The celebration will encompass both a feast and a small ritual. Individuals will gather early in order to prepare the celebration area and cook food. Food should reflect the festival with dairy, cheeses and butters playing a significant role. A loaf of oat bread should be made which will be offered solely to Brighid.
Each household should bring an offering dish to be dedicated to (and used only for) the Goddess Brighid. Households should also bring a piece of cloth made of natural fiber (no smaller than a yard) which will be present during the ritual and which will then be taken home to leave out that evening to ask the Goddess to bless and bestow healing powers on (Brighid’s mantle).
The festival should be celebrated in front of the hearth of the home. If no hearth is available, then candles may be used to symbolize the hearth. Images of Brighid, anvils, tools of healing and such should decorate the shrine. An empty chair should be placed next to the hearth for the Goddess Brighid. Each household should place an offering dish near the hearth.
While the food is cooking individuals should gather to make Brighid dollies. The completed dollies, reeds, oat bread and mantles should be placed in four separate baskets. The flametender assembles the peat in the fireplace.
Plates of offerings to the deities of the tribe, the ancestors and the spirits of the land should also be prepared and set aside in the ritual area. A fireproof bowl containing dried juniper should also be placed in the ritual area, along with matches.
When all the food is prepared and all of the offerings are assembled, individuals should take their places – sitting in front of the hearth. Individuals who will carry the four baskets and the individual who will be tending the fire will proceed outside. The firetender should take a candle from the altar with her. When outside, a prayer should be said to the Goddess and the candle should be lit. All of the lights in the house should then be turned off.
The individuals should proceed outside to the front door and the lady carrying the candle should knock on the door and say:
“Go down on your knees, do homage and let the Goddess Brighid enter.”
This should be done three times after which individuals in the house will respond:
“Oh, come in, you are a hundred times welcome!”
At which point the door will be opened and the procession will enter and go to the hearth one by one. The firetender bringing the light enters first with the rest following. The flametender lights the candles on the shrine from hers. The baskets are placed near the foot of Brighid’s chair.
Now, as the flametender lights the first flame of Imbolc, the bard may sing
The Saining
Once the flame has been lit and tended the leader stands for the saining. He/she light some juniper and say the following:
Who are they that approach from the sky on their ships of clouds?
all respond – The shining ones, the deities do approach upon the floor.
Who are they that come from the land to watch our festival?
all respond – The good neighbors, the spirits of rocks, hills, trees and springs.
Who are those that come from beyond the ninth wave, from the land surrounded by the waters?
all respond – The ancestors, those of old, forgotten and known to us, spiritual and physical.
The Opening Prayer
The leader comes forward to recite the opening prayer – the genealogy of the Goddess Brighid:
Tonight we offer welcome to the great Goddess of our Tribe. Let us welcome her in our hearts as we hear her genealogy.
The genealogy of the Goddess Brighid,
Radiant flame of gold, noble mother of inspiration.
Brighid the daughter of an Daghda,
Son of Elathan and of Ethnui, daughter of Balor, King of the Fomorians,
Son of Buarainech, the cow-faced.
Every day and every night
That we shall say the genealogy of Brighid,
We shall not be killed, we shall not be harried,
We shall not be put in darkness, we shall not be wounded
Neither shall the Goddess leave us in our forgetfulness.
No fire, no sun, no moon shall burn us,
No lake, now water nor see shall drown me,
No arrow of Fomorians nor dart of enchantment shall wound us.
And we, under the protection of our Goddess Brighid shall always be.
After the reading all say the following prayer:
We will raise our hearth-fires
As Brighid would
The protection of Brighid be
On our fires and on our floors
And on our households all!
The General Offerings
The leader says in bold and all respond in italics. Responses are in Irish:
To the gods!
Ann mo chridh a ghnath (ahn moe h-ree ah ynah) (in my heart always)
In our deeds, in our words, in our wishes!
Ann mo chridh a ghnath
In our thoughts, all our goals, asleep and awake!
Ann mo chridh a ghnath
Be with us, guide us, hear our voices!
Ann mo chridh a ghnath
(Individual carrying the offerings to the deities places them in front of the idols.)
To the spirits of the land!
Gach la agus oiche (gak lah ah-gus ee-ha) (every day and night)
In strong forests, on hills of green!
Gach la agus oiche
In swift rivers and fields of grain!
Gach la agus oiche
May our strength always increase together!
Gach la agus oiche
(Individual carrying the offering to the spirits places them in front of the bowl of earth that represents the land spirits.)
To the ancestors of flesh and spirit!
Mile failte duit (mee-lay fall-cha doo-it) (a thousand welcomes to you)
As you taught us to be virtuous and gracious!
Mile failte duit
Courageous, calm, and generous!
Mile failte duit
May we reflect your gifts of wisdom!
Mile failte duit
(Individual carrying the offering to the ancestors places them in front of the stone head which represents the ancestors.)
The leader then lifts the oat bread in the air and says (all respond in italics):
For the Goddess Brighid
We Honor You!
For the Great Lady of Poetry
We offer you our Hospitality!
For the Lady Who Inspires
We give thanks for your blessings and protection!
For She of the Art of Leechcraft
We Honor You!
For She of the Art of Blacksmithing
We offer you our Hospitality!
For She of Many Arts of Craftsmanship
We give thanks for your blessings and protection!
For the Keeper of the King of Boars
We Honor You!
For the Keeper of the King of Whethers
We offer you our Hospitality!
For the Keeper of Fe and Men
We give thanks for your blessings and protection!
For the Daughter of the Dagda
We Honor You!
For the Wife of Bres
We offer you our Hospitality!
For the Mournful Mother of Ruadan
We give thanks for your blessings and protection!
After this each household is invited to come up and take a piece of bread from the load and place on their offering dishes.
Divinations:
All say:
The Deities, Ancestors and Spirits Above us.
The Deities Ancestors and Spirits Below us.
The Deities, Ancestors and Spirits Beside us,
The Deities, Ancestors and Spirits all around us.
The Diviner comes forward and says:
May the Deities, Ancestors and Spirits speak to us and impart their wisdom to us by these signs.
The Diviner now performs the divinations and interprets for the tribe.
The Closing Prayer
The leader says:
Brighid, for your wisdom, your inspirations and your protection,
For a celebration of your joys and a remembrance of your sorrows,
We feast in your honor!
Individuals now gather around the fire and share in a communal meal. Individuals may toast their own personal deities, ancestors or spirits if they feel moved to do so and invite them to join in the celebration. Crosses should be made of the reeds.
To honor the Goddess Brighid, individuals may also recite a piece of poetry, play a song on an instrument, present a work of art for the Goddess and etc.
When the celebration has finished, the group should clean up. Offerings may be disposed of in the flames, or may be placed outside for the Goddess.
Households should then take their crosses, mantles, dollies and offerings home with them. The dollies should be welcomed into the house in honor of Brighid and the crosses hung in the house for protection. The mantle should be placed outside overnight – on the doorstep, porch, window sill or tied to the door. The offerings should also be placed outside. During the night, we hope that the Goddess will pass by and bestow healing properties upon the mantle as she visits each household.