Happy Candlemas!

St. Brigid stained glass window

February 2nd – 02/02 – The feast of the flames – the bringing of the light.

This is also the Christian feast of the Presentation of the Lord Jesus in the Temple – the 40th day of the Christmas season.

So many cultures mark this day as a day to think of spring, of the thawing of the earth, the ending of the darkness, the long nights, the coming of the light.  We think of St. Brigid of Kildare – Brigid the saint who brought the light of the Word, bread for the poor, peace to the troubled and welcome to the stranger whose feast day – February 1st is part of the “light” celebration.

Tree of the Day series

This is also the day I start a “Tree of the Day series” where I will post images of trees in thin places I have visit. These are special trees – fairy trees, healing trees, trees of mystery, trees associated with stories.

The Tobar Bhride Tree – Kildare

The tree at Tobar Bhride – Kildare

Today I’ll give you the tree at Tobar Bhride (Brigid’s Well) in Kildare. Local people and pilgrims from all over the world visit this well and the tree beside it bringing their prayers of devotion, special intentions and hearts full of thanksgiving for prayers answered.

Tokens – “clooties” left on the branches.

As a sign of devotion, the faithful who visit the well sometimes leave a physical reminder of their prayer behind by tying a rag to the tree beside the well. Sometimes they leave something else of meaning behind –  a possession of the person for whom they are praying, a photo, a prayer card. These tokens are called “clooties”  and the lower branches of the Tobar Bhride tree is covered with them. Some of the clooties pull at the heart of the observer. .. pictures of sick mother, baby shoes, hair ties, little toys.

Clooties at Tobar Bhride Kildare

The local people who care for the well and its garden remove the clooties regularly to make way for more.  According to the locals, the clooties are buried nearby. One cannot stand by the Tobar Bhride tree and not be moved. It has a quiet but powerful energy.

This tree, the holy well and the Solas Bhride center are a stop on the Discover the North, Castles & Saints and Trail of the Hag tours. 

Mindie Burgoyne

thinplaces.net

Statue of St. Brigid at Tobar Bride – St. Brigid’s Holy Well in Kildare

The 2016 Discover the North tour started in Dublin today as our 18 guests arrived at Dublin Airport from many parts of United States and Canada. One of our favorite places to take guests on the first day is to Solas Bhride – a center in Kildare run by Brigidine sisters who provide a warm welcome and the blessing of St. Brigid.

Sr. Phil talks about the tradition of the St. Brigid’s Cross at Solas Bhride

Our guests gathered for the first time as a group today at 1pm for a short meeting. Then we boarded our bus in the rain. It was a damp, dreary day.  But the dismal atmosphere lifted when Sister Phil and Sister Mary met at the door of this Christian spirituality center that welcomes people of all faiths and of no faith within the context of the Solas Bhride vision to unfold  the legacy of St. Brigid and its relevance for our time.

Sr. Phil weaves a St. Brigid’s Cross – Solas Bhride

I can’t think of a better place in Ireland for bringing people together for the first time. After a brief tour of the center, Sister Phil arranged the group in a circle and wove a cross of St. Brigid. With each rush she wove into the cross, she asked the group what they would like to “weave” into their journey this week. As members of this newly formed tour group called out things like friendship, forgiveness, humor, love, respect, St. Phil added a rush  to the cross – each rush representing a hope for the journey.  At the end she presented me with the cross, and we’ll keep it on the bus in plain sight as a reminder of the blessings received at Solas Bhride…. as we move through these coming days together.

Sr Phil presents the cross to me (Mindie Burgoyne)

The traditional blessing of the St. Brigid’s Cross to be hung in the home is:

“May the blessing of God and the Trinity be on this cross, and on the home where it hangs and on everyone who looks at it”

So we’ll shift that bit and substitute the word “bus” for home and keep at a point of focus on our journey together.

After Solas Bhride (means the light of Brigid), we went around the corner to  “Tobar Bride” – St. Brigid’s holy well – a site of local pilgrimage where the water from a holy well runs out to little spring that flows around a small island with a bronze statue of St. Brigid holding a crozier and a flame. (see image above) The peace is palpable in this place.

Clooties on the tree at St. Brigid’s Holy Well – Kildare

There’s a clootie tree by the well (sometimes called fairy tree or rag tree)  where pilgrims leave tokens of devotion – something that represents an intention left behind.  Today was an interesting array of clooties.

I still believe that every person on our thin places tour was called to that particular tour for a reason. We all have been called to be a collective part of the “whole” that will make up this tour. The first day is always a prayerful time for me. I pray everyone is blessed, inspired, enlightened and celebrated.

Part of our Discover the North 2016 tour group at the welcome dinner in Dublin

So Dan and I welcome you all  – Julie, Suzanne, Karen, Richard, Cheryl, Don, Tricia, Anita, Marianne, Kathy, Moyra, Karen, Eleanor, Sally, Jen, Ann, Ruth and Danny.

Here’s to Ireland, new friends, new discoveries and thin places.

