A little hearth altar to honour Brigid and the return of the light.
The goddess in the back which was a woodland~walk gift, the crystal and stone friends have a permanent residence there.
I made the cross in the little woven basket ~ which was a beautiful thrift find ~ many years ago, the mini brass anvil was also a thrift find, and St Brigid's Cross I made last week while house~sitting the Willow Farm for a few days again. The sage and rosemary are from our garden ~ brave survivors of the snow and frost ~ they will be wrapped up into a small smudge stick tomorrow.
I always like to honour the return of the light on February 1st and 2nd. It is obviously lighter now ~ yay ~ and I could, if I wished to (always!) or had the time, read from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm without flicking a switch or lighting a candle....yes! yes! yes!
Brigid is one of my favourite goddesses and I love that she is the patroness of poetry, healing, smithcraft, midwifery and the care of animals. She also presides over the hearth and is traditionally honoured on this day. I often ask for her assistance if the fire is being difficult to light....she always answers.
I had such fun making the Brigid's Cross...my first attempt, and I was glad that I thought of it while I was on the Willow Farm and that Willow is the tree for February...LOVE it so much when things fit so neatly. I found this excellent video tutorial, and armed with a bunch of very fine purpurea willow, successfully followed Stella's instructions. The man with her, cracks me up with his 'mmmm's' and 'aaahhh's'!
Yesterday, My Man and I were in my favourite town ~ Newcastle Emlyn ~ only three miles from the village where I grew up. It's ancient castle ruin ~
~ which has quite a history, was the site of the death of the last dragon in Wales....although, since the hatching of that egg I am so very happy to see it has returned ~
Brigid is one of my favourite goddesses and I love that she is the patroness of poetry, healing, smithcraft, midwifery and the care of animals. She also presides over the hearth and is traditionally honoured on this day. I often ask for her assistance if the fire is being difficult to light....she always answers.
I had such fun making the Brigid's Cross...my first attempt, and I was glad that I thought of it while I was on the Willow Farm and that Willow is the tree for February...LOVE it so much when things fit so neatly. I found this excellent video tutorial, and armed with a bunch of very fine purpurea willow, successfully followed Stella's instructions. The man with her, cracks me up with his 'mmmm's' and 'aaahhh's'!
Yesterday, My Man and I were in my favourite town ~ Newcastle Emlyn ~ only three miles from the village where I grew up. It's ancient castle ruin ~
taken in September 2010
~ which has quite a history, was the site of the death of the last dragon in Wales....although, since the hatching of that egg I am so very happy to see it has returned ~
~ and was standing guard over the gateway into the castle. I'm glad to say it was very friendly to us :~)
Happy Imbolc ~ from a wet Wales with fire and candles lit ~
Cariad mawr
H x
Happy Imbolc ~ from a wet Wales with fire and candles lit ~
Cariad mawr
H x
Hi I thought I better introduce myself, as my name is Helen also, I have no blog, but I've been commenting at Spirit cloth and other related blogs from her list under the name of "helen" and nothing else. I will try to use my last name, as I tend to be cynical, sarcastic and have a dry sense of humor and would hate for people to mix the two of us up. When I saw the comment on "spirit cloth" I immediately thought, I didn't post that. The only people I've ever encountered with my name were "old " aunts or grandmothers, Ha! so never in a million years did I think I would have to distinquish myself from someone else. Like I said I can try to remmeber to use my last name so people won't think badly about you. HA!
ReplyDeleteGoogle doesn't have my last name on file when I post. i also am not computer savvy so...on google posts we'll just live with it. :)
ReplyDeleteHa! ha! Hi Helen :~) There are THREE of us now!! I'm not terribly computer savy either, and 'living with it' is fine. I tend to gush with admiration...but do try to control it. I'll sign myself 'Helen from Wales' at the end of my comments if you like...that should work.
ReplyDeleteI love the world you conjure up of natural finds and natural-made wonders, of firelight and candlelight.
ReplyDeleteHappy February to you, Helen! (from yet another Helen! Maybe we should start a club...)
Hi hi Helen and thank you for your lovely words :~) You were one of the three Helen's I was refering to!....the H club! :~) Love to you x
ReplyDeleteOoops....punctuation error!!
ReplyDelete:-) well i am not a helen but i have adored every helen i have ever met ... so ... um yeah :-) xoxo
ReplyDeleteHa ha ~ I recognise that beautiful face ~ and I adore your blog and writings :~) Thank you Darlene x x
ReplyDelete