Page 84 - Demo

84 Stephen Dunford: The Journey of The IrIsh
of men and women to devote themselves to a life of piety; and everywhere she visited, we are told that vast throngs came and followed her. As mentioned, Brighid’s name and fame spread not only over Ireland, but over Europe, and for nearly a thousand years after, it is said, her name was honoured and her feast celebrated in every cathedral church from Grisons in France to the German sea; and as many as thirty European cities in the Middle Ages are mentioned for having a devotion to the Irish Brighid.
The most enduring symbol of Brighid is her cross. As the shamrock became associated with St. Patrick, a small cross, fashioned from rushes in the tradition of the pagan Corn Dolly was linked with Brighid. According to the ancient tales, the cross was reputedly woven by Brighid to explain the passion of Jesus Christ to a dying pagan, and these crosses are still being fashioned today and hung in houses as a defense against harm and also in cattle-byres, as proctetion for animals on February1st.
In reality, its probably true to say that the crosses which are demonstrably not Christian, were woven by the pagan Celts, thousands of years before Brighid was born; because just like the many variants extant, the four extremities more than likely allude to the sun on the solstices, and the cross they form is probably the crossing of the sun on the equinox. We know that the sun-gods of the ancients died on the same crossing of the seasons with the seasonal vegetation, so it is not difficult to see why this time-worn ritual was easily converted to a Christian emblem, which in time erased the duality of meaning and allowed both to blend into one Christian symbol. That said, so great was the reverence for this holy woman of Ireland at one time that it grew to be so powerful and not only did it eclipse Bríd, the pagan goddess for whom she was named, but Brighid, was also given her feast day. Further- more, in an associated tradition, a piece of cloth would be left outside each house on the eve of the feast, as it was believed that the saint passed by during the night and blessed it. This, the Brat Bhríde, ‘Brighid’s Cloak’ was afterwards kept as a talisman.
Before she died in 525, Brighid had made Kildare so famous and influential that thence-
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