Mindie Burgoyne

thinplaces.net

Legend tells us that St Brigid was born near Kildare to a slave mother who was a Christian and very sickly. As a child, Brigid persuaded the Druid master to free her mother which in turn freed Brigid to enter religious life.

Kildare is one of the stops on the Thin Places Mystical Tour of Ireland  – Castles, Saints & Druids in September 2014.

Since there were no convents in Ireland, Brigid began one in Kildare. The sisters of St. Brigid prayed simply and deeply and served the poor. We know that Brigid was a contemporary of St. Patrick and a strong legend states that she was ordained a bishop because of her superior knowledge and closeness to God.

Another legend is associated with the goddess or holy woman, called Brigid dating back to pre-Christian times in this region.  Stories of the two women have been woven and spun into legends and tales that all point to a holy woman, who drew followers to this site and performed rituals that were associated with healing, protection, comfort and help for the poor.  The town of Kildare grew up around the community that this woman – Brigid – founded.

Kildare translated means “cell” or church of the oak.  Oaks were known to be sacred trees in pre-Christian Ireland which gives weight to the pagan or goddess tradition of Brigid.  But it is believed that a Christian woman named Brigid founded a community here around 480 AD, that she was a contemporary of St. Patrick and was recognized for great spiritual wisdom.  There are legends that she was ordained a bishop in the church due to her wisdom.

Brigid is now one of Ireland’s patron saints, and is often linked in patronage to farmers and poor pastoral workers – the common citizen, the oppressed Irish tenant farmer of past centuries. It is possible – some say likely – that St. Brigid located her religious community on the spot where the Kildare Cathedral is now situated. 13th century buildings now occupy the spot along with the second tallest round tower in Ireland and an oratory and fire pit which likely date back to pagan times.  Legend states that St. Brigid kept an flame burning in the fire pit continually as a devotion to the Holy Spirit.  The perpetual flame is still cared for today by the Brigidine sisters who live nearby. For centuries this cathedral site has been a draw for pilgrims – a holy place, a place of spiritual strength.

Nearby is St. Brigid’s Holy Well, and the thinness of this place is palpable.  This is actually a secondary well, springing from a known ancient holy well a short distance away.  Volunteers and benefactors have created a beautiful setting around St. Brigid’s Holy Well also known as Tobar Bride.  A bronze statue of St. Brigid lifting the eternal flame has been added in recent years.  Stone prayer stations lead from the well to a running spring.

Wells were considered holy by the pre-Christian Irish being that they sprung from the “underworld” or the womb of the earth.  That tradition of holiness exists today.  Water from holy wells is believed to have special power for healing and spiritual protection.

“A holy well is very special. To watch water springing from the earth is to witness creation in the act of pure, unconditional generosity. At a holy well, my own interior holy well has an opportunity to make itself known to me.” – Gay Barbizon, Brigid’s Kildare; The Fire, the Well and the Oak.

Upon entering Tobar Bride, the pilgrim can see a small devotional shrine where donations are publicly accepted and welcomed.  The old pagan tradition encourages the pilgrim to leave an offering when taking water from the well.

Pilgrims are encouraged to say prayers at each of the seven stations at Tobar Bride.  Just past the small devotional shrine is the spring marked by a stone arch.  This is the first station.  Water flows through two oval shaped stones. Some say these stones symbolize the breasts of the earth – our mother.  The bronze statue of St. Brigid is near to the arch.

Past the arch are five standing stones or “stations” that represent a part of Brigid’s nature.  Pilgrims pause and recognize these qualities and perhaps pray for the same graces to develop in their own lives.

First stone – Brigid the woman of Ireland, the patroness, the protector of a beloved country.

Second stone – Brigid the peacemaker, healing division, bringing forward unity.

Third stone – Brigid the friend of the poor, advocate of the marginalized, speaker for they that have no voice.

Fourth stone – Brigid the hearthwoman, keeping the home flame burning, welcoming all, woman of hospitality.

Fifth stone – Brigid the woman of contemplation, which leads to wisdom and closeness with the Creator.

St. Brigid’s Holy Well – Kildare

The holy well behind the five standing stones marks the 7th station.  It is here that one can pause and reflect, pray for a loved one, and draw water – perhaps to take to a loved one who is ill or to bless a home.

It is traditional belief that a person taking something from (holy water) from a devotional site should leave something behind.  Notice the tree behind the well.  Dangling from its branches are stips of cloth and other tokens – also known as “clooties” – that have been left behind by pilgrims.  The cloth may have been touched to the person for whom the pilgrim is praying.  Sometimes pilgrims leave photos or personal belongings behind – things that have touched the person they are praying for.  This tree had a baby’s shoe dangling from a branch.

The pastoral setting of this park-like devotional space is near the Curragh – or places where the thoroughbred race horses – famous in Kildare – run and are kept.  It is almost impossible not to be moved when entering this space.

This is a very Thin Place.

Mindie Burgoyne

thinplaces.net