Bread for Brigid

In addition to crafting woven crosses for Imbolc, I also made some more short-lived honors. As Brigid is a hearth goddess, bread seems rather apt. I used many other ingredients that I associate with Ireland and Imbolc - Honey in the yeast starter, Oats soaked overnight ( I should have added whiskey to them! Next year...), Butter and cream, and the last of the fall apples from our CSA.

 I did a sponge in the usual manner, then added all the yummies except the apples. After a first rise I added chopped apples with a little bit more honey.

Step three was to make two lovely loves and brush them with a little bit of milk on top, and let rise.

Step four is to Bake.

Step five is to offer some up to the goddess, still steaming hot and smeared with butter.
Step five is to eat the rest up with honey and butter so quickly you don't have time to take a picture...

Bread is the perfect way to warm up a chilly kitchen, How do you keep your house toasty?

Making a Brigid's Cross

 Imbolc (also known as Imbolg, Candlemas, St. Brigit's Day etc.) is a traditional time to celebrate the winter's passing and look forward to spring. Stories say that Imbolc was when livestock began to give milk again, heralding the birthing season. This milk helped families that were running low on food to survive the winter. The name Candlemas may mark this as the time of year when the sun rose early enough that one no longer needed candles to do early and late chores.

Tradition dictates that one makes a new Brigid's cross each Imbolc, and burns the previous year's. (It's also time to burn other Yuletide greenery, goodbye tree!) Brigid's blessings are beseeched, and the cross offers her protection thru the year. Here you see last year's cross hanging above the doorway, it's made from iris leaves as that is what I found in the garden last winter. Next to it is a reed cross I made on my pilgrimage to Ireland last fall. Lesson one - You will never regret adding more rounds!

This year my garden is covered in a wonderful blanket of snow, so I was forced to seek out some more traditional supplies. Wheat and dried (and dyed) reeds were found in the floral section of a big box craft store. They were rather expensive, and I will try to remember next fall to squirrel away some sheaves! I did soak the materials overnight to soften them up, the reeds never really got flexible, but the wheat was very pliable.

I also spun up some Irish wool to use for tying. Really, any twine, string etc. will do.

 Start by learning a square four-armed cross. This style reminds me of a sun-wheel!
1. lay out a stalk upright, slide another stalk underneath.
2. fold it over to the right.
3. rotate the entire thing clockwise, lay out another stalk, sliding it below the first. Fold it in half to the right.
4. Rotate the entire thing clockwise, slide a stalk under the upright, closer to your body than the center, fold it in half to the right.

 Repeat until you have a large core. remember to keep rotating the same direction, always adding on the side nearest you, always fold to the right. After a few rounds the center will be easy to see, and you will notice problems easily. Tie each arm up, be sure to wrap a few times around and pull tight! As the cross dries it will shrink. You can now easily tidy up and tighten the cross.

To make a three-armed cross, follow the directions above, but when you get to adding the fourth stalk, bend the first stalk (upright in the first photo) around to the side to make three evenly spaced arms. It's a little trickier to start, but after a round or two it gets to be just as easy as a four-armed.

Now ask for Brigid's blessings, light a candle for her, and hand them up around your house! I hope you all are staying warm in these lovely winter storms!

Finds - Imbolc and Brigid

In the coming week we will be celebrating Imbolc, or Candlemas as it's known to Christians. A celebration of the mid point of winter, the goddess Brigid and her Christian continuation St Brigid, and a time to light fires in the darkness.
Brigid to the Celts was a mother goddess, and a triple goddess at that. A deity of fire her dominion was the fire of the hearth, the fire of the smiths' forge and the metaphorical inspiration fires of the bard. She was a goddess of the sun then, warmth and light here on earth. Beautiful art and card by EmilyBalivet.


Her celebration comes with lots of candles, fire goddess' love candles. In the legends of St. Brigid, she is a nurse maid to the future savior, and she rescues a young Jesus wearing a circlet of candles to light their way. (Never mind that the sainted woman was born some 500 years after Christ, there were angels involved!) Wonderful embroidered alter cloth from Rainfeather13. Embroidery is also associated with the goddess, who carries with her a bag of embroidery supplies.

During Imbolc it is traditional to make a Brigid's cross. The old style are made of reeds or straw and have three sides to represent the three aspects. The Celts also simply liked things in threes! With the advent of Christianity in the isles the crosses morphed to have four sides. Either way, one makes a new cross to hang in the house for protection, and burns the one you have had hanging the entire last year. Marvelous shining silver pendant from AFMetalsmith, who perhaps receives some of the smiths' fiery inspiration.

This is also the time of year when cows and ewes are giving birth, and milk returns to the diet. In a sparse winter milk and cheese would be a lifesaving boon. The birth of new animals is also a promise of a plentiful season ahead, and a welcome sign that spring is coming. Milk and Honey bath powder from YarrowStalkHerbals to renew yourself!

Whether she is a fertile goddess of the hearth, or a saintly virgin healer, Brigid offers protection, inspiration, healing, renewal and the promise of spring to come. She is a patron of housekeeping and writers, a protector of lawfulness and woman's rights. Here in the beautiful snow covered winter she is said to be sleeping, waiting for the strengthening sun to awaken her and her mantle of green. Gorgeous print by MythWeaver with more information about Imbolc.

While I love the gray winter days, and the sparse trees, I have been flipping thru seed catalogs and plotting my garden. The dark months are still here, but there is a promise of spring just around the corner!