enchanting yourself

Brigid's Day 2017 is much different from other years. But then many things are different from other years.

I started my Brigid's Day devotion this morning, two days late, by taking a morning bath with strained oatstraw infusion added to the water. It felt silky, so nice -- I reminded myself to do this more often. One little candle burned down completely.

After getting dressed I collected three cauldrons filled with objects and symbols of the past, the completed, the unnecessary.

The fire took off quickly and burned well, these things needed to go. I chanted "light of Brigid, shine on me, growing brighter, now I see". After you chant something for a while, you find yourself going into a state -- you start making up music to sing the chant to or you'll pick out a word or two to repeat over and over, and you will almost always catch yourself getting softer, then louder, then softer again. Chanting is a way of enchanting yourself.

The candle on the left was lit from the fire in the cauldron and it will burn until the end. A friend and I had made Brigid's crosses earlier in the week -- we used straw that had been soaked in warm water for a few hours. The beauty and simplicity of these sacred Nature items comfort and encourage. More chanting.

This is a tarot spread for guidance to connect with the Goddess Brigid or St. Brigid (or God or Source or whoever/whatever you want to invoke). I spent a few hours reflecting on these cards and then writing about them in my journal -- and that completed this year's very simple Brigid's Day.

Our new Earth flag is freshly hung. The old one is quite torn from getting whipped around by the wind/catching on the house gutters, but I have some mending ideas in mind. Mending the Earth, that's it.

The ashes of transformation will go back to the Earth to continue the cycle of death and rebirth. I hope we can all return to the garden soon and start planting. All of us together. Maybe even chanting.