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Author Topic: Questions about Brighid (Prob NSFW)  (Read 18144 times)

Merin

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Questions about Brighid (Prob NSFW)
« on: February 09, 2016, 05:56:51 pm »
I'm curious to know something: how does sexuality factor in with Brighid?  To me, She is less of a Deity who is involved with sexuality, favoring focus on other things, but something tells me I might be a bit short sighted on this.  Any thoughts or UPG you would like to share?  

Thanks.

Aster Breo

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Re: Questions about Brighid (Prob NSFW)
« Reply #1 on: February 10, 2016, 12:39:32 am »
Quote from: Merin;186382
I'm curious to know something: how does sexuality factor in with Brighid?  To me, She is less of a Deity who is involved with sexuality, favoring focus on other things, but something tells me I might be a bit short sighted on this.  Any thoughts or UPG you would like to share?  

Thanks.

 
Can you be more specific about what you're asking?  I'm not sure if you're asking about how people of various sexual identities experience Her, or if/how She might be approached about problems involving sex, or what exactly.

I can say that, in general, I have not yet come across a topic that I haven't felt comfortable bringing to Her to ask for Her help, including a couple of things that do involve sex -- especially in Her persona as a goddess of healing -- but I can't answer with any more specificity than that until I have a better understanding of your question.
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Merin

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Re: Questions about Brighid (Prob NSFW)
« Reply #2 on: February 10, 2016, 01:32:36 pm »
Quote from: Aster Breo;186404
Can you be more specific about what you're asking?  I'm not sure if you're asking about how people of various sexual identities experience Her, or if/how She might be approached about problems involving sex, or what exactly.

I can say that, in general, I have not yet come across a topic that I haven't felt comfortable bringing to Her to ask for Her help, including a couple of things that do involve sex -- especially in Her persona as a goddess of healing -- but I can't answer with any more specificity than that until I have a better understanding of your question.


Of course. :) My apologies for not being very specific.  My question is "Can Brighid be seen as a goddess who is associated with sex" I've only read a tiny bit of her lore, but to me it seems like She is a goddess who has other things to do - for example (depending on what lore you read) She never married and spent her time tending the hearth fire.  But I could be wrong.  Maybe it's one of those things where She is not focused on sex and sexuality but wouldn't turn someone away who needed/wanted Her help - especially in regard to healing.  

I hope that is clearer.  And thank you for your response.  I really appreciate it!

Aster Breo

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Re: Questions about Brighid (Prob NSFW)
« Reply #3 on: February 11, 2016, 12:48:28 am »
Quote from: Merin;186431
Of course. :) My apologies for not being very specific.  My question is "Can Brighid be seen as a goddess who is associated with sex" I've only read a tiny bit of her lore, but to me it seems like She is a goddess who has other things to do - for example (depending on what lore you read) She never married and spent her time tending the hearth fire.  But I could be wrong.  Maybe it's one of those things where She is not focused on sex and sexuality but wouldn't turn someone away who needed/wanted Her help - especially in regard to healing.  

I hope that is clearer.  And thank you for your response.  I really appreciate it!

 
Well, Saint Brigit didn't marry, but the goddess Brighid had a husband, possibly more than one, depending on how you read the lore, and possibly at least one lover.  And She had a son or sons, again depending on how you read the lore.

I've also seen snippets in the goddess's lore used to suggest that She is especially concerned with protecting women from sexual assault, and snippets in the saint's lore to suggest that She's a lesbian (or bisexual), and a very jealous lover.  

The thing about Brighid -- as a goddess -- is that, while there are tons of stories about Saint Brigit, there's actually extremely little about the Goddess Brighid in the extant lore.  (For more about that, here's an essay we just posted on the Clann Bhride site:  Finding Brighid in the Ancient Lore) So there's almost nothing to base associations on.  Which means that there isn't anything specific about Her and sex.  But which also means we have a lot of opportunity to explore our own understanding of Her and develop our own UPG about Her.
"The status is not quo."  ~ Dr. Horrible

Merin

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Re: Questions about Brighid (Prob NSFW)
« Reply #4 on: February 11, 2016, 07:10:17 pm »
Quote from: Aster Breo;186460
Well, Saint Brigit didn't marry, but the goddess Brighid had a husband, possibly more than one, depending on how you read the lore, and possibly at least one lover.  And She had a son or sons, again depending on how you read the lore.

