Brigid, Imbolc & Gaia

In pagan & neopagan calendars, Tuesday, February 2 is celebrated as Brigid or Imbolc honoring the Irish goddess (*) Brigit or Brighid. It is a celebration of the ending of winter, the approach of spring, of renewal & birth. Days are noticeably longer - especially to those of us in northern latitudes.

In Christian cultures, the day is called Candlemas & a different woman is celebrated, though even she shares roots with Brigid.

To each their own, I suppose. However, modern mainstream patriarchal religions - especially Christianity - have often usurped older Earth-centered, "pagan" holidays for their own agendas. Yule was upstaged by Christmas strategically placed a few days after winter solstice. Spring equinox, or Eostre, became "Easter"; Samhain was renamed Halloween.

I'm one who wishes now to reclaim those celebrations. Need a holiday to honor your gods? Cool. Have a nice day. But please roll your own, & leave the Earth-centered ones alone.

For purely secular cultures, Feb 2 - today - is called ground hog day. The degree of trivialization of the day - & the idea it encompasses, especially the human relationship to Gaia - by present day celebrations of "ground hog day" is ... well, absurd.

I mean, I like ground hogs. They're cool & all, especially when left alone in nature where they belong instead of caged in preparation for some secular ritual sponsored by corporations.

Oh, by the way, in my neighborhood, there are no groundhogs. However, the nutria are seeing their shadows today, so I guess there's more winter left. Se la vi.

So, given that Brigid is my favorite of all such Earth-centered - dare I say, "Gaian" - celebrations, I'm going to devote this post to it, its history, its significance to me & human cultures, & its relationship to life, Gaia, geophysiology & adaptability in the face of global ecological collapse.

This description excerpted from Wikipedia's article on Brigid captures the heart of her spirit for me, & touches on her relevance to contemporary human cultures, or - more to the point - what human cultures must become next if our species is to survive what's coming our way:

She is the goddess of all things perceived to be of relatively high dimensions such as high-rising flames, highlands, hill-forts and upland areas; and of activities and states conceived as psychologically lofty and elevated, such as wisdom, excellence, perfection, high intelligence, poetic eloquence, craftsmanship (especially blacksmithing), healing ability, druidic knowledge and skill in warfare.

This essay is a meditation, a writing ritual, for Brigid & Gaia.

It is emerging in conjunction with a substantive personal & professional transition - including the design of a new set of 4-week long short courses about systems, life & Gaia - & reach a stable state sometime before the end of today - Feb 2 - when I'll re-post it to reflect the true date of the day.

Until then, this post represents
a set of evolving drafts,
an evolution ...
_______________

* I am a student of mythology, particularly of the writings of the late Joseph Campbell. I am a non-religious person with a spiritual element: I acknowledge spirituality simply as an awareness that there are larger entities of which I am a part. Gaia is one of those.

However, I use the words "god" & "goddess" in a metaphorical or mythological way, not literal. I'm not a fundamentalist that literally interprets metaphors, especially spiritual ones. Like Campbell, I recognize them as poetic representations of guiding principles & values.

Based on her quote below from The End of the Long Summer, Diane Dumanoski would seem to agree.

“Through Gaia as metaphor, it is possible to glimpse the organic unity of the Earth & be awed by our own existence within this rich, complex, & wondrous whole. And in both its scientific & metaphoric aspects, this new view of the Earth provides the foundation for a new cultural map that can guide us in the planetary era.”