By Patricia Monaghan
Every day, every night
that I praise the goddess,
I know I shall be safe:
I shall not be chased,
I shall not be caught,
I shall not be harmed.
Fire, sun, and moon
cannot burn me. Not
lake nor stream nor sea
can drown me. Fairy
arrow cannot pierce me.
I am safe, safe, safe,
singing her praise.
~The Shield of Brigid, Irish Prayer
This famous prayer was reputed to protect those who spoke it fervently from all evil. Originally an invocation to the goddess Brigid, it was later addresses to the saint who took her place and whose feast day, February 2, was the old Celtic feast of the goddess. Called Imbolc in earlier times, it became known as Candlemas, a feast of light celebrating the time when winter’s sway over this world was loosened, and spring at last beckoned.
The invocation was a shield against natural calamities as well as unnatural ones. For thousands of years the Irish prayed to the goddess, and then to the goddess-turned-saint, always asking for the same thing: to live out their lives in peace and plenty. Today we hope for more than just a good crop and no epidemics, good weather for harvest, and nothing to cripple our children. But is this not all we could hope for: enough to nourish us, both spiritually and physically, and people around us who love us?
that I praise the goddess,
I know I shall be safe:
I shall not be chased,
I shall not be caught,
I shall not be harmed.
Fire, sun, and moon
cannot burn me. Not
lake nor stream nor sea
can drown me. Fairy
arrow cannot pierce me.
I am safe, safe, safe,
singing her praise.
~The Shield of Brigid, Irish Prayer
This famous prayer was reputed to protect those who spoke it fervently from all evil. Originally an invocation to the goddess Brigid, it was later addresses to the saint who took her place and whose feast day, February 2, was the old Celtic feast of the goddess. Called Imbolc in earlier times, it became known as Candlemas, a feast of light celebrating the time when winter’s sway over this world was loosened, and spring at last beckoned.
The invocation was a shield against natural calamities as well as unnatural ones. For thousands of years the Irish prayed to the goddess, and then to the goddess-turned-saint, always asking for the same thing: to live out their lives in peace and plenty. Today we hope for more than just a good crop and no epidemics, good weather for harvest, and nothing to cripple our children. But is this not all we could hope for: enough to nourish us, both spiritually and physically, and people around us who love us?
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