Followers of the ancient Celtic traditions in Ireland believe that the cross was associated with the pagan festival Imbolg, which signaled the end of winter and the beginning of spring.

The National Museum of Ireland - Archaeology is undergoing improvement works in the Rotunda area to enhance your museum experience. Brighid's caoineadh is like the Tibetan ritual of ushering souls to nirvana in the Book of the Dead. In fact, she helped propagate Catholicism throughout the country because of the religious communities that she established.St Brigid herself became associated with sacred flames and holy wells in keeping with pagan beliefs.

Hopefully this was of help for you and you should now have your own Brigid’s cross to protect your home or animals. I am guessing that there are a lot of people eagerly awaiting spring this year, so as we have reached the half-way point between winter solstice and the spring equinox, I thought that I would share this little tutorial with you. Brigid’s Day, also known as Imbolc, has roots in pagan traditions celebrating the beginning of spring.

Today, the Saint Brigid’s cross is an integral part of the devotion to the woman whose life was recorded by Irish monks in the 8 th century. In addition to the monastic products highlighted above, one of our new monks makes Chilworth Rosary Beads of cord. The tradition of weaving her cross from reeds for 1st February, to celebrate the arrival of Spring, continues to this day in rural Ireland.

In the winter, Brighid becomes the cailleach, the woman in agedness, and on Imbolc, she collected the kindling of the fires that get her to the spring of regeneration. These 4 or 5-star reviews represent the opinions of the individuals who posted them and do not reflect the views of Etsy.

Although some of the monks had never heard of using beeswax for cosmetic purposes, a recipe was soon discovered and production of Sanctuary Balm began.