I've also seen snippets in the goddess's lore used to suggest that She is especially concerned with protecting women from sexual assault, and snippets in the saint's lore to suggest that She's a lesbian (or bisexual), and a very jealous lover.  

The thing about Brighid -- as a goddess -- is that, while there are tons of stories about Saint Brigit, there's actually extremely little about the Goddess Brighid in the extant lore.  (For more about that, here's an essay we just posted on the Clann Bhride site:  Finding Brighid in the Ancient Lore) So there's almost nothing to base associations on.  Which means that there isn't anything specific about Her and sex.  But which also means we have a lot of opportunity to explore our own understanding of Her and develop our own UPG about Her.

 

That makes a lot of sense.  And thank you for the link.  I will take a look at it. :)

she-wolf

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Re: Questions about Brighid (Prob NSFW)
« Reply #5 on: November 07, 2019, 04:07:11 am »
I've also seen snippets in the goddess's lore used to suggest that She is especially concerned with protecting women from sexual assault, and snippets in the saint's lore to suggest that She's a lesbian (or bisexual), and a very jealous lover. 

Hi, I'm new here and also recently discovered (or rather rediscovered) Brighid and would love to know more about those snippets from saint's lore. I'm queer person and it probably would help me with forming a connection to Her - also it is just plain and simply very interesting. Do you maybe remember in which source they are (book or text)?
Fiery blessings to you all :)


Aster Breo

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Re: Questions about Brighid (Prob NSFW)
« Reply #6 on: December 17, 2019, 07:03:03 pm »
Hi, I'm new here and also recently discovered (or rather rediscovered) Brighid and would love to know more about those snippets from saint's lore. I'm queer person and it probably would help me with forming a connection to Her - also it is just plain and simply very interesting. Do you maybe remember in which source they are (book or text)?
Fiery blessings to you all :)

I'm so sorry -- I haven't been here in ages, thanks to work.

Basically, there's a well-known story about St Brigid's "soul friend", Darlughdacha, who was also a nun.  They shared a bed and there's an incident in which Brigid reacts like a jealous lover.  The links below have more info:

http://qspirit.net/brigid-darlughdach-saint-soulmate/

https://www.dailyxtra.com/same-sex-celts-2-39898

"The status is not quo."  ~ Dr. Horrible

she-wolf

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Re: Questions about Brighid (Prob NSFW)
« Reply #7 on: December 18, 2019, 08:28:31 am »
I'm so sorry -- I haven't been here in ages, thanks to work.

Basically, there's a well-known story about St Brigid's "soul friend", Darlughdacha, who was also a nun.  They shared a bed and there's an incident in which Brigid reacts like a jealous lover.  The links below have more info:

http://qspirit.net/brigid-darlughdach-saint-soulmate/

https://www.dailyxtra.com/same-sex-celts-2-39898

Thank you very much for these links, they are indeed interesting ^.^
I also found this
http://www.brigitsforge.co.uk/brigitsaint1.html#Brigit:_Virgin,_Mother,_Spinster,_Lesbian
, author is somehow contradicting story from two previous links, dunno what to think about it  ???
« Last Edit: December 18, 2019, 08:34:49 am by she-wolf »

Sefiru

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Re: Questions about Brighid (Prob NSFW)
« Reply #8 on: December 18, 2019, 07:15:48 pm »
author is somehow contradicting story from two previous links, dunno what to think about it  ???

Lore is like that sometimes. There's no central authority to say what The Right Version is; different people have different opinions about the source material, different versions get told in different places, and so on. I find it helps to think about who is telling each version of the story and what point they are trying to make. Sometimes both versions put together end up more meaningful than either one on its own.
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Haptalaon

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Re: Questions about Brighid (Prob NSFW)
« Reply #9 on: June 27, 2020, 07:38:11 am »
I'm curious to know something: how does sexuality factor in with Brighid?  To me, She is less of a Deity who is involved with sexuality, favoring focus on other things, but something tells me I might be a bit short sighted on this.  Any thoughts or UPG you would like to share? 

