Hello everyone!

Welcome to the “Brighid-Along” aka the “Nine Days of Brighid.” Below are some resources to help you connect with today’s aspect of Brighid, the Midwife.

According to the Carmina Gadelica: When a woman is in labour, the midwife or the woman next her in importance goes to the door of the house, and standing on the ‘fad-buinn,’ sole-sod, doorstep, with her hands on the jambs, softly beseeches Bride to come:

‘Bhride! Bhride! thig a steach,           Bride! Bride! come in,
Tha do bheatha deanta,                         Thy welcome is truly made,
Tabhair cobhair dha na bhean,           Give thou relief to the woman,
’S tabh an gein dh’an Triana.’               And give the conception to the Trinity.

Carmina Gadelica, Volume 1, by Alexander Carmicheal, [1900], at sacred-texts.com

We have worked with Brighid as Midwife for many years in Sassafras Grove, in ways literal and metaphorical. See what help she brings you today.

Bright Blessings of Brighid!
Diane “Emerald” Bronowicz Egelhoff, on Behalf of Sassafras Grove, ADF

Brighid Along Day 1: Midwife

Firm hands reach.
You coax, guide, protect
as young life breathes and the world is blessed anew. (Rowyn CleerDawn)

The Nine Virtues of Brighid: Midwifery/Fertility

A midwife comes in at the end of pregnancy, helping to bring a new life into the world. In a
broader sense, the midwife serves as the catalyst that helps bring projects to fruition. Many times we feel fertile with ideas, perhaps even beginning projects. But we only live the virtue of fertility if we bring these ideas into being. Fertility implies not only the initial spark but the final touches. And just as she eases the mother’s pain and the passage of the child, so does the midwife help us to realize our own fertility. (Diane “Emerald” Bronowicz)

How will I manifest my fertility today?

Midwife Invocation to Brighid: Sassafras Traditional

Siul Linn, a Bhríd* (Walk with us, Brighid)
Hail Brighid, Goddess of Midwifery
Helper to both mother and child
You who assist in the emergence of new life
You who protects the threshold from which that life is born
And protects it when it is time to pass
Guardian of all that is born into this world,
We call to you!
Brightest of Queens, shine your light upon our passage Fairest of Mothers, hold us safe in your arms Brighid, Goddess of Midwifery, Siul Linn, a Bhríd. (Diana Paar et al.)

*”Shoe lean ah Breejah”

Gemstone – Jasper

Called the `Nurturing stone’ because it offers such calm and soothing energies. It is a gentle
stone, peaceful and relaxing, bringing tranquility, comfort, a sense of wholeness and healing. It assists in `gentle endings.’ (Michelle Handa and Deana S.)

Midwife Meditation

Take three, deep, cleansing breaths.

Exhale fully…let go of the tensions and distractions of your day.

Take three more deep breaths. Breathe into any part of your body that may be uncomfortable.

Allow your breath to fill you, cleanse and ease you.

Turn your attention to yourself, to your center

Take three more deep, cleansing breaths.

In your mind’s eye, see yourself in your scared space, at your shrine, in a cave, sheltered beneath a tree, the place where your magic runs deep.

Focus for a moment on your center, and breathe into your core.

Allow your attention to flow downward from your center, through your legs and feet and down, down into the earth, through the soil until you touch the water below.

Feel the cool, dark waters swirling below you, pulsing with the heartbeat of the Mother. These are the primal waters, the waters of creation, the waters that birthed all life on Earth. This is the well of potential, the well that contains all that might be, the well that holds all that can be.

With your next three breaths, draw these dark, quiet waters into yourself….up through your
feet, through your legs, through your body. Draw the waters into your center, a pool of potential resting at your center. Calm and expectant the well rests at your center.

Remember your connection to the waters below.

With your next three breaths allow your attention to flow upwards towards the heavens, through your chest and neck, and out through the top of your head.

Piercing the midnight blue of the night sky the stars shine their light, guiding you upward. Find your star, the one that shines for you alone. Turn your attention to your star. It is the fire of creation, pulsing with energy, burning with life-giving light. This is the fire that births all new things, the fevered excitement of all new beginnings, the fulfillment of the labor of the universe.With your next three breaths draw that life-giving spark down from the sky, through your head, through your chest, down to your center. Fierce and hot the fire pierces the calm of the waters pooled at your center. Fire dances on the waters, pulsing…potential sparks into action, anticipation becomes fulfillment, fire and water merge into the heartbeat of creation. Let that oneness of fire and water flow through you, around you, and over you. Join your heartbeat to the heartbeat of creation, feel that heartbeat connecting you to the mysteries above and below. Rest for a moment in the mystery.

Now slowly, bring that pulsing energy back into your center, flowing back through you to your center. Let the heartbeats separate, and allow the waters of potential to flow downward from your center, through your legs and feet and down, down into the earth, keeping only what you need to remember your own potential. Allow the fire of the stars to return through your chest,  through your head and upward into the heavens, keeping only what you need to remember your own creative spark.

Turn your attention to your center and take three deep breaths. When you are ready, open your eyes. (Maria Stoy)

Day One: Midwife Meditation (audio)

Brighid Midwife Prayer

Brighid, as midwife you ease the emergence of new life into this world.
You soothe a mother’s pain as she brings forth her child.
It is you that nurtures our yet unborn dreams and desires
From the spark of creation you guard us, care for us, and keep safe our yet unborn life
You see us through as that spark grows and changes, keeping it ever safe and protected
When finally, new life manifests, you are there by our side, watching with loving eyes and ready
with helpful hands.
Brighid, Goddess of Midwifery, we honor you. (Diane Dahm)

Brighid Midwife Affirmation

You are midwife to all I create.
Bless the work of my head, heart, and hands.
May I understand the depths of my potential.
May compassion guide my actions.
May I find fulfillment in my labor. (Maria Stoy)

Brighid Midwifery Virtual Shrine (Michelle Handa)