When I think of Brigid, I think of fire. She is associated with poetry, healing and smithing: the fires of inspiration, the hearth and the forge.
Inspiration
The metaphorical fire of inspiration, of creation. The spark of an idea: a line of verse, an image to be painted, a song to be sung.
The Hearth
Home and heat. The fire that warms and softens, that cooks food and crackles and pops like the old bones resting in front of it. That boils and purifies water, that makes tonics.
It casts light to push back encroaching shadows.
It is a gathering point. A point of rest and communion.
The Forge
The fire that makes metal malleable. That softens the steel that hardens into sword and armor.
All three of these places are about transformation and fire as alchemical catalyst. These are places where one thing becomes something else, where transmutation occurs.
Inspiration: the divine spark, the creative force, transmuting thoughts into books, art, songs...anything. Transforming blank pages into stories, canvases into paintings, ink into tattoos, doodles into sketches and bits and bytes into blogs.
The Hearth transforms ingredients into food, into nourishment, into medicine.
It's the cleansing fire that disinfects. That destroys to make way for new beginnings, that leaves the ashes for the phoenix to rise from.
The Forge, where metal is made soft and pliant. Where it is twisted into armor, weapons, jewelry, a plethora of items.
What needs transformed in me? What baser materials can I transmute into more elevated forms? What fires can I stoke? What fuel do I need?
Some things to ponder on this Imbolc or any other day.
Talk about a commitment to transformation...
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