered very
unlikely by etymologists)
Brigind (Gaul)
Brigantia (Great Britain)

And theres always

your Regional Druid
team:
RD-Rev. Nancy
McAndrew
MD Deputy-Cat
Heath
AL Deputy-Brenda
Lively

Maryland:
CedarLight Grove
Every Sunday: Rites of
Caffeina & Walk with the
Old Ones

Brigantia (former Gallaecia, modern Betanzos)

Braga (former Gallaecia, modern Northern Portugal)
Bragana (former Gallaecia, modern Northern Portugal)
Brigantis (Great Britain)
Bregenz (Austria)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigid, 2012)

Of Brigid, cont. from pg. 1

According to legend, she is the daughter of the Dagda, the allfather of the Celts and was Born at the exact moment of daybreak, Brigid rose into the sky with the sun, rays of fire beaming
from her head. (Brigid, Celtic Goddess Of Fire, 2014)

properties, how to care for their livestock, and how to forge iron
into tools. As a goddess of childbirth and protector of all children,
she is the patroness of midwifery. (Brigid, Celtic Goddess of Fire,
2014) By the same token, she is also known as patron of other
womanly arts midwifery, dyeing, weaving and brewing, and the
guardian of children and farm animals particularly
cows. (Black)

A complex and contradictory Goddesses of the Celtic pantheon,

Brigid can be seen as the most powerful religious figure in all of
Irish history. Many layers of separate traditions have intertwined,
The third and possibly most important aspect is as Fire of Inspimaking Her story and impact complicated but allowing Her to
ration as patroness of poetry (Spindler, 1999), bards, justice and
move so effortlessly down through the centuries. She has succeedlaw. In this aspect she is closely aligned with Minerva.
ed in travelling intact through generations, fulfilling different roles
It is notable that amongst the 'fires' we revere in contemin divergent times. (Cymres, 2015)
porary Druidry is the 'fire of creativity' and anciently
A classic triple goddess, Brigid, is identified as being a solar or fire
Brighid was also considered to be the Patroness of creative
goddess (Brigid, Celtic Goddess Of Fire, 2014) (see paragraph
activities such as the Bardic Arts of poetry, music and song.
above). As a solar deity Her attributes are light, inspiration and all
This brings consideration of the role Brighid plays with
skills associated with fire.(Cymres, 2015) She is frequently referred to as the daughter of the Dagda and a poet or alternatively
regard to all the arts associated with language in general,
as the daughter of Boann (a river goddess).
including speech, the magick of invocations and words of
evocation, spell-crafting and oath-taking. This is particularly
Her first aspect is as goddess of the fire of the forge/
important, for the satire of the ancient poets contained a
blacksmithery/craftsmen but on a deeper level, the forge is evocative of transformation and change ore is molten and changes to
baleful magick, much as their beneficent songs gave forth
metal which is then tempered and shaped into the form desired.
Magickal blessings. The interlocking of the two areas of
Even more, the smith is also correlated with the warrior. She is
inner fire and outward expression are thus seen to be haralso the mother of the three master craftsmen: Creidhne, the masmoniously balanced within the lore of Bride. (Ford)
ter silversmith (wright)(Creidhne-God of Metalworkers, 2012),
Luchtaine, the master carpenter (Shee-Eire), and Giobhniu, the
Brigit is patroness filidhact (poetry and bardic lore) and the
master smith and brewer (Goibniu).
filid (bards), who were the oral transmitters of the Celtic
The role of the smith in any
culture. This includes storytellers, folktribe was seen as a sacred trust
lorists, mythologists, balladeers, singand was associated with magickers, composers, poets, musicians, paral powers since it involved masticularly harpers, historians and clan
tering the primal element of
genealogists. She provided the fire in
Fire, moulding the metal (from
the head of poetic inspiration. The
Earth) through skill, knowledge
Bards are the surviving class of the
and strength. Concepts of
smithcraft are connected to
Druids, keeping the ancient traditions
stories concerning the creation
alive until the present day. (Black)
of the world, utilizing all of the
Elements to create and fuse a
Her priestesses maintained sacred
new shape.(Cymres, 2015)
wells and sacred flames at various locaHer second aspect is as the goddess of
tions, but especially at Kildare. The
the Fire of the Hearth, as patroness of
flame was extinguished during the
healing and fertility (Spindler, 1999). Her
reign of Henry VIII when he closed
healing aspect is not only one of physithe monasteries and nunneries, but
cal healing but of mental and emotional
was relit several years ago and is now
healing as well as divination and prophemaintained by the Christian followers
cy. One of her associated animals is the
of St. Brigid.
snake, a symbol both of healing and
fertility. Ireland is full of springs and
I find it intriguing that Brigids story is
wells named after the goddess Brigid.
complicated but has allowed her to
Symbolically, water is seen as a portal to
maintain her role of reverence through
the Otherworld and as a source of wisthe centuries. She has succeeded in
dom and healing (Brigid)., Celtic Godtravelling intact through generations,
dess of Fire, 2014) At her most famous
fulfilling different roles in divergent
shrine Brigid taught humans how to
times. (Cymres, 2015)
gather and use herbs for their healing

GROVES & PROTOGROVES IN THE SOUTH EAST REGION

Maryland:

Three Branch River Grove, ADF;

Cedarlight Grove, ADF; Baltimore, MD

Portsmouth, VA

Phone: (410) 929-2544

Phone: (757) 572-5874

E-mail: clg@cedarlightgrove.org

E-mail: Three.Branch.River.Grove@gmail.com

Cultural Focus: Northern I-E mostly

Cultural Focus: Celtic/Norse/Germanic

http://www.cedarlightgrove.org

www.facebook.com/ThreeBranchRiverProtogroveADF

https://www.facebook.com/cedarlightgrove/
Georgia:
Five Rivers Protogrove, ADF; Pikesville, MD

Grove of the Red Earth, ADF; Duluth, GA

E-mail: fiveriversadf@verizon.net

Phone: 770-662-0602

Cultural Focus): Irish

E-mail: redearthseniordruid@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/fiveriversadf

Cultural Focus: Pan-Indo-European

http://www.redearthadf.org

Virginia:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/redearthadf/

Grove of the Seven Hills, ADF; Lynchburg, VA

E-mail: sevenhillsadf@yahoo.com

Florida:

Cultural Focus: Celtic, Norse

Manatee Oak Grove, ADF; Brandon, FL

http://sevenhillsadf.weebly.com/

E-mail: manateeoak@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/gosh.adf

Cultural Focus: Celtic, Norse, Hellenic

http://manateeoak.org
https://www.facebook.com/ManateeOakGroveAdf

Trillium: ADF Spring Gathering

Donning the Mantle: Personal, Communal, and Familial Responsibility
April 13th-16th in Cross Junction, VA
Trillium Gathering, right here in the SE Region,
is one of the longest-running ADF festivals. Held
annually at Thors Hollow Retreat, this familyfriendly event should be on your must do list this
festival season!
Read more about the festival on our Regional
Festival page.