Thanks.

I tend to feel a lot of resistance about Brigid & sex, because goddesses so often get filed into these rather niche, sex-and-fertility, extremely-gendered roles, and she's one case in which it's easy to push back on that. I was joking on my tumblr last week that I wish there was more extremely gay art of Brigid; goddess of the forge, she's got to have some muscles...

Like, trying to promote the idea that not all goddesses are Goddesses, in the generic-neopagan sense of the term.
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Aster Breo

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Re: Questions about Brighid (Prob NSFW)
« Reply #10 on: June 28, 2020, 02:05:50 am »


I tend to feel a lot of resistance about Brigid & sex, because goddesses so often get filed into these rather niche, sex-and-fertility, extremely-gendered roles, and she's one case in which it's easy to push back on that. I was joking on my tumblr last week that I wish there was more extremely gay art of Brigid; goddess of the forge, she's got to have some muscles...

Like, trying to promote the idea that not all goddesses are Goddesses, in the generic-neopagan sense of the term.

Do you mean you feel resistance from Brighid? Or from other people who see Her differently?

She definitely does not fit into the standard neopagan (Wiccan?) model of the triple goddess as Maiden, Mother, and Crone. When She's pushed into that model, She's usually portrayed as a maiden. Which makes no sense to me, given that the lore clearly describes Her as a wife and mother.

And I agree about the art. Even though I usually don't anthropomorphize Her, I have plans to commission a piece of art showing Her in later middle age, like in her 60s and with grey hair and wrinkles.

She can present Herself however She wants to.


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Haptalaon

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Re: Questions about Brighid (Prob NSFW)
« Reply #11 on: July 03, 2020, 05:25:21 pm »

Do you mean you feel resistance from Brighid? Or from other people who see Her differently?

She definitely does not fit into the standard neopagan (Wiccan?) model of the triple goddess as Maiden, Mother, and Crone. When She's pushed into that model, She's usually portrayed as a maiden. Which makes no sense to me, given that the lore clearly describes Her as a wife and mother.

And I agree about the art. Even though I usually don't anthropomorphize Her, I have plans to commission a piece of art showing Her in later middle age, like in her 60s and with grey hair and wrinkles.

She can present Herself however She wants to.


Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

I mean personally :) I'm not currently working with Her, and haven't really been involved in conversations with others in the past. It's more...now I'm digging into the lore, I find it so much more appealing than the rather "flat", generic goddess depictions I found as a youngster.

I suppose it's the maiden because she Does Other Things, and once you're a mother or a crone you're terribly boring - you don't have hobbies or a personality any more  ;) . It's part of that broader social inability to see mothers as anything other than mothers once that's where they are in their life. That would be my guess, at least.
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Aster Breo

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Re: Questions about Brighid (Prob NSFW)
« Reply #12 on: July 06, 2020, 05:40:50 am »



I suppose it's the maiden because she Does Other Things, and once you're a mother or a crone you're terribly boring - you don't have hobbies or a personality any more  ;) . It's part of that broader social inability to see mothers as anything other than mothers once that's where they are in their life. That would be my guess, at least.

LOL! I know from personal experience that I totally stopped being anything else when I had my first kid. ;-)

I think Brighid might get put in the maiden slot because of Her association with spring. Her primary festival is Imbolc (February 1), with strong connections to the beginning of spring. In so many maiden-mother-crone representations, the maiden embodies spring, the mother embodies summer, and the crone embodies fall/winter.

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entwife

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Re: Questions about Brighid (Prob NSFW)
« Reply #13 on: July 06, 2020, 11:43:09 am »

She definitely does not fit into the standard neopagan (Wiccan?) model of the triple goddess as Maiden, Mother, and Crone.

She can present Herself however She wants to.


In my experiences, She does present Herself as she pleases. To me, She changes with the seasons. As the land changes, She echoes those shifts in appearance, and sometimes, activity
Wishing you laughter

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