New Online Brighid Group: Nigheanan Brighde

[Aster Breo]

Hi, Cill-Mates.

In case anyone is interested, there's a new Brighid group online.  

From the Yahoo Groups page:

Nigheanan Brighde, Daughters of Brìde, is a developing Flame Keeping Order of Brìde being founded in the Celtic Polytheist tradition. It's goals are as follows:

1- To create a flame keeping order for Celtic Polytheists firmly rooted in the traditional Celtic cultural worldview;

2- To tend the Sacred Living Flame of Brìde through keeping vigils over our portion of the flame in shifts;

3- To tend the Sacred Healing Well of Brìde through stewardship of the waters of the world by tending a watery location such as a section of a river or lake where each of us lives;

4- To forge deep communal bonds between Flame Keepers/Well Tenders through sharing our vigil experiences with each other, holding regular Chat sessions, and extending community-building beyond the bounds of the internet;

5- To explore the aspect of Brìde which has a special connection to women and women's wisdom.

As is traditional, this will be a women-specific flame keeping order.

While male flame keeping is not frowned upon by Nigheanan Brighde, we cherish the inherent gifts of working in female-only space. Men interested in flame keeping may visit Ord Brighideach to seek out flame tending opportunities, or create an order which meets their needs.

Interested parties are invited to apply for membership and send in their prospective membership survey which they will receive directly after applying. Upon approval of membership applications, new members are to introduce themselves to the group in a timely fashion. It will be some time yet before active shifts will be set up while the finer points of this order's objectives are discussed and members have some time to get acquainted.

Click here to join.

I joined a couple of days ago, primarily because I'm always looking for more opportunities to learn and to share information and thoughts about Brighid.  I have to say that the "women only" aspect made me stop and think.  Ultimately, I decided to proceed, but as I said on my membership survey:  

For the record, while I understand the historical foundation for women-only Cills, I have no problem with those of other genders honoring Brighid in any way they are called.  In addition, I'm concerned that creating women-only and men-only groups like this could be very hurtful to those who don't identify as either male or female.  That said, I do feel there is also probably "room" for gender-exclusive groups, as long as those genders can be defined in a way that works for everyone concerned.

One interesting aspect of this group is the dual focus on Flame Tending and Well/Water Tending.  Members are required to contribute to the stewardship of a local body of water.  I haven't yet figured out what that means for me, personally, but I think it's a very interesting take on honoring Brighid.

Is anyone else joining Nigheanan Brighde?

~ Aster

[JuniperMorgan]

Is anyone else joining Nigheanan Brighde?

~ Aster

 
It sounds really interesting, but the gender exclusivity has me leary.  I might just try incorporating water tending into my own private practices.  Let me know how it works for you or what your take on it is as they become more active.  My hesitation is based in past negative experiences.  I'll trust your take on the group as to whether to join at a later time or not.

[Aster Breo]

It sounds really interesting, but the gender exclusivity has me leary.  I might just try incorporating water tending into my own private practices.  Let me know how it works for you or what your take on it is as they become more active.  My hesitation is based in past negative experiences.  I'll trust your take on the group as to whether to join at a later time or not.

 
Yeah, I understand your concern.  That's exactly why I included that little note in my answers to the questions.

I've actually never been involved in an intentional women-only group, spiritual or otherwise.  At least, not since my middle school gym class.  :p  So it'll be interesting to see if there are any noticeable characteristics.  I'm not really sure if differences between co-ed groups and single-gender groups will be very apparent in an online group.  I think it might be more obvious in a real-life single-gender group.  But I'm just guessing.

And thank you for the vote of confidence!    I don't mind being a test subject, and I'll try to give you a good sense of the group.  If it sounds like a good fit, you can join later.  I don't think the number of members is limited.

[SunflowerP]

Is anyone else joining Nigheanan Brighde?

 
I won't be - one Cill is all I can handle anyway:), and there's that women-only (and I see they're using "woman" and "female" interchangeably, too - never a good sign) thing, which is a dealbreaker for me.  (Just as, back when our Cill was forming and I was making up my mind whether I wanted to be involved or not, it made a big difference that we decided we didn't want sex/gender restrictions - it's not, all by itself, the reason I decided yes, but it was pretty influential.)

I like that you brought it up in your survey response, and I like how you did it.  I agree completely that there's room for that kind of thing - I was part of a women's circle at one time, and really enjoyed my experience (it didn't come up, but I'm pretty sure we'd have relied primarily on self-definition if it had) - but it can be problematic, and well-considered definitions are a good idea.  It sounds like they want to be fairly reconnish in their approach, which probably means they won't run into the same issues that way as a group positioning themselves in a more "generic" paganism does.

I'm kind of relieved they pointed the men to Ord Brighideach - the Cauldron Cill tends to dominate websearches (not just on Google, but on the search engine I'm currently using [trying to disenGoogle myself], DuckDuckGo), so I feel a bit overexposed.

Let us know how it goes!

Sunflower