The First Stirrings of Spring - Brigid Dolls and Imbolc
- Emily Treece
- Jan 31
- 6 min read
To quote my favourite poet:
Mnemonic
Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November.
Unless a leap year is its fate,
February hath twenty-eight.
All the rest hath three days more,
excepting January,
which hath six thousand,
one hundred and eighty-four.
Brian Bilston
This year, more than most, January has seemed never ending. As is ever the way of things, the more you want the dreary dark days of winter to be over the longer they seem to last. But with endless bad news both at home and around the world, I think we could all do with a little more sunshine, a little more warmth and a little more hope. And now, finally, there feels to be a change in the air and February is just around the corner! This point, at the beginning of February marks the midway point between the darkest depths of the midwinter solstice and the equal days and nights of the spring equinox. It's a time when the first signs of spring emerge and there is renewed hope for new life after the harshness of winter. In the pagan calendar, it's known as Imbolc and is associated with the goddess Brigid. There are hundreds of ways to celebrate and honour Imbolc and the goddess Brigid, in this article I'll focus on the making of Brigid dolls. We'll look at what Imbolc is, how it's celebrated, who Brigid is, what Brigid dolls are and how to make them.
What is Imbolc?
Imbolc is an ancient pagan festival which marks the midway point between Yule (midwinter solstice) and Ostara (the spring equinox). This point in the wheel of the year was obviously important to our ancestors. In the days before fridges, freezers, polytunnels and imported foods, winter was a difficult time. Fresh food was scarce and people were dependent on what they'd managed to preserve of the summer and autumn harvests. By February, these stocks would have been running low, but with February comes a renewed hope, it's the time of year that the first signs of spring emerge, the first spring flowers bloom, shoots appear, the first of the lambs and calves are born meaning dairy produce can soon be made again, the days become noticeably longer than at midwinter and the sun has a little warmth to it.
The etymology of the name is somewhat obscure but it may mean something along the lines of "in the belly" (i.e. the earth is "pregnant" with the seeds which will soon spring forth) or "in the milk" (i.e. the sheep will soon give birth to the first lambs of the year and their milk will be quickening ready for more dairy produce to be made).
Imbolc is also still celebrated by modern day Christians as Candlemas.
Also known as "the fire festival", Imbolc is often celebrated through the lighting of fires and candles, feasting (especially dairy produce), being in nature to notice the first shoots and signs of the coming spring and starting the spring cleaning, decluttering after Christmas and physically and energetically cleansing your space (I have some brooms to help with that ;) Check the shop products page!)
Who is Brigid?
Brigid is an Irish Celtic goddess; she was so important to the people of Ireland and had so many myths and stories and holy sites dedicated to her that they took her with them when they converted to Catholicism and she became St. Brigid.
The goddess Brigid is a truly ancient goddess who was probably one and the same as the older Celtic goddess, Brigantia, who gave her name to the Brigantes tribe of my part of northern England and numerous places and cities around Celtic Europe. The name of Brigantia/Brigid means "exalted one" and as such Brigid is the goddess of a lot and a I mean A LOT of stuff.
In Irish mythology she is the daughter of the Dagda, the "great god" and father figure of Irish mythology, and the Morrigan, the shape-shifting warrior goddess of birth, transformation, death, war and fate. It is said that Brigid was born at first daybreak with rays of light coming from her head or sometimes with a flame in her hand. From the dark transformative winter of the Morrigan came the first fragile rays of fire and light of Brigid.
This association with first light and fire is how she came to be associated not only with the first signs of spring but also with the hearth and the home. From her associations with fire she also became the goddess of blacksmiths. Through that association and the idea of a "spark" of inspiration she became the goddess of craft more generally and also the arts, mostly poetry. Through her associations with spring and fertility she is also the goddess of childbirth, dairy produce and healing. At Imbolc, she is most associated with the maiden aspect of the Celtic maiden/mother/crone triple goddess.
Brigid at Imbolc
The symbology of Imbolc and Brigid are pretty self explanatory really. Think early spring flowers, such as snowdrops, crocuses and primroses alongside flames, fires, candles and lambs. But there are a couple of other symbols which mark Imbolc and honour Brigid. One is Brigid's cross, which is an equal-limbed cross with a diamond-shaped pattern in the middle, traditionally made of reeds and hung from the rafters of the house at Imbolc for protection from fire and misfortune. According to the Christian tradition, St. Brigid made this cross to convert a pagan king to Christianity but the origins of the cross are likely pagan. It is thought that the Brigid's cross owes its roots less to the Christian cross and more to the the similarly equal-armed sun cross from northern European bronze age art (especially Britain, Ireland and Scandinavia) which is thought to be a depiction of the sun.
The other symbol associated with Imbolc is the Brigid doll, or Bridey doll. This is a little depiction of the goddess herself often made from reeds, leaves, straw or fabric. In some villages of Ireland the Brigid doll is still paraded through the streets of the village at Imbolc bringing health, prosperity and protection to the houses she visits. Modern day pagans from other countries also sometimes make a Brigid doll; traditionally she should be made a part of the Imbolc celebrations, so included in any singing or poetry, placed in the centre of the dining table etc. before then being "put to bed" by the fireplace (or by a candle for those who have no fireplace in modern houses) to ensure the goddess will visit and bestow the house and its occupants with good fortune for the year ahead.
How to make a Brigid doll
Materials:
Straw, reeds, leaves or similar (I used broomcorn because it's what I have)
Thread (traditional colours for Imbolc are white and green but I used a pale purple to go with the lavender)
Optional: herbs or flowers (I had some dried lavender I harvested from my garden last year so I used that but it can be anything you associate with the coming spring and summer or flowers to represent Imbolc)
Scissors
Method:
If you are using fresh plant matter you can skip this step. If using dried like me, soak your material until it's pliable. Set aside a few pieces to make the arms of the doll.
Soak dried material until pliable Bend the material roughly in half. The part with the bend will become the head and the other end will become the skirt. Make sure you still have a few pieces set aside to be the arms.
Bend in half. The top will become the head, the bottom will become the skirt. Add any flowers or herbs you are using to the front and tie the thread tightly around where the neck will be.
The thread forms the neck of the doll and holds all the plant material together. Measure and cut the pieces you set aside to be the arms and insert them into the middle of the doll.
Tie thread tightly underneath the arms to hold them in place.
Tie the arms at the wrists.
Trim the ends of the arms and the skirt and enjoy your Brigid doll!
The finished article!
A very interesting read, and the Brigid doll is lovely. I’m off to forage some materials now. Imbolc greetings! x