Celtic Institute of North America
Celtic 104b. The Feast of Brigit
Dates: February 2008
Location: Berkeley Springs, West Virginia
Instructor: Dr. Kate Chadbourne
Course fee: $150 for the weekend
Download Printable Registration Form (PDF)
Of all the Irish saints, Brigit is in many ways the easiest to befriend. She is clever and funny, generous to a fault, and radiant with inspiration and hope. It’s no coincidence that her feast day on the first of February marks the start of Spring in the traditional Irish calendar, and with it, the return of the sun.
During this special celebratory weekend, we’ll explore the wealth of sacred stories, poems, prayers, and customs associated with Brigit and her feast day. We’ll also investigate the pre-Christian Brigit who was identified in a ninth-century glossary as “a goddess of poets” and whose cult overlaps and influences the veneration of the Christian Brigit. We’ll listen to and sing the beautiful “Hymn to Brigit” and experience some Brigit traditions still current in Ireland today. This is a seminar for everyone — people of many stripes fall in love with Brigit!
What to bring:
- A journal or notebook.
- A piece of cloth, about the size of a handkerchief. Any kind will do, but if it has some special meaning for you, so much the better!
- A song, story, riddle, trick, joke or other “party piece” for our céilí on Saturday night. Please rest assured: you do not need to be an artiste or a professional singer/dancer/candlestick-maker to take part in a céilí. You only need to be willing to share something of yourself and to enjoy what others bring to